Hello everyone, we're gonna get started with the Alamar Community Facilities District Board uh meeting.

Uh Marcella, do you mind doing roll call, please?

Board Member Condi.

Here.

Board Member Malone.

Here.

Board Member Nielsen.

Here.

Board Member Solario.

Here.

Vice Chair Paneda.

Chair Weiss.

Here.

And Board Member White has an excused absence tonight.

Sounds good.

Thank you.

This is a call to the public.

Is there anybody in the audience who'd like to speak on the proposed fiscal year 2025 budget and tax levy?

Marcella, anybody online?

Thank you, Mayor.

I have not received any request to speak for agenda item two.

I believe we do have a presentation from the finance and budget director.

Sounds good.

Thank you.

Hi, Brene.

Good evening.

Chair, Vice Chair, and members of the community facilities district board.

I am here tonight to present the final CFD final budget.

So there haven't been no changes since the tentative budget here.

We do have a total tax rate included with this budget of $4 and 15 cents, broken down between the primary and the secondary rate.

The total budget is just under 3.3.

It does include a contingency of 100,000, which would be recovered by developer contributions in the case of any unforeseen items that should be included.

So with that, we do recommend the public hearing, convening to a special meeting and adopting the CFD resolution 2-2024 setting forth the final budget for fiscal year 2025 and resolution 3-2024 setting the property tax levy for fiscal year ending June 30th, 2025.

And I'll take any questions.

Any questions for Renee?

Seeing none.

Thank you, Mayor.

This item is just a public hearing.

Um and I do want the record to reflect that.

Sorry, echo.

Um that councilmember White is on Zoom, so she is in attendance to the meeting tonight.

Hi, Max.

Can I get a motion to adjourn?

Uh we need to adjourn this part of the meeting, though, correct, Marcel.

I just want to make sure we're following protocol.

Yes, correct.

Can I get a motion for adjournment, please?

I have a motion from board member Malone, a second from board member conde.

Any further questions?

Seeing none, please vote.

Board member White?

Yes.

Thank you, ma'am.

We are adjourned.

I'd like to call to order the Alamar Community Facilities District special board meeting.

Uh Marcella.

Board Member Condi.

Here.

Board Member Malone.

Here.

Board Member Nielsen.

Here.

Board Member Solario.

Here.

Board Member White.

Here.

Vice Chair Paneda?

Here.

Chair Weiss.

Here.

Can I get a motion to approve the consent agenda, please?

I have a motion from Board Member Malone.

A second from Board Member Condi.

Any further questions?

Seeing none?

Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you, Max.

Pass 7-0.

Thank you, board members.

Can I get a motion to adjourn the special meeting?

I have a motion from board member Solario, a second from board member Malone.

Any further discussion?

Seeing none, please vote.

Board member White.

Yes.

Thank you.

We are adjourned.

I'd like to call the um regular meeting of the Abundill City Council.

Marcella, do you mind doing uh roll call, please?

Thank you, Mayor.

At this time, would you like to stand and do the Pledge of Allegiance?

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

And which is stands.

One nation under God.

Would you all please join me in a moment of silence, please?

Thank you.

Thank you, Marcella, for keeping me on my toes.

I'll do roll call now.

If you want to.

Councilmember Condi?

Here.

Council Member Malone.

Here.

Councilmember Nielsen.

Here.

Councilmember Solario?

Here.

Councilmember White.

Here.

Vice Mayor Paneda.

Mayor Weiss.

Here.

Ron, item 2A, please.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor and Council.

Up first is our city attorney to present two new employees.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council.

I'm here to introduce you to two new staff members in the city attorney's office.

First, we have Blessing Ajeho.

She is a second year law student at the University of Arizona, James E.

Rogers College of Law.

She earned her bachelor's of law degree from Amadu Bello University in Nigeria in 2015.

She practiced as a licensed attorney for six years in Nigeria before coming to the states.

She came to pursue her master's of law degree in international trade and business law at the University of Arizona.

She then embarked on her U.S.

law degree journey, demonstrating her commitment to continuously learning and professional growth.

Blessing's interest in transactional and municipal practice led her to join our office as a legal intern this summer, where she is eagerly seeking to expand her knowledge and gain practical experience.

Blessing will be with the city for eight weeks this summer, and she will shadow us and learn all about municipal law.

So welcome, blessing.

Thank you.

Second is a familiar face, Mary Grace McNear.

She's practiced municipal law and uh real estate, litigation, land use, and construction law in the Phoenix area for over 30 years.

Her prior government experience has been with the cities of Scottsdale, Mesa, and Avondale.

She returns to us from private practice where she worked for the law firm of Beuse Gilbert McGrother, doing land use and zoning cases for private clients.

Mary Grace prefers working for Avondale because she appreciates the value that her municipal practice brings to the community at large.

We are excited to welcome Mary Grace back to Avondale into the city attorney's office.

She will be advising development engine development services, engineering, public safety, courts, city prosecutor, and assisting me with litigation.

So welcome, Mary Grace.

I have to tell you I got the agenda last week.

I'm going through it and I'm looking at the new employees not a lot.

There's no way there's two people with the same exact name.

So welcome back.

You were missed.

Thank you so much.

Did they give you a bigger office?

Um actually Steve and I are sharing an office.

Okay.

All right.

Let us know how that works out.

We need some more space.

Well, Joel's here.

Joel's like in his head going through all the square footage and all the space.

Good job, Mayor.

Anytime I can see it.

Thanks for pointing it out.

I got six months.

Anytime I can see next up, Mayor is uh Joel, speaking of the devil, uh, our director of facilities.

No very devil.

No, that's good.

Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council.

I am here to introduce to you two of our newest employees.

This is Rosa Brown and Abe Bandon.

Um Rosa is originally from California.

She moved to the Valley in 2001 and comes to us from the radiation protection industry.

Rosa enjoys sewing and home improvement projects, and she's currently taking classes at EMCC for facilities maintenance.

Abe is an Arizona native.

He served our country in the Army, joining late at age 30.

Most recently, he worked at as locally as a packaging engineer.

Abe is a fan of all sports, and in those rare moments when there's not a game, Abe's favorite hobby is laser engraving.

Okay, so a fan of all sports.

There has to be one sport that stands out.

College or pro.

All right, your team is?

Ours.

All right.

Good.

Good way to start.

Wow, okay.

Because some people in the room are cowboy fans.

We will talk about those guys.

Wait, we won't.

Rosa, welcome.

Well, welcome aboard.

Thanks, Joel.

And now we have uh a lady you'll see a lot of tonight.

Uh we have Renee, your uh director of finance and budget.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council.

