He is not working, he likes to spend time traveling with his wife and children and being outdoors.

So please welcome Travis to our humble city.

Next we have Justin Schumann, if he could step forward, please.

Justin grew up in Glendale, which we do not hold that against him.

Arizona, and he was a firefighter.

He recently, this is very interesting, so you got to really pay attention.

He before taking the job with us, he retired as the Arizona Cardinals mascot big red.

Come on now.

I have to know if there's like if that's like a record, if there's like a hall of fame for mascots.

And then Big Red for nine years.

But I don't have where you were a teacher or coach.

Last one was Valley Vista High School and Surprise.

Okay.

He has a master's degree.

He also coached at the collegiate level, which I don't know where.

Greenville University in Southern Illinois.

All right.

You're married to Kaylee, and you have an 18-month-old daughter named Hazley.

Hazley.

He's very exact excited to serve the citizens of Avondale.

By the way, I'm reading these, they wrote them.

Jeremy Mata.

We're very proud to have Jeremy here.

He's a hometown boy.

He grew up in Avondale, Arizona.

He previously worked as equipment manager for Agua Fria High School and served six years in the military.

And thank you for your service.

Thank you, sir.

Firefighter Mata is a third-generation Avondaler.

I guess that's not what you would say, but he is married to his wife Marissa and has two uh beautiful children, Charlotte and Dawson.

Next is Brendan Hartley.

Brendan grew up in Peoria, Arizona.

Uh firefighter Hartley previously worked as an EMT in the medical service division with uh Arizona Fire and Medical Authority.

As well as having spent five years as a personal trainer.

So are you handing out cards after this?

I forgot I wrote that.

Okay.

All right.

Thank you for your time.

That's all he wrote.

Chief, we got to give him a chance because he was speechless there.

So come on back up.

Come on up.

He looks like he's in good shape, though, Mayor.

I think he could he could.

So where'd you go?

Where'd you go to high school?

Wow.

Where'd you go to high school in Peoria?

Uh I actually went to high school in Glendale Mountain Ridge.

Okay.

Good deal.

Welcome aboard.

Thank you, Mayor.

You can go now.

We have so much fun here.

Ramon, please step forward.

Come arena.

Did I say that right?

Yes, sir.

Oh, thanks.

Would you tell me if I said it wrong?

Yes, sir.

Okay.

Ramon grew up in Avondale.

Um he previously worked as an automotive tech and graduated from Ottawa for you high school.

So we have a couple of hometown boys in this group.

Let's see.

He went to Australia Mountain Community College.

The very first fire truck he ever saw was an Avondale fire truck.

He grew up in Old Town.

And so he remembers attending Billy Moore days and seeing Avondale firefighters as the pavement divers, and he and he can't get that out of his head.

And I understand that why.

Whatever happened to the pavement divers.

I don't know.

I've never seen it.

They've got to be on YouTube somewhere.

It was awesome.

Well, I have seen it on YouTube.

I didn't see it personally.

Chief, now you know what's going to happen in 2024 for Billy Morgan.

I think Chris Spiers in the back and he can set it up.

That's right.

Thank you, Ramon.

Thanks, sir.

Next we have John Tompkins.

John grew up in Snellville, Georgia, and moved to Arizona when he was 17 years old.

He previously worked as a paramedic at Scottsdale Osborne Emergency Department and has two associates' degree in paramedicine and fire operations.

Firefighter Tompkins has an identical twin brother who works for Avondale Fire and Medical named Josh.

And this is why I make them put their names on their shirts.

Okay, so right now, right now the council's not saying anything, but we're looking at HR.

You're not pulling our leg right now.

You're absolutely serious.

I am not pulling your leg.

They're called the Twin Towers?

Okay.

That's awesome.

Is that what we audience?

I've heard that a few times.

So, Mr.

Mayor, just to clarify for the record, uh the city staff don't recommend calling employees by nicknames.

We prefer to use their uh given names so that we don't get in trouble by calling them things like Twin Towers.

So I won't share with you that a lot of them call John Ditto.

You're the youngest?

Yes, sir, I am.

Okay.

Um most importantly, uh John just got married to his wife Kaylee.

On purpose.

I think we need John to sit down now.

But John, thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

And now we have something really special for you.