I'm here tonight to present to you Takia Green.

She's our new procurement buyer.

She started with the city on May 13th.

Tiki has worked in the public sector for over seven years in procurement, finance, and administration.

She's also worked across various sectors, which include public health, public fiduciary, air quality, and state corrections.

Takea has an associate degree in business administration from Gibbs College in Montclair, New Jersey, and she's a mother of two and a wife of 18 years.

She enjoys invent planning and is looking forward to making the city of Avondale her home.

I don't know if a lot of people know, but you have an incredibly difficult job, and not just because you're working for the city of Avignon, that's not what I mean.

Well, I have to clarify that.

Because you have a tendency to know everyone, all the employees, all the people and everything.

And your job and your job is to make sure that procurement rules are followed, procedures are followed, and that sometimes that answer is no.

And that's a very difficult job, especially starting out new.

So welcome aboard.

You have complete support from the council.

Thank you for that.

Thanks.

Ron, was that better clarifying it?

Thank you.

I appreciate that, Mr.

Mayor.

All right, Mr.

Mayor and Council.

Up next, we're gonna have a presentation by Lieutenant Lopez from the police department on the 4th of July.

This is something I asked Ron and Chief to kind of bring together just because as we get a month away from 4th of July, we all get calls.

The community gets calls.

And I think it's important to know what we're doing, and we can uh communicate that information back to the uh public at large.

So LTE Mayor, Vice Mayor Council, thank you for having me here uh today.

I'm Varney Lopez, Lieutenant with the police department on the patrol division.

Um here to kind of talk about fireworks and education and enforcement.

Obviously, like you mentioned with the Fourth of July uh holiday coming up.

We are ramping up for our efforts in that area.

The police department responds to a variety of different firework calls throughout the year.

Uh we respond to mostly illegal firework calls and most of the stuff that goes in the air.

Um but the holidays we like to focus on enforcement and details is really the Fourth of July and the New Year's Eve uh holidays.

Obviously, what's legal, as we know, most of the consumer fireworks uh that are sold by vendors throughout the valley and and here in Avondel are the sparklers of things that are on the ground that produces a great uh light and shows and it's they're fun to use.

Um but the stuff that we like to focus is obviously the illegal fireworks.

Legal fireworks, as we all know, stuff, anything that usually goes in the air, like the big aerials that booms that you see in the air, those obviously are illegal.

The Roman candles, the people I hold in their hands, if they still go in the air, obviously those are illegal.

Anything that really goes loud and bangs and booms, most likely they're gonna be uh illegal.

However, like I mentioned, some of the consumer fireworks that are out there are very large and come in various different sizes.

Here's one a quick video.

This is called the Amazing because it's it kind of is amazing.

Um it's a very nice large display, as you will see.

But the person is standing about 20, 30 feet away, and as you'll see the radius of this type of fireworks.

Pretty large.

And that's legal.

Yes, it is.

No, no.

So again, that was a legal firework, a great display, as you notice by the video.

It's almost a two-minute long type of display.

And yes, it is legal, nothing went in the air besides the sparkling and the noise and obviously the light show.

Like I mentioned, the uh the cell phone video doesn't do it justice, it does provide uh a large display, a good 20-foot plus radius uh of show, um, which is why it's kind of in that area there.

But obviously, one is it legal.

Um state statute allows us to use fireworks uh different holidays throughout the year.

Obviously, the main ones that we like to focus on is the July 4th holiday and the New Year's Eve holiday.

Um but throughout that you'll see obviously vendors start selling them um in advance before the actual holiday.

However, people cannot use them between the hours of 11 p.m.

and 8 a.m.

except obviously during the July 4th uh holiday and the New Year's Eve holiday.

And our city code mirrors that statute, which allows us to do enforcement and education.

Here's a quick video that the West Valley agencies, all the police departments in the West Valley have joined together in continuous education on fireworks.

Three reasons.

Your West Valley police and fire departments want you to keep summer celebrations enjoyable for all.

Don't blow 4th of July by using illegal fireworks.

There are so many ways of having a blast without breaking the law.

You can watch a professional fireworks show, or you can buy consumer fireworks at the store.

Just remember to use them in a clear and open area under the supervision of a responsible adult.

Keep a bucket of water on hand to dump the used fireworks so they don't spark a fire.

Loud noises from illegal fireworks is disruptive to your neighbors.

It can sound like gunshots, and that's upsetting to everyone.

It could be scary for children or even pets.

The explosions can be so loud that it'll cause them to run away and sometimes get lost.

We know that you know that lighting illegal fireworks is against the law.

Bottle rockets, rolling candles, and anything else that goes up in the air have been banned in Arizona for years now.

First responders have to get involved because you're lighting illegal fireworks.

You could pay hundreds of dollars in fines.

We're often overwhelmed with fireworks calls around the summer holidays.

Let your first responders handle serious emergencies to protect our communities.

Don't blow 4th of July for everyone.

Three reasons.

Obviously, that's part of our education piece.

Um on social media, we start displaying and producing uh information about illegal fireworks or illegal fireworks on our social media platforms.

Um thankfully the city is hosting the Light Up the Sky event, which we also try to uh get uh our citizens and people to just respond to that event if they want to see the large aerial type display.

We also visit our vendors or we have officers on uh ready to uh locate and visit the vendors to ensure they're not selling illegal fireworks at the stores that we have on every corner throughout the city.

And part of it, we also visit our social media platforms again to make sure no one's selling illegal fireworks online uh through Facebook Marketplace andor offer up, where a lot of people may try to sell illegal fireworks as well.

And that's part of enforcement as well.

We have dedicated teams, uh a unit that's uh we'll be working that 4th of July holiday as well as a New Year's Eve holiday that'll be dedicated to these illegal type firework calls for service.

Sometimes we use our aerial drone and other tools necessary uh to respond to a certain area if need be.

Um but most of the time we have our officers kind of dedicated to each neighborhood, driving through the neighborhood and on view any type of activity that or people that may be using illegal type fireworks.

And at most, if need be, we will issue citations as needed.

Here are some statistics that we've been tracking.

Um again, some of the holidays that the only holidays that we're really tracking is really July 4th, which is a large holiday and New Year's Eve holiday.

Um for the last few years we've been tracking some of the firework calls.

Um we also track the shots fire calls because a lot of times if it's illegal fireworks, they may uh someone may think it might be an actual gunshot, but it might be a firework that's going off, so we still respond that and track that as well.

We tracking the citations that we've issued for that evening and also all calls for service, meaning all the types of calls that we responded for that night and all between 6 p.m.

and 6 a.m.

the the next morning.

So for that night, these are the types of calls that we're tracking.