We're going to announce Christina Lopez is the new fire captain.

Christina's been with us for six years.

And after I do the introductions, we're going to do the swearing in and the pinning ceremony.

I really thank Christina too, because when she wrote hers, she did extra large font.

So it makes it a lot easier for me to read.

Christina was born and raised in Phoenix.

She obtained her bachelor's degree from NAU prior to starting her career here in Avondale.

In her six years with the fire department, she's been very busy and has worked as a mentor for the new recruit firefighters at the academy and also mentoring students at Avondale Middle School.

Christina has completed both paramedic and TRT programs and served as a secretary for Avondale Firefighters Association.

She also volunteers much of her time giving back to the community with the Firefighters Charity.

She is the favorite aunt to her four nieces and nephews.

The favorite, and uh looks forward to continuing her growth within the department and taking on new roles in this leadership role.

Christina, just for clarification, how many aunts do your four nieces have?

Five?

Oh okay, so that's quite okay, good.

I just want to make sure.

But she's the favorite, Mayor.

So with that, we'll go ahead and have you sworn in and then we'll do the penny.

All of you want to have a seat.

You're more than welcome to.

Yeah.

Okay.

Go ahead and raise your right hand and repeat after me.

I solemnly swear.

I will support the Constitution.

I will support the Constitution of the United States.

The constitutional laws and the state affairs, I'm not the Constitution and Laws of the State of Arizona.

The Charter of the City of Avondale.

The Charter of the City of Avondale.

That I will bear truth, faith.

And allegiance to the same.

And allegiance to the same.

And defend them against all enemies.

And defend them against all enemies.

Foreign and domestic.

Foreign and domestic.

And that I will faithfully.

And that I will faithfully.

And impartially.

Discharge the duties.

Discharge the duties.

Of the Office of Fire Captain.

Representing the city of Avondale.

According to the best of my ability.

According to the best of my ability.

So help me God.

Congratulations.

Congratulations.

Hey Christina, would you mind if council came down and took a picture with you?

Yes, absolutely.

Mr.

Mayor, if we could, because we'd also like you to get pictures with the new firefighters, if we could wait until after the proclamations, there will be a couple opportunities for pictures.

Thank you.

But if everybody uh firefighters, if you could please stick around and your family members to get pictures with counsel.

Absolutely.

Thank you very much.

Yes.

Okay.

Item uh 2B, uh Proclamation on Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, and that will be uh read by Councilmember Gloria Slaureo.

Whereas teen dating violence is a serious public health problem that is common among adolescents and young adults, ages 10 to 24, and is the most prevalent type of youth violence, and whereas approximately 10% of the adolescents across the U.S.

report being a victim of physical dating violence annually.

And whereas high school students who witness experience or perpetrate physical violence in a dating relationship are more likely to use drugs and alcohol, are at greater risk of suicide and are much more likely to carry patterns of abuse into future relationships.

And whereas nine percent of teen victims report seeking help after victimization experience.

And whereas by educating young people about red flags, root causes of violence, building skills for healthy relationships, and changing attitudes that support violence, we recognize that teen dating violence can be prevented.

And whereas half nearly half of the teens who experience dating violence report that incidents of abuse took place in a school building or on school grounds.

And whereas it is essential to raise community awareness and provide training for the trusted adults in the lives of adolescents so that they may recognize the signs of dating violence and serve as alleys for prevention.

And whereas the recognition of Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month in February will benefit young people, their families, schools, communities, regardless of socioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation, or ethnicity.

And whereas everyone has the right to a safe and healthy relationship to be free from abuse.

Now, therefore, mayor and council of the City of Avondale, Arizona, do hereby proclaim February 2024 Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month.

I urge all citizens to work toward ending teen dating violence by empowering young people to develop healthier relationships, assisting victims in assessing the information and supportive services they need, creating better resources for young people in need, implementing effective intervention and prevention policies in school and engaging in discussions with family members and peers to promote awareness and prevention of a quiet epidemic of teen dating violence.

And Memo of your team wanted to say a few words.

Yes, please.

Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council members, I'm Patricia Beta Young, the new victim advocate for Avondale PD.

This is Veronica Ray with the victim advocate with the Southwest Family Advocacy Center.