So in conclusion, um, we are dedicating resources, like I mentioned, we have uh a unit dedicated to work the Fourth of July holiday, ready to respond to any type of illegal calls, uh legal firework calls for service.

Um but most of all, we want to educate the our citizens.

We start preemptively educating our citizens weeks in advance through our social media platforms.

We've partnered with city marketing to provide uh information on our water billing and ensure that people understand that illegal fireworks are obviously legal and we'll conduct enforcement as needed.

But ultimately, we want to continue to monitor every type of uh holiday that we do enforcement, 4th of July.

We'll track our stats and see if there's anything that we got to change or update or do better the next time.

So thank you.

I'm open for any questions.

So there are a couple things that come to mind.

One is it has to be incredibly frustrating for officers when they're trying to locate a fireworks show going off when no one has called, and you know it's happening in a neighborhood, and you drive, you park a vehicle, you stage a vehicle fairly close because you know in the past you're monitoring where those calls have happened before, and you can't find them, so it's a waste of police time.

The other part that would be front frustrating to me is if a neighborhood didn't call, and and I and I'm gonna use Garden Lakes because we had uh we had a Garden Lakes HOA uh meeting, what, two weeks ago, three weeks ago.

And I told the story of last New Year's Day.

I had spent the night downtown with some friends.

I came home, it was the afternoon, and I kept on hearing fireworks go off, and I live across the street from Garden Lakes.

And I finally got pissed off enough where I got in my car and I drove through the neighborhood, and there's people lighting off fireworks in the air and exploding.

So I took took a video of it and called Avondale PD.

Waited for Avondale PD to show up.

Those fireworks have been going off probably for seven or eight hours.

And I'm wondering why the neighbors didn't call.

Because if I had a headache, it was irritated after an hour.

The people who lived across the street and who were next door had to be incredibly irritated, especially if they had pets or they had someone who's former military or they had a senior citizen living in the house, or someone who's incredibly impacted by what these things can do.

So those are the first two things that come to mind is how do we get past that barrier where people will call instead of just dealing with it because they shouldn't have to deal with it.

The other part that gets me especially from the amazing video is that it's in the middle of the street.

It's impeding traffic, it's spreading uh paper and debris everywhere, it's going on other people's properties.

What I saw last year was actually a street that had melted.

There was part of the street because of fireworks, because they were lighting in the same area had actually melted.

What is our code about legal fireworks being used?

Does it have to be used on private property or can it be used on a public street and sidewalk?

Mayor, those are great questions.

Um your first question, yes, it is sometimes frustrating to respond to these illegal type fireworks, and especially if you wanted to conduct something of enforcement.

One because it's a possession type uh uh law, right?

If we want to cite somebody for illegal fireworks, we had to make sure we kind of catch them in the act, like you provide a video.

That's great, and that helps us, and we rely on that the citizen or the call for service to say, yeah, this person wearing the red shirt and blue pants is the one lighting fireworks.

So I commend you for saying that, and thank you for saying that because we do rely on the citizens to call us and and help us uh tracking these illegal type fireworks.

And second, where do we where can they use these fireworks?

I mean having it in the open in my opinion is better than in somebody's backyard where it could cause a fire type danger.

You know, obviously it's summertime, which is why legal fireworks are illegal because you don't know where they're gonna land.

Um it may cause some type of fire danger to your neighbors or a park or or some type of somebody's private property.

So we will enforce those as as needed.

Um we do expect our citizens to pick up after themselves, like you said, or we could look at some type of littering type charge if need be.

Um, but we want to educate them first, and that's part of our social media platforms that we use to educate our our citizens.

Hey, this is how, when and where you could use our types of fireworks, and please, like you mentioned, pick up after yourselves because it can leave a lot of dirt and debris uh from the fireworks show, or it could cause damage, as you mentioned to other people's property.

So we want to make sure we educate that correctly.

Barney, thank you.

I I would love to hear from council on any thoughts that you have because 4th of July is a month away, and it impacts all neighborhoods in all parts of the city.

So Tina, any thoughts?

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, um Lieutenant Lopez.

I live in Garden Lakes and I have two dogs.

So whenever it's 4th of July, New Year's, I mean, my poor dogs go crazy.

And I think, Mayor, a lot of people don't call because they don't think it's gonna make a difference, right?

So sometimes they're like, I'm not gonna call because nothing ever gets done.

So the education pieces, I think, very important, which we're doing.

So thank you guys for doing that.

Um and the other thing that concerns me too is because my house is behind um uh the the canal.

And there's people back there that will set off fireworks, everything, and I always get concerned because it even though it's by water, I mean there's still a lot of shrubbery that can catch fire.

So, you know, I just I know we're doing things, but you know, we can always improve on it, but I think just bringing awareness and you're right, Mayor, just kind of saying at what point do we say, hey, you're you're causing damage or it's a fire safety hazard?

Because that's always my concern.

I mean, we live in the desert, things are dry.

People are out there just they're beautiful to see, but I think they have to do it somewhere where it can be managed and monitored should a spark go off.

So Tina, so we do a thousand dollar fine, and how many fines last year?

Uh 10?

14?

You go back.

Would a would a reward for the person who called in for information, a percentage of that fine, would that work to incentivize?

Because I think some people are afraid to call because they don't want to call on their neighbors.

They're afraid it's gonna come back to them somehow.

And I I understand that.

But but I'm just wondering, is there something that the city council can do to give police officers more of a fight in this game?

Well, we just started imposing the fines, correct last year?

We we started this effort several years ago now, but yes, like I mentioned, um it is sometimes hard to issue that citation for the person having possession of that illegal firework if need be.

Well, that's something we can consider.

Um what is city manager's thoughts, attorney?

I would just this is a presentation.

This isn't meant to get a lot of direction, so um we'd have to bring something like that back at a future date.

Do you mind doing that?

Do you mind bringing it back?

I think a couple of comments from council on the LT said, but bring it back.

Summer's current, but maybe after the 4th of July to see what what impact our efforts had.

And Mayor Council, I just want to um give you an update I got or information from our city prosecutor.

So we did start in 2021, start imposing the fines.

Before that, we used to do diversion and just but I think you got well some the direction was to enforce.

So we started doing convictions with $500 fines.

So the fine is $500.

All right.

Veronica.

Thank you, uh Lieutenant Barney for the presentation.

I just want to commend the Avondale Police Department.

That was happening in my neighborhood and uh, or probably my uh Curtis's neighborhood.

And it was an off month, it wasn't even a month of uh 4th of July or uh New Year's.

And I I would see I'd hear it because it wake me up about two o'clock, three o'clock in the morning.

And I was like, that just sounds really close.