Thank you for allowing us to be here tonight to proclaim February 2024 as National Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month.

Each February, young adults and their loved ones nationwide raise awareness about teen dating violence through Teen Dating Violence Month.

This annual month long an education to stop dating abuse before it starts.

Dating abuse is a big problem affecting youth in every community across the nation.

Nearly 1.5 million high school students nationwide experience physical abuse from a dating partner in a single year.

One in three girls in the U.S.

is a victim of physical, emotional, and verbal abuse from a dating partner, a figure that far exceeds rates of other types of youth violence.

Once in ten one in ten high school students has been purposefully hit, slapped, or physically hurt by a boyfriend or a girlfriend.

We have some resources and list of red flags to be aware of on and how to begin that conversation with your young teens on healthy and unhealthy dating relationships on the back table.

If you need further information or any questions, Veronica and our my card is in the back on the back table.

And thank you for the opportunity to speak and to receive this proclamation to make awareness of teen violence today, February 26, 2024.

Thank you for all you do.

Thank you all.

And thank you if you would like to stay as well.

We can have a photo with the proclamation with council.

Max.

I'll be reading our proclamation for Black History Month after this video.

Here in the city of Avondale, we're strengthened by our diversity.

Over 50% of our city is made up of Latin or Hispanic Americans, and 10% of our city is considered black Americans.

We celebrate many generations of blacks who have helped shape and strengthen the fabric of our nation, our state, and our city here in Avondale.

Black historical figures who inspired me are Thurgood Marshall, who was the first black Supreme Court Justice.

I you know I'm a lawyer because of his story, and also Martin Luther King, civil rights activist.

One of the people that inspired me is my uh great grandma, Willie B.

Kennedy that was on the board of supervisors in San Francisco.

She's done a lot of great things for San Francisco.

She's the reason why I uh do what I do today with working with the community.

There are many people of color who work for the city of Avondale who've served in the service.

That's what black history means to me is service.

Helping out in the community and being part of the community.

Here in the Whereas in 1926, the first celebration of Negro History Week was started by the educator and scholar Carter G.

Woodson to honor the birthdays of President Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

The objective was to educate people about black history, share traditions from black culture, honor the contributions, and focus positive attention on African Americans in the United States.

And whereas in 1976, President Gerald Ford extended this celebration to a month.

And in 1986, Congress passed public law 99-244 to designate February as National Black Afro-American History Month.

And whereas by celebrating Black History Month, we are celebrating the generations of African Americans who have been in this country since the 17th century, have worked tirelessly to shape and strengthen the fabric of our city, our state, our nation, and have enriched every aspect of our global identity.

Whereas Black History Month honors and affirms the importance of African American history throughout our nation by recognizing the significant contributions of African American communities over the years.

Whereas Black History Month initially began as Negro History Week, it is vital to continue to learn about and celebrate the outstanding yet often overlooked contributions and achievements of the strong community of black people throughout each year.

And whereas 2024 Black History Month's theme is African Americans and the arts and is celebrated across the United States every February through recognition of the achievements of African Americans and all people of the African diaspora.

Whereas the City of Avondale recognizes the enrichment of African Americans to the West Valley's rich heritage, seeing success through many vision many impressions of those who came before us and those who live here now.

We celebrate our city's diversity, recognizing we must work to extend the American dream to black people in our city as we make lives better for all.

Now, therefore, Mayor and the City Council of Avondale, Arizona, do hereby proclaim February 2024 as Black History Month in Avondale and urge all residents to continue to celebrate the rich heritage, immense strength, and substantial contributions of people of African descent in our community today and every day as we continue our efforts to support the principles of freedom, equality for a more just society.

Thank you, Councilmember White, for reading that people.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Do you want to call it?

We'll do it after the this last proclamation.

Would you mind making that announcement?

Yes.

We have a few folks here from Delta Sigma Theta who will join us up front during our picture time as well.

Thank you.

Would the uh members and the family and supporters of the Red Raptors standards?

Didn't mean to put you on the spot, but here you go.

You ready?

Whereas the Arizona Red Raptors organization incorporated in 2023 is a nonprofit 501c3 and proudly stands as an affordable alternative to traditional travel baseball.

And whereas the dedicated volunteer coaching staff boasting over 40 years of collective baseball expertise is committed to providing exceptional training and guidance to promising young athletes ranging in ages from nine to eleven, all of whom compete together in the dynamic arena of 11 U tournaments.

And whereas, through a commitment to integrating advanced baseball fundamentals in their practices, training sessions, and competitions, the team has displayed a remarkable upward trajectory.

And whereas, supported by unwavering parental dedication, the Arizona Red Raptors emphasize the importance of teamwork not only on the field, but also among the broader community of parents, families, and friends in the stands.

And whereas the collective team of players, coaches, and support staff have invested their hearts and souls into the pursuit of victory.

Now, therefore, I, Kenneth Weiss, by virtue of the authority vested in me as the mayor of the city of Avondale, Arizona, wish to honor and congratulate along with the entire Avondale City Council, the Arizona Red Raptors on their recent championship victory by proclaiming February 2020 February 26th, 2024 as Arizona Red Raptors Day in the City of Avondale.

Congratulations.

Hey Chris, do you mind coming up and speaking real quick?

And the team is welcome to come down to the floor as well.

Strength in numbers, right?

Oh boy.

First of all, uh we love baseball.

I won't tell you where you're where we're from because it might make you upset.

But it is what it is.

We saw the opportunity in Arizona, and we uh we're super excited to be here.

Uh we've been here for uh a little over two years.

Um but nevertheless, uh, baseball has always been number one on our minds, and uh I teach locally here too, so uh academics and baseball is what we kind of push for uh these boys.

Uh more recently, uh, you know, for the first six months of existence, competition's been tough.

You know, teams that are been together for quite some time, uh, they just come together and uh gave us some real tough work uh moving forward.

But with the help of my coaching staff and uh uh relentless practice and um just being committed to the game, we were actually able to win our first tournament uh about a month and a half ago.

Uh we beat uh another local uh Avondale team, kind of our division rival, if you will.

Uh, so it felt good.

Um, but if you don't mind, I would like to introduce the team if that's cool.

So this is my uh coach, Coach Tim.

Uh this is my uh second favorite hobby.

Just kidding.

Uh Brayden, my son Landon.

Anthony, Antonio, but he goes by rent.

Uh, I'm drawing blinds right now.

I'm so nervous, so I apologize.

Aaron, I know Aaron.

Aaron, the Durant, the Dom.

This is our Bat Boy, we call him Batman though.

His name's Joey, big Joe.

Jacob, I'm falling apart up here.

And Aaron, sorry, uh, it's been a while since I've been.

Aiden, I know, I look sound so bad right now.

Coach, I hold on, guys, gotta give us some slack.

I I I put them on the spot.

If they weren't alphabetical, I would have done better, you know.

But nevertheless, uh again, I I know it's proclamation day, but I really am so thankful for this team that we came together, the support from the parents.

I mean, uh, without you guys and without this great city to play in, uh, I don't necessarily know if we could have done it.

So I do appreciate it.

Oach, everyone, congratulations.

Awesome.

Thanks for thanks for introducing your team to us.

Do you guys let's do this?

Um, Ron, pictures now?

Yes, sir.

So let's do uh let's do the baseball team first, let's work backwards.

Let's do baseball team, your sisters, and then we'll do firefighters.

Does that work?

We'll do it all right down here.

Is that work for you?

Well, then we we have uh the the uh teen awareness group.

Um then and then the firefighters.

Keep us in line, Ronna, I'm fine.

I will do that, sir.

All right.

Thank you.

City Council is taking a five-minute recess.

They will be back at 6.15.

Thank you, everyone, for allowing that break.

Item five is consent agenda.

I'm sorry, item four is consent agenda.

Uh City Manager Corbin, any items that you want to have pulled?

Yes, Mr.

Mayor, I'd like to pull uh ENF and staff will bring it back at a future time.

All right.

So the consent agenda is just items uh 4A through 4D.

Can I get a motion on the consent agenda?

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

Any further discussion?

Seeing none, please vote.

And Mayor, the screen says Oh, never mind.

It says approval of the consent agenda, but it's with the exception of those two items.

Do you want me to restate the motion?

I got it.

Motion with the Council Member Malone had to step out quickly.

So it's gonna pass uh it's uh six one after.

Thank you.