But what happened, it wasn't even in my neighborhood, it was actually across the street in a different neighborhood.

And I kept calling, and our in the neighborhood, uh, there's a neighborhood app the next door, and my neighbors kept on complaining about the same area.

Eventually we were able to all kind of just make sure that we contacted the police.

I said, we have to contact our um non-emergency line and make sure that we catch them.

You guys did catch them, and I you guys were able to take care of that for the entire neighborhood because it was probably affecting the cashing community, the community in between cash and right behind Fries, and then the Coal Water Ridge community, which is my community.

So all of us were hearing it, and it would they were going off at two or three in the morning.

So everything everything you guys did to um ensure that that happens.

I know that you take that type of care every 4th of July andor um new year.

So thank you.

Thank you, Baronica.

Max.

All right, Max, I'm gonna go to Curtis, I'll come back to you.

Curtis, any thoughts?

Yeah, just a couple I was assuming that with all these that you put up here, you know, where these places are.

I'm looking at the is there a place that you could, you know, where there's a higher propensity of these things to happen, a focus area.

And if you put an aerial drone up there, I mean, if you know all 50 of them are happening here and the rest of them are spread out, I don't know that this, you know, just a focus area.

So that you could put your drone up there at eight o'clock at night or nine o'clock at night, and would that help at all if you know, just focused in one area where there's a higher propensity of those things going off in the past.

Mayor Vicework Council, thank you.

That's a great question.

Thank you.

That is a tactic that we use.

So a lot of times we deploy our officers within neighborhoods, sometimes in unmarked vehicles, um, to get if there's a specific area that we wanted to target because we see a lot of aerials in the specific area, we may sit on that area and just kind of watch it.

That's where we may deploy the drone and kind of just narrow it down a little more to focus on a specific either block street or house and and kind of start targeting that specific area.

Um but like you mentioned, it's sometimes it is a little harder if it's in the air, you're trying to figure out okay, is it here, there, where, and we try to slow it down and and target that specific area.

Some of these people just don't want to get involved.

Even with HOAs, they don't want to get involved.

Uh but if that if you're gonna do social media blasts and things like that, maybe you could put if you don't haven't already, that non-emergency number there, so that it's more freely available.

A lot of people don't know why a lot of residents don't know that there is a non-emergency number, and if maybe you just put that on on your your blast or whatever you wanted to do, that if you hear these things, call this number.

It's non-emergency, there's no problem with it, not through that.

Absolutely well, and anybody could also be anonymous as well when they call us to say I want to be anonymous, but I know that this person here, this location is shooting off illegal fireworks.

The mayor, I don't know you'd mentioned something about you know giving those who who called in or something.

I mean you have a $50 gift card for Amazon or something like that.

So that was just a suggestion to thank you.

Ronna, thank you for your presentation.

Um, like Veronica, I'd like to commend you guys because I feel like you have come a long way in certain neighborhoods.

I know that we celebrated uh 4th of July in my parents' neighborhood of Roosevelt Park, and it's really bad there all year long.

All year long.

And I think just like the rest of council has echoed, sometimes people don't want to call because you're placed if you call a non-emergency, and I will be the first to tell you, you're put on a hold sometimes longer than usual, especially on holidays.

As Curtis stated, uh a lot of people know that you have that non-emergency number.

I know that recently I went to, I forget what event it was, but it was recent where there was a magnet that said what to call non-emergency for.

And we learned it in the Citizens Academy, I think with you as well.

But I think now would be a good time to uh maybe this is a wrong thing, a marketing piece that you know we use that non-emergency number in a we all know Pierre and her people are good with the graphics and putting that out there for people in case if you know you hear fireworks or they're going off or whatever you can call this number so that people feel like there's a number to be called.

I think if we address the issue with someone to call or an you know any given piece that might be online, it might be in social media.

I know PD does a wonderful job with their social media.

Um, someone to get behind it and really kind of make what what would we call like a campaign for Fourth of July on saying, like you know, the safety of for everyone, you know, just illegal fireworks and stuff do that.

Thank you, Laura.

Thank you.

I think it's pretty clear up here that uh for another time and discussion that counselor does have the appetite to try and work through this.

But in the meantime, I just think it's great that you brought to the attention.

Um, and thank you so much, Lieutenant Lopez, in regards to the presentation, because when I talk to members of the community, one of the comments often is why are we not doing enough to stop the fireworks?

Or why do we not see officers here, there, and everywhere?

And it's clear that you know it's kind of like whack-a-mole.

You show up and it's either stopped or it's starting in another area.

And I mean, we can only you uh all can only do what you can do.

And so for that fact, I think this is a great opportunity to communicate to the public that you're aware, you take this seriously.

Um, you know, our public safety takes it seriously, and as a counselor, we take it seriously in regards to the safety of the residents, but um there's more that can be done.

And so uh I don't want to belabor the point, but just thank you for sharing awareness that you are following up on leads.

You do you know, uh go to the areas that are being uh announced or at least um you know demonstrating there's an issue.

But sometimes by the time you get there, it's over with, and just that whole issue still persists.

So thank you for sharing.

And I and I know people who are fans of fireworks, and this is in no way derogatory toward them.

It's not.

But I talked to people who are at the American Legion Post 61, and they relive some of the most horrible days of their lives on New Year's Eve and 4th of July with what they hear.

And I don't think people grasp that enough.

We can talk about pets, we can talk about um dogs hiding underneath the bed and babies and everything else, but there are people who are out there who are incredibly impacted by what happens on these two holidays.

And I think if people knew more about that, they would have more sympathy and empathy for the people in their community.

So, Max, I'm gonna go to you last if that's okay.

Yes, I'm here.

Um, Mayor, if you can just show me a thumbs up.

I wanted to thank Lieutenant Lopez and the chief um for the awesome presentation.

Max, you're good.

I am okay, perfect.

I also um I'm very concerned about the impact on um I have a few neighbors who are veterans, and the um when the when the fireworks go off, it takes them back to a war zone, unfortunately.

And and that seems like they're complaining about a non-issue, but I have never fought in the war, and I have never been in a place where I'm constantly hearing um guns going off.

So I just I want us to be sensitive to that because sometimes people are really just going through traumatic events sitting at home.

I'm very also concerned about some of our operations issues.

They are burning up roads.

I think that's what I found uh most recently.

Um in my home, I saw um the remains of fireworks that had gone off uh already.

So I'm just concerned with kind of the after-effects of the fireworks.

No, I don't want to raid on anybody's 4th of July at all.

I want people to have a good time.

We have light up the skies.

I want to encourage as many people to come out and participate in that free event.