I'll mark that she was absent for the vote.

Thank you.

Ron items five A and 5B will be heard together.

Yes, they will be Mr.

Mayor, and we'll have uh Josh Orton, our senior planner of development services making the presentation.

Josh, how are you?

Doing great, thank you.

Uh Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council members.

Uh the item before you this evening, uh the two items before you this evening are the Sun Depot Energy Storage, uh Major General Plan Amendment and Planned Area Development Rezone.

These are items PL 23-0053 and PL 23-0177.

Mayor, I'm sorry, but we did skip over unscheduled public appearance, but I do want to show for the record that we have not received any any requests to speak for that category.

We do have requests to speak for this agenda item.

Correct.

So those who would like wish to speak on 5A and 5B, staff will do their presentation.

I'll open up the public hearing, you'll have the chance to speak at that time.

That's okay.

Thank you, Mayor.

Sorry, Josh.

Okay.

Uh yes.

So as I said, this is the major general plan amendment uh item and uh PAD rezon uh PL 23-0053 and PL 23-0177.

Uh the purpose of these two items is for council to review a proposed major general plan amendment and rezone, uh, conduct a public hearing and then take appropriate action on these two items.

Uh this site is located approximately 330 feet west of the southwest corner of Palm Lane and Avondale Boulevard.

Uh it's approximately 15.92 gross acres and was annexed into the city limits in 2006.

Uh it's currently being used for agriculture.

Uh in terms of the surrounding zoning districts and land uses, uh north of Palm Lane from west to east, we have Canyon Breeze Elementary School, uh zone agricultural, uh single family residences zone palm gardens uh PAD.

And then to the east, we have some larger Watts single family residences, which are in the jurisdiction of Maricopa County.

Uh to the south, we have uh two planned area developments.

One is uh McDowell Villas, uh, which is a planned area development that is a feature townhome uh subdivision uh for town home rentals.

We have to uh Avondale Commons, which is a mixed use uh multifamily and commercial development.

Uh to the west, we have two electrical substations in the jurisdiction of Maricopa County, uh which are owned by the Arizona Public Service and the Salt River Project.

Uh these are some photos of the site.

Uh the first is looking southwest from Palm Lane, and as you can see in the background, that's Avondale Commons with the multifamily section currently under construction.

Uh the second photo is looking southeast from Palm Lane, uh, and in the background again you can see Avondell Commons with Phoenix Children's Hospital located further in the background.

Uh looking northeast from the substation, uh you have this view here, and then looking east from Palm Lane, you can see uh the homes on the uh on the left-hand side there.

And then again in the in the background you see Phoenix Children's Hospital.

So the first item is the major general plan amendment.

Uh the request is to amend the general plan land use designation from mixed use to public civic.

Uh just to give you some context.

The light purple is the mixed use, the light uh blue is education, uh, the orange is medium density residential, and then the dark purple is public civic.

Uh mixed use is a land use designation for a mixture of residential and commercial uses.

Uh this category encourages innovatively designed developments, uh which create a core living environment reflective of a village concept uh where w residents can live, work, and recreate within the same development and are close by.

The public civic land use category provides for a variety of civic, public, and quasi-public facilities for the health safety and welfare of the residents.

Types of uses found in this category include city government facilities, police and fire stations, community centers, libraries, water and wastewater treatment facilities, well sites, substations, and other public facilities.

A private battery energy storage facility is proposed with this project, and while the use will be privately owned, the public civic designation most closely fits this type of facility, which intends to store sell stored energy to APS and SRP electrical power grids.

In conjunction with the general, the major general plan amendment, there's also a request to rezone this property from agricultural to the Sun Depot planned area development.

This request will allow for the development of the site into the previously mentioned battery energy storage facility.

This specific rezone will adopt standards at facilitating that development.

If the project is approved, development must substantially conform to the PAD narrative as well as the conceptual design documents presented and included in the staff report.

As you can see, a majority of the site is made up of battery storage with two primary ingress egress points along West Palm Lane.

The site proposes an eight-foot screen wall around the perimeter, around the majority of the perimeter with chain link fencing on the west side.

Additional deviations requested in the PAD narrative and identified in the staff report are the allowance of galvanized chain link, decreased land use buffer plantings, decreased routerway plantings, and decreased landscape setback plantings.