I think that would be awesome for them to be able to see beautiful fireworks they don't have to pay for in a community space and really enhance our community.

Those are even troublesome for some people to hear, but at least we know they're controlled and that they're safe.

To see the exhibit of the legal fireworks, those things that are legal can still damage our communities.

Those things that are legal can still cause fires.

So if they're not used correctly, we just have to be aware of that.

So I'm I'm really appreciating the media blitz that's going out with the seven cities in the West Valley.

I'm just really hoping that we can encourage people to act and react the right way on the 4th of July, being conscious of all of the people that might be impacted in the infrastructure in our city that can be impacted as well.

Thank you so much, Mayor.

Thank you.

And thank you again to PD for the partnerships.

LT, anything last any last thing we should know?

No, sir.

Uh we will be out that evening, like I mentioned, so we'll be conducting these educations ahead of time and enforcement as needed.

And Ron, just I think Vice Versailles perfectly there's an appetite to discuss this further after the holiday and see where we're at.

I hope so now and my hopes are that the numbers are significantly down.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Item number three is unscheduled public appearances, and I do have a few cards.

Um I know a big part of the discussion is about a um a mental health home that is going to or is planned in some part of our city.

Um I want to let you know that the two gentlemen you just saw up here, um LT and Chief will meet with you after if you wish to.

And I'm also gonna have our intergov uh Liz talk with you to kind of give you some insight into what departments might be a good outreach for this.

So um in some cases the city of Avondale's hands are tied.

So I do want to start out with Gonzalo.

It's good seeing you again, sir.

Thank you.

We didn't be heard, just state your name for the record.

My name is Gonzalo Ortiz, I live at 10701 West Hopi in Cash In and Avondale.

I've been a long resident there since 1970.

Anyway, um I'm here to to uh uh to thank you know everybody in the city of Avondale and the whole community, you know.

Uh not only the the councils and the the mayor, they have been very supportive.

And what I'm talking about is St.

Williams, St.

Visity Paul.

St.

Williams was uh burned down on May the 1st at one o'clock in the morning.

And uh the of course, you know, the first responder was this uh the fire department, the fire department.

And uh I had heard, you know, that uh the fire department was trying to save you know St.

Williams, you know, but I think it was just impossible, you know.

I mean, it just burned down to to the ground, you know.

And uh also uh we've had some um fire department uh members that have donated, you know, uh gift cards to uh to Savan City Paul and um uh and also uh um Riggs.

I think he's in charge of the uh of the um charity.

He brought us uh some uh some um uh gift cards too.

And also uh I just want to throw this in.

Uh um Captain Christina Lopez came over to our uh the uh Mercy House and presented us with uh some gift cards, you know, and uh she also volunteered for us too.

I mean, we were really, really grateful for that.

And not only just the fire department, uh the whole community and uh has come you know close uh to help us out, you know.

And um we we do have a lot of response, you know, not only just in the the whole valley, you know, a lot of the uh conferences in the uh in the Metropolitan, there's quite a few same as a DePaul conference, and they've been very generous, you know, to help us out, you know.

And I also want to bring up um Mercy House Community Center.

We um yeah, we have to thank her because she came and asked us, you know, if we wanted to use the uh the Mercy House and I said, sure, you know, so we're there every uh every Wednesday to give out you know the food and and also if they need any help with utilities and stuff like that, you know.

So and uh but she's been very, very grateful.

We would just like to thank the whole community here in Avondale, you know.

Um this is Alice uh Samaripa, you know.

She's she was a postmaster there in Cashin, and I asked her to come aboard the same visit Paul, and well, she turned me down twice, but the third time is pushing.

But she's at the right time when all this happened, so yeah, I'm new to this, but it's been uh an experience I would never expect.

And we're grateful for everybody who supported us with the fundraisers we had over the weekend and was raised three thousand dollars.

Just in a little two weekends.

So thank you for everybody to everybody for helping us out.

You're you're you're part and I can't comment a lot, but you're part of the community.

St.

Williams has been a part of the community for generations.

Our hope, and I know that it will get rebuilt, and you have the thoughts of prayers of everyone up here and the entire Avondale community, and please let us know how we can help some more.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

I just want to thank you.

You know, thank you uh board uh the the council, the vice mayor and the council members supporting us and the uh fundraiser there at uh Al's house.

You know, she was very generous to to use her place, and and we did great.

Can I can I ask who won the TV?

Oh, not yet.

Not till Father's Day.

Okay.

All right.

Okay, I just want to make sure.

All right, I'm just checking.

Okay, thank you.

All right.

We had a joke that Pep Guzman was gonna win it because Pep Guzman wins everything.

So that was great.

Um can I have the people who'd like to come down and speak about the uh mental home uh in their area?

Whoever wants to speak.

I have one, two, three, four comments.

Mayor, I believe it's Leo and then Diana are here to speak.

Okay, and the other ones are uh do not wish to speak.

Yeah, Kaleo says no, this is okay.

No, we're good here.

Okay.

And who would ever like to come down and speak, please?

And I do have one request to speak from Renee Bryant, but she did not list what she wanted to speak about.

Okay.

Um so if Renee is here, you're welcome to approach the podium at this time.

Thank you.

Sir, do you mind just saying your name for the record?

Absolutely.

My name is Leo James Eckdoll.

I live at 1221, 117th Drive in Avondale, Arizona, in the Coldwater Ridge community.

The reason why I came here is recently I moved to Avondale.

I've owned the home down here for some time, but after 61 years of living in Seattle, Washington, I decided to move down here.

And I love it here.

I really do.

Um recently, I found out from Diana, my neighbor, that two doors down from me, uh, someone purchased a home and is trying to get permits obtained to put a SMI or severely mental ill housing unit in one of the large homes.

Two doors down.

I believe safety for children should always be the first priority.

We have Estella Vista Elementary, which is just two blocks from that home.

Littleton Elementary School, which is exactly behind my residence, two doors down from this residence.

And then of course we have La Jolla Community High School, which is within walking distance.

We have countl, we have countless parents with growing children, many grandparents who watch their grandchildren, and we should be concerned.

And the ones that know about this are concerned.

After doing some research, the individual that enter these homes have been released from either a site psych psychic ward, thank you, rehabilitation facility, and or prison.

After reading an article about an SMI, I read that day-to-day operations living in these homes are unpredictable.

The residents go into psychosis and their behavior can be combative.

In this article, there is a story about a resident becoming suicidal and going out in the middle of the street and tying up that street for hours.

We have families in our neighborhood with children on their bikes and roller skates, and they should not be subjected to this behavior.

Um Mayor, I want to thank you for uh directing us towards some resources to try to uh see what we can do about this.

But uh I if there's anything that uh somebody can do for us, I'd uh appreciate it.

And again, without commenting, uh we will give all the resources that the city of Avondale can to help you with this.

Respectfully, thank you.

Ma'am, would you mind stating your name for the record?

My name is Diana Duke.

And I live right next door to the property that's being considered.

I just wrote a letter.

First of all, I want to thank the mayor's office and the Avondale Police Department, Curtis Nelson.

The day that I called and my HOA, every one of them got back to me within 12 hours.

And I was amazed, and I thank you for that.

The uh mayor's office told me that they would contact the police department and the department of services, which they did because I received uh a call from Lieutenant Lopez that same day.

I'm just gonna read my letter.

It has come to my attention that the property directly to the east of me is preparing to become to become a group home for mentally ill.

I have contacted HOA, the mayor's office, Congressman Gravala.

And a city council meet member, which was uh Curtis Nelson.

I have been working with the Avondale Police Department as well.

They have investigated, and it ha appears that this resident has not applied yet for application or permit.

The house that I'm referring to is right next door to me.

It's a two-story house.

Where anyone living in that home has access to looking into my backyard, possibly into my windows, and this is very disheartening and frightening to me.

I do live alone.

Um I'm sure that there's places or and that are not surrounded by neighborhoods and schools that could easily house these folks that are in need of help.

I'm certainly not against helping anyone.

I have two teenage granddaughters that spend quite a bit of time with me, and I am concerned as Leo is for the safety of the children.

It's my desire to stop this home from being introduced to our neighborhood and causing stress and possible danger to it.

Um like I said, I'm I'm not against helping those in need.

People that are on drugs and need help, and alcoholics that need help.

If they had a place to go to, that would be wonderful.

But my mother died at 55 because of alcoholism because she couldn't get help.

So I'm not against helping, but I am terrified of having unstable people living next door to me.

So ma'am, you you did fantastic.

Thank you.

You did great.

Um LT Chief, Liz, do you mind meeting the group out in the back?

Is there anybody else in the back who wanted to comment?

Do you have one Yvonne?

And then anyone else who's here for unscheduled public appearance, you're welcome to come forward.

Ma'am, do you mind stating your name for the record?

Hello, my name is Yvonne Hopper, and I live in the Coldwater Ridge community.

Hi, Veronica, neighbor and Curtis, it's nice to see you.

Um yes, I just wanted to also address my concerns.

I do live on that street, and I have gone through this.

I've been in a resident of uh Avondale for 20 years, and have seen my fair share of what comes with a group home.

And just being that, I understand there are rights that they do have, which is totally I'm in the health care field, they are entitled to that oversight and they have that protection, but I also ask for our protection too, because it is very disheartening and frustrating to come out of your home and be asked to bum a cigarette or to see the fire ambulance there at least once a week when you have family and friends over.

It really does disturb the quality of life in our neighborhood.

So I know that these homes and our demographics probably do make for affordable housing to purchase and make these group homes.

But within the C C and Rs of our HOA, it does say that you can't conduct business, and our HOA is directing us out.

So we're coming to you for help, assistance, direction.

So I kindly ask that you look at this situation as it's being right next door to you.

You know, we're here, we've we trust in you to deliver on your promises of serving us.

So I just kindly ask that you guys just give us everything you got.

And we thank you for your service.

We thank you for your time and consideration to our request, our request.

It's good seeing you again.

Thank you.

Always thank you.

Chief are you good now?

Okay.

Folks, if you don't mind, they'll meet you out in the lobby.

Liz, thank you.

Mr.

Mayor, if I can ask our planning uh manager to also go out who um might be able to assist and tell them what the city uh is currently doing.

That would be great.

Thank you, Ron.

Marcel, I think that's it for unscheduled for this issue for um unscheduled public appearance, public comment.

Correct, Mayor.

We do have two requests to speak for agenda item 5B.

And you're going to read those?

Yes, I will read those.

Um item number four is consent agenda.

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

Hearing none, can I get a motion for the consent agenda, please?

I have a motion from Councilmember Nielsen, a second from the Vice Mayor.

Please vote.

Aye, yes.

Thanks, Max.

Passes 70.

Thank you, Council.

Item number 5A and 5B will not be presented together, but they are similar in nature.

Ron, item 5A, please.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor and Council.

Up uh is Renee, she'll be presenting both items.

Um I'll turn it over to uh your finance and budget director.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council.

I am here tonight to present this item is purpose is to hold a public hearing for the proposed property tax levy, which is called the truth and taxation hearing.

Um truth and taxation is basically required when you're levying more than you did the prior year.

Now per statute, the levy can increase annually up to 2%.

And there are some public notice requirements that result from this.

So in the looking at the property tax, property tax is made up of two parts, the first being the primary property tax, which is used for general purpose, and the um secondary tax, which is solely for the purpose of repaying um bond principal and interest.

Um but tonight for this purpose we're going to focus on the primary tax.

So on this chart that you're looking at, you're seeing what our current year fiscal 24 levy and rates are.

So from left to right, our proposed levy for next year would be just over 4 million compared to the 3.7.

That does represent a levy increase of 300,000.

But if you keep going, you can see what our rate is doing.

The rate for 24 was 63.73 cents, and the rate for next year is proposed to go down to 62.41 cents.

So that is a result of the increase in property values, which gets applied to that rate.

So when you're adding in our secondary property tax, it will generate just under 9.5 million for the 25 budget.

When you look at the total property tax bill by jurisdiction, you can see that included in there are the school districts, the county, as well as special districts.

So what you're looking at here is just one sample of one property owner in the city of Avondale with their most recent bill.

And the city in this case represented just over 11% of that entire property bill.

So with that, our recommendation tonight is to conduct a public hearing, a truth in taxation hearing, and upon conclusion of the public hearing to have a roll call vote to set forth the intent to raise property tax levies.

And then the council action for that levy would not occur until two weeks after the budget adoption.

Renee, thank you for that.

I'm gonna go ahead and open up the public hearing on this issue.

Marcelo, do you mind reading the two comments that were received from the public?

Thank you, Mayor.

The requests to speak are for the next agenda item.

Or 5A, we have not received any requests to speak.

Can I go ahead and close the public hearing on this issue?

You know, Ray Renee several years ago, um council had used Mike's term here, had put forth an appetite to raise the property tax every year to get to somewhere around a dollar eighty.

And I'm thinking that was probably seven or eight years ago from what I remember, and we're still at a dollar forty-five.

Um obviously we're making it work with the funds that we've allocated the two percent.

I I think people look at the two percent, and Ron and I are of the same mind of this.