There's no reduction in the setback dimensions proposed in the PAD deviations.

So staff's analysis finds that the amendment does not constitute an improvement to the 2030 plan and that the current designation of mixed use is more suitable for the site and for the surrounding area.

Despite its proximity to an electrical substation, which again is located in the county on a county island, the change would alter the current acceptable land use pattern for the area as a mix of residential and commercial uses are envisioned for the site.

While this property would not require more expensive uh public infrastructure improvements, it would adversely impact the surrounding areas or the surrounding land use.

A battery energy storage system project would be incompatible with the surrounding residential, educational, and hospital uses in the vicinity in terms of environmental and safety concerns from a potential fire event, as well as aesthetically just being incompatible with the surrounding projects.

So looking more at the land use relationships, we'll start from the north and kind of work our way down.

First, you have West Point High School, which currently enrolls around 3,000 students and is located approximately a quarter of a mile from the site.

Canyon Breeze Elementary is a kindergarten through eighth grade elementary school that enrolls approximately 620 students and is located about 700 feet from the proposed site.

To the south, immediately adjacent to the site are the approved projects, McDowell Villas and Avondale Commons.

McDowell Villas is a 164-unit townhome development, which is made up of 99 two-bedroom and 65 three-bedroom townhomes.

Avondale Commons is a mixed use, an approved mixed use development currently under construction, which consists of 324 multifamily units and approximately 10 acres of commercial development.

By comparison, a development that is rezoned in compliance with the current general plan land use designation would be of a residential or mixed use nature, which we which would result in more compatible land use relationships to the surrounding area.

Further to the southeast is Phoenix Children's Hospital that's located at the intersection of Avondale Boulevard and McDowell Road.

Phoenix Children's Southwest Campus has invested additional an additional 40 million dollars and added 164 high-wage employees.

The campus currently houses a 35,000 square foot freestanding emergency department, a 71,250 square foot three-story multi-specialty clinic.

The emergency department treats over 40,000 children annually.

This 24-7 care facility has 40 treatment rooms, including six fast track beds with ultrasound CT, foroscopy, and digital radiology.

Future growth intends a phase three of the campus to include additional services and an expanded medical office building with a parking structure.

So to just sum all of that up, uh the proposed land use change is not compatible in terms of land use and the existing uh intensity of properties under the city's jurisdiction.

Uh so to briefly cover uh some fire incident considerations.

Uh as previously stated, Phoenix Children's Hospital and Canyon Breeze are both located about 700 feet from the subject property, and they present unique circumstances when considering a fire event.

Uh there are a few key points from the fire marshal statement, which is included in your staff report that I'd like to highlight.

Uh the first is that the scale of these systems is directly correlated to the effects of their failure, meaning that the larger the system, uh, the more danger it presents were it to fail in a fire incident.

Um, in the event of a fire incident, the practice is to take a defensive approach and prevent thermal runaway to the adjacent units.

The minimum safe distance in these cases is 150 feet.

However, neighborhood evacuations are probable due to toxic fumes.

Uh neighborhoods are all that exists at this point.

However, uh future development, as you can see in the other slides, is even closer.

Uh based on the fire marshal statements, impacts could spread potentially as far as the I-10 freeway based on weather uh weather patterns and the scale of the failure.

Uh I-10 is about a half a mile away.

The neighborhood meeting uh was held at City Hall on January 4th, 2024.

There were nine attendees apart from the applicant's team, city staff, and one planning commissioner.

Uh discussion was primarily related to the topics on your screen uh safety monitoring and response to a fire, uh impact of traffic from the nearby high school uh on the nearby properties and traffic generated from this project.

Um they also discussed some improvements to Palm Lane and then uh any potential impacts on residents uh and potential benefits to the city of Avondale.

Um they also discussed the design layout and some specific details about uh batteries and then the security of the site.

Uh additional communication uh was received by Phoenix Children's Phoenix Children's Hospital uh via an email sent to staff expressing concerns over the threat of uh from a potential fire event and the potential for harmful chemicals uh or airborne uh contaminants.

Uh additionally, there was concern for the effects on services and the potential for evacuations, given that that site is uh within 500 feet of the facility.