Is the two percent is if you don't increase the two percent the full amount, then it comes.

Even if you raise it 2% going forward, you still lost that dollar amount and it compounds over those years.

So you've lost that revenue that goes forward.

When we look at our property tax rate, how does it compare to other cities in the West Valley?

Um I would say that we're probably on the lower end.

Um we do have in our financial policy the cap of the two dollars, but when we're looking at our forecasted rate, we are seeing that because of property values.

We are seeing that trend of that property tax rate going down.

And I knew, and we've always tried when we look at our water rates.

We try and keep our water rates at the lower end, we try and do mild increases when it comes to property tax.

You're you're seeing the actual rate go down over previous year, which is not unusual for this council.

It's gone down several times since you guys have all been on council.

So I know there's some we hear from people sometimes about oh, you're raising property rates or property taxes.

We aren't.

We're trying to we're trying to keep a baseline there so we can still provide city services and still be fiscally responsible to the city.

So I I appreciate that.

Ums from council on this.

Seeing none, can I get a um motion, please?

And mayor, it is no motion on this at all, right?

No, there is a motion.

That's my thought.

And it is a roll call vote, so I will do a roll call vote at this time.

Councilmember Condi.

Aye.

Councilmember Malone.

Aye, Councilmember Nielsen.

Aye.

Councilmember Solario.

Councilmember White.

Vice Mayor Paneda.

Mayor Weiss.

Hi, and just for the record, let me say that Councilmember Salorial made the motion, and Councilmember Nielsen second it.

Thank you.

Renee, item B, please.

All right.

So, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council.

I am also here tonight to present our proposed fee changes for fiscal year 2025.

So there are some posting requirements which were met.

We did post um our our proposed fees on the city website on April 3rd.

It's required to be done 60 days prior to any council action.

Um we also posted notice on May 15th on social media, which is required at least 15 days prior to council action, and then we are requesting the adoption of the proposed fees tonight.

We did receive one formal public comment that was included in the council agenda, and we will be addressing it later in this presentation.

So staff reviewed the fees and recommended changes from the following departments, and I will go through a little bit of the highlights from the actual fees that were proposed from these departments.

Uh the first being in police.

So overall, there uh were some eliminating of outdated fees no longer used, simplifying the fees that we currently have, and then updating some fees to account for um updated pricing.

In both parks and the public work solid waste, we do have a couple of new fees being proposed, the memorial bench as well as some pickup and fee and uh container replacement.

In the development services under both the the building division and the planning division, there are various fees being updated to reflect actual costs and that actually align with some surrounding communities.

Under the building division specifically, there's a couple of new fees being proposed for a temporary certificate of occupancy, as well as an application processing fee.

And in the planning division uh group housing registration as well as assigned packaging fee.

In the engineering service, um, similar things occurred where new fees were being developed to reflect actual costs and to align with surrounding communities, and those fees include pavement cut fees, telecom fees, traffic control plan fees, and sewer verification.

So this was the area that our public comment addressed.

And so at this time, I'm going to turn it over to our city engineer, Kim Moon.

Hi, good evening, Mayor and Council.

This is uh a quick overview of the uh comments received on some of the engineering fees proposed in the current fee schedule.

So I get my notes here.

The cities received comments in three of the fees in the proposed fee schedule for telecommunications projects, specifically the plan review fee, the construction permit fee for boring, and the construction permit fee for handhold vaults.

Before I started here in Avondale, the engineering department had assembled a telecommunications team called the Fiber Force.

And to review to review recent in inquiries and trends related to the fiber projects here in Navendale.

Additionally, city staff has ongoing meetings with telecommunications companies regarding feedback on agreements, design process, construction details methods, and associated fees.

We also have collaborated with other agencies on industry trends, shared experiences, new ideas, and best practices, including review of fee schedules of neighboring cities and other agencies as shown here in the spreadsheet.

Overall, city staff is recommending changes to the fee schedule to create new fees for pavement cuts, traffic control, sewer verification, and a new section specifically for telecommunication.

As part of the new telecom section, in response to feedback from fiber companies and to help reduce costs, a new fee was created for soft landscape potholing splice pit of $15 per hole, in addition to the hardscape potholing at $50 a whole.

Other telecom fees are proposed for implementation.

Uh and they have no increase at this time.

In our city and other cities, the number of fiber projects are projected to increase, and construction methods for how to install telecommunications infrastructure continues to change over time.

City staff will continue to promote communication and sharing of information with our partners in the telecommunication industry on the cost of providing services, competition in the market, and how we compare with the fee structures of other agencies.

On the slides overhead are some graphics and photos for some of the fees in the new telecommunications section of the fee schedule.

A flower pot is another term for a small handhold vault or box, so you can see in the graphic, the more typical larger box that you may see in your neighborhoods, and a flower pot is a term that some of the telecommunications uh uh firms use for the smaller handhold.

Boring is uh if you look in the photo, there's an example of uh construction boring where they uh put a conduit under existing infrastructure without impacting the infrastructure, hopefully, uh, and without digging a ditch and disrupting uh uh the existing pavement and travel lanes.

These types of items and associated fees sound simple and generic, but staff still needs to inspect the installation of these devices.

Fees are to help cover the cost of inspections and any corrections associated with those fiber infrastructure installations.

Staff recommends the revisions to the fee schedule as proposed and will continue to work with the telecommunications industry so Avondale can be competitive in the market and to help ensure quality services to the residents and businesses of Avondale.

So before I turn it back over to Renee, I'm happy to answer any questions about the engineering fees.

Kim, how long were the previous fees put into place?

How long have they existed?

Uh several years.

They haven't been updated in a while.

Um and I think that's when you look at the jump, it's a significant jump across the board.

Let's not kid ourselves, it is.

But I think that's where having those reviews, and not saying we haven't, but I think having those reviews on a regular basis really does help us avoid these dramatic increases where it gets the attention of people, even though now we're less than most of the cities, if not all of them, when it comes to these type of reviews.

So I would just ask that moving forward, we're a little bit more aggressive on these as we inspect them.

Any comments from council?

Okay.

All right, thank you.

I'm gonna turn it back over to Renee.

So you got the the exciting part of it out of the way, and now it's back to Renan.

I love that kind of we're good, we're good.

So that Mayor Vice.

Well, do you want to say that louder?

Hold on, say it louder.

That was a good dad joke.

Maybe that was a little bit boring.

Okay, it was.

It was engaging.

Renee.

Thank you.

Mayor Vicemor and Council.

Um, with that, the recommendation is for council to adopt resolution 1054-0624 to approve the fiscal year 2025 summary of proposed fee changes.