As part of the requirements for a major general plan amendment, uh the city notified required agencies and began the 60-day review process.

Uh two comments were received from outside agencies, one from Luke Air Force Base indicating that flying operations would not be negatively uh impacted, and another from the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

Uh they provided preliminary comments about mitigative efforts that should be taken where the applicant uh to be approved for development.

Uh again, both of those letters uh from those agencies are in the staff report.

Uh excuse me.

Uh to date, uh we've received uh 13, well, 18 comments uh have been received on the Avondale Connect Digital Forum.

Fifteen were uh in opposition, three were received in favor.

Uh at the first planning commission hearing, two individuals from the neighborhood area spoken in opposition, and one individual uh expressed support.

Um as part of the uh second public hearing, uh the planning commission took action at the February 24th meeting uh voting four to zero to recommend denial of both both applications.

There we go.

Okay.

Uh reasons for denial were the project's intensity and relationship to the surrounding uses as well as safety concerns and uh public input was also cited.

Uh so with that for item 5A, staff is uh recommending that the council move to deny application PL 23-0053, which is a request for a major amendment to the general plan 2030 land use map, changing the land use designation of the subject property from mixed use to public civic.

Staff is also recommending for item 5B that council move to deny application PL 23 0177, which is a request to rezone approximately 15.92 uh gross acres from agricultural to the Sun Depot Planned Area Development.

So that concludes my presentation, and I will snap for any questions.

So let me go to public hearing, but Nicole, I have a question for you first.

So in some of these cases, if the council decides to deny the application, the second part of that application is nil.

On this case, just for council clarification, we're gonna vote on 5A and we're gonna vote on 5B, correct?

Mayor, Council, correct.

Okay, thank you.

Josh, hold tight though, okay.

I'd like to go ahead and open up the public hearing on item 5A.

Um I do have some cards uh here.

I appreciate the people holding up the signs being respectful for council.

I really do.

Thank you for that.

Um Marcel, do you want to read one of the cards and then we'll get to any comments from the audience or online?

Thank you, Mayor.

I have received one request to speak from Travis Wright.

He noted that he did not want to speak in front of the council but wanted his comments acknowledged.

He is in favor of agenda item five and his comments say mayor Weiss, Vice Rempaneda, and Council members.

QTS would like to express our support for the Sun Depot Energy Center, a battery storage facility proposed by I can't say that word.

In yes, the in Avondale.

The Phoenix metropolitan area has one of the fastest rates of growth in the country with no signs of slowing down and will need to significantly increase its resource capacity to meet projected energy demand.

The Phoenix area is also one of the top five markets for data center capacity in the U.S.

As an industry industry leading provider of data center solutions.

We rely on reliable electricity to run our data data centers, and we support the development of additional clean energy resources in Avondel, including the Sun Depot Energy Center.

Sincerely, Travis Wright.

Thank you very much for that.

The next speaker I have is for Ariel Terry.

Tell me if I did I say the first name correct.

Ariel, thank you, ma'am.

Come on, you'll have three minutes, ma'am.

And can you state your name for the record, please?

Yes, my name is Ariel Terry.

Okay, hi, hi everyone.

Thanks so much for letting me speak tonight.

Um I'm a proud um Avondale homeowner.

I've lived in Avondale for two and a half years.

I've lived in the Phoenix area uh for seven and a half.

So I've been in Arizona for 10 years altogether.

Um I'm speaking in support of the Sun Depot Battery Storage Project.

Um there are a few reasons uh that I support this project.

Um the first is you know, it is only getting hotter here in the Valley every single year.

It gets hotter and hotter.

Just last year in 2023, there were more than 50 days of weather over 110 degrees.

This hot weather is just gonna increase in the coming years.

Um, this battery storage project is gonna allow energy independence, and it's also gonna allow us to enhance grid reliability during these hot summer days.

Um and then there are more and more people living here.

Um, so that's gonna increase the demand for um energy.

The other reason I support this project is it's gonna bring 40 million dollars in revenue to Avondel.

This revenue can be used to improve roads, schools, infrastructure, and local services.

I also support this project because this is a safe project.

I know there's a lot of concern about um fires and things like this, but I would like to point out that there is a gas station located in this area, and there's the same risk with a gas station of fires.