And then the next steps would be to post the new schedule prior to July 1 with it going into effect on July 1.

So, Renee, before we get into public comment, do you know why the jalapeno put on a jacket?

No.

Because he was a little chilly.

Thank you.

Marcella.

Thank you, Mayor.

At this time, I'll read the public comments.

Okay, the first comment is from Greg with the last name as submitted as DISART.

And I quote, to pay for a police report about my local street, a $5 report slash a day cost is un-American.

Voters expect that our government will provide transparency and not fee out a citizen from understanding city safety issues.

Taxpayers fund our sit our police to report back to citizens.

In a voting year, listen to voters.

We will vote against those who vote to prevent open data and worse, make money a barrier to freedom of information.

We appeal to council being mindful that inflation is costing us all more than we can absorb.

Voters expect the government to do more with less as we all endure each trip to the local grocery store.

Voters don't want memorial park benches.

Voters only get a four-day work week for from city staff.

Voters don't need to pay for police reports, and voters don't want the city council to approve any property tax increases until you cut back first on all department expenditures.

Vote no on more spending and vote yes on resolutions to restore a common sense approach to each of the city of Avondale.

Cut costs first.

That was the first one.

And then the second request to speak was submitted anonymously.

It just says Avondale voter.

And I quote, in the economic environment, it is a failure of the city council to raise rates rather than cutting budgets.

There is no reason to add city staff.

Approve projects that are high in job creation and stop allowing city staff to spend tax dollar taxpayer dollars doing work outside of the scope of their jobs.

When the recycling truck spills trash all over the street, not one of two people in the truck stopped to clean up the mess.

Seems like you could cut one of those jobs.

Voters will elect candidates according to how they vote on issues affecting our communities leading into the next elections for mayor and city council.

The city council and mayor should vote no to adopt new fees that will crush working households across Amoidale.

End quote.

Any new ones at all, Rossella?

Thank you, Mayor.

I have not received any additional requests to speak.

So I I think this council has to.

My opinion is the fee schedule has been worked on for months.

I think it has to be voted on.

In my opinion, I'm going to vote for it.

With that being said, I think there has to be an in-depth review of fee structures in the city of Avondale without stepping on the city manager's feet.

But I think there's some things that we can look at.

When we look at a five dollar feel fee for a police report, is there anything how many police reports were done over the last year in the city of Avondale?

What is the cost of retrieving a police report?

What are all those things that are involved?

And I think we have to look at that and say, okay, which fees can we live with, which fees can't we?

Which fees do we need to eliminate and which fees do we keep?

And I don't think that's for tonight.

I think that's a very long process.

That's a multi-meeting process.

It's gathering information from other cities, it's doing report.

There's a lot there.

So I I think for me tonight, um I'm okay with what I see here with the understanding that at some point in the next few months we're gonna come back and look at these fees and say what makes sense, what doesn't, because I will tell you the one that I look at, and I'm okay with it right now because we don't do a lot of these fees.

But if I'm a victim of a crime and I have to pay five dollars to get the report, I feel like I'm being victimized again in some small aspect of that.

Now if it's a lawsuit for a case, I I think the attorney should have to pay for that.

I uh I'm okay with that.

So I think council has to dive into some things that are a little bit deeper than we can tonight.

Thank you for that, Mr.

Mayor.

Um first of all, victims get it for free.

Okay, good.

Um so they wouldn't be they wouldn't be charged for that.

But um it's really a policy decision if council wants to not charge fees or or charge fees, and and I would prefer to do that at a work session.

Then hand picking one or two to subsidize this and not subsidize that.

We um currently have a philosophy to charge for uh these kinds of services.

Um but if council wishes to change that direction, again um the minor ones we wouldn't have to make any budget adjustments, but you know um a lot of our one-time projects, the parks and different buildings um are paid for from one-time fees.

So we have to be very careful of the of the road we go down of which ones we're limiting going.

But I'd be happy to bring this back at a work session at some point and get uh policy direction from council.

And I appreciate you coming on commenting on the victim fee because I think that's important for the public to know that.

So, council, are we okay with bringing this back sometime in the future, like the next few months, and having council have maybe one or two work sessions at this and really decide what we want to do.

And what I've asked Ron is to have this after the July 30th election, maybe in September, and have any new council members who might be on board be part of that input and discussion since they're going to have to live with this budget-wise going forward and the new mayor also.

So Ron, thank you for that.

Can I get a motion on this item, please?

I have a motion from Councilmember Nielsen, a second from the Vice Mayor.

Any further discussion?

Seeing none, please vote.

Thank you.

Thank you, Max.

Pass the 7-0.

Summary of current events.

I have one that's happening this Saturday, and it's happening at 8-bit Aleworks.

Um it is a fundraiser for our um I think if I believe her first name was Sarah's for Sarah Selby.

And they're throwing a fundraiser.

I know PD is gonna be there.

They're donating 25% of whatever beers are sold that night uh to the Selby family.

So it's on their Facebook page.

I know I think PD is doing some work with them.

So if anybody can make it out on Saturday night and help support the Selby family, that would be incredible.

Anyone else?

Tina?

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, I just want us to say um shout out to Parks and Recreation.

Today was the first day of our Avondell summer camp, and Daniela attended and came home exhausted.

So great job, Parks and Rec.

Thank you.

And I did get some feedback from some other residents.

They're very grateful for the new program.

Um lady in particular, she's has one son at home, and she said I did not know what I was gonna do with him this summer because you know it's just me and him, and she was very thankful for the program.

So again, thank you so much.

I think um hopefully we can get some additional uh folks registered for the next couple sessions.

So thank you.

Ron?

I do want to piggyback on that.

So me and Tina have always been out in the neighborhoods in the community, and when we're out there, this is finally came came through.

It's happened.

Um that was one of the major requests we get.

What is the city of Avondale going to do?

And that just takes me back to my recreation days when I used to pay a quarter to go to recreation.

But it gives kids um gets them off the street, it gives them something to do.

I'm happy that Daniel was tired, probably with yeah, all the other kids that were tired.

So I'm so happy that you guys did this.

Thanks.

What else?

Max.

I won't get a chance to send off Brian, so I just wanted to thank him for all he's done for Parks and Rec.

And I'm so excited with the programming that's gonna go forward.

Uh bon boyage.

And we will see you, Brian, tomorrow night.

Okay.

Any other comments?

Anything?

Can I get a motion to adjourn?

I have a motion from the vice mayor, a second from councilmember Nielsen.

Any further discussion?

Seeing none, please vote.

Aye.

Sorry, Max, I I adjourned before you said aye.

Councilmember Falora.

We are adjourned.

Everyone be safe getting home, please.