So I think that's important to point out.

Umergy um has only had two instances of fires, um, and that's with over 150,000 hours of service.

And the great thing is that both of these were self-contained, and they did not result in any energy um any injuries or broader damage.

Um thank you so much for letting me speak.

Um again, I am in support of the Sun Depot battery storage project.

Thank you for speaking before us.

We really appreciate that.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Layla, I'm gonna butcher it.

Villacinora.

Well enough.

Can you tell the can you tell me how to pronounce it?

VSNR.

Okay, thank you, man.

You'll have three minutes also.

Just state your name for the record, please.

Absolutely.

Good evening, Council Mayor and Council.

Thank you.

My name is Layla Villa Senor.

My home is located at 11617 West Elvarado Road.

And um I, which is the subdivision just to the north of where this proposed site is in Palm Gardens.

I'm here to respectfully ask for you to deny this case.

Was that submitted?

Thank you.

We have received it and it isn't included in the United States.

Wonderful.

Thank you very much.

Myself and a group of my neighbors, and along with my HOA enacted or activated an outreach effort to talk to our neighbors about this proposed development.

So as you can see, we overwhelmingly believe that this is not the right location for this site.

I do want to commend City of Avondale's planning department staff.

They've done an excellent job articulating the concerns, which very much do mirror our concerns.

So I won't belabor the point and go through them.

I think they did a great job.

Secondly, we are so thankful for the wisdom of the Planning Commission, who unanimously also suggested to deny this case last week.

We feel very much that our concerns have been validated.

These are two uh important decision-making bodies that share in our concerns.

Uh again, staff's report our articulates everything that we feel.

We're hoping today that you will also stand with us, uh, Phoenix Children's Hospital, our schools, our communities, and keep us safe.

We want to make it clear we are not anti-development.

We we do not disagree that uh energy storage is important and something that we should think about, but the site is just not appropriate, especially with the additional development that is planned uh in and around that area.

It's just better suited for another area.

And we despite, I'm sure the developer has a great track record and will do everything they can to keep things safe.

But I think if there's even the smallest chance that this is gonna harm our children or patients at the hospital or our our homes, our families, then we should really encourage them to find another location.

Thank you for your time.

I'm happy to answer any questions regarding our outreach to the neighbors and anything you need to know.

But I do thank you for your efforts here.

Thank you, ma'am.

If we have questions, we will ask.

Thank you for being here.

You got it.

Have a great night.

Appreciate it.

Our next speaker is Christiana Fadul.

Fadal.

Fadul?

That's awesome.

Thank you.

That never happens, so thank you very much.

Well, I'm Weiss, and I always get wee C or We, so I get it.

I get your pain.

We're in the same boat, Mayor.

Well, thank you, everyone.

Good evening.

Uh, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council members.

My name is Christiana Fadoule, and I am also here to speak in favor of the Sun Depot Energy Center and why I believe it will be a benefit to this community.

So I will start out by being transparent that I am not yet a resident of Avondale, but I hope to be very soon.

Uh my fiance who is here and supported me tonight.

Uh, we are in the process of looking for our first home in this community, um, specifically because the last two decades of my life I have spent commuting in and out of Avondale for work, for play, and for worship.

Um, and so I'm also a uh a clean energy and environmental justice advocate.

I've also worked in clean energy and environmental justice for the last six years.

So when I heard the news through the grapevine about this sustainable battery store battery storage project, uh I got really excited that it might be in my future neighborhood.

I do know the risk, but coming from this background, I also do know that it can be really safe, especially with the technology that we're seeing nowadays to keep everything in check.

So I want to talk about how Avondale truly is going to need clean, reliable battery storage to meet the energy demand as the city does boom and our weather intensifies.

So during our hottest months, we have our intense monsoon seasons, we have temperatures up to 118 degrees, or even just at night when our solar panels are not producing the power that we need, these battery systems can respond to any changes in demand or supply within milliseconds, and they're able to keep our lights on if any other power sources fail.

So for battery storage to be best useful in the communities that it's serving, it needs to be connected to a power substation.

So while doing some of my research, I learned about the two substations that are here for SRP and AP and APS that are literally on Palm Lane, they're right in the community for us to utilize.

So having battery storage in this location can help provide the power that we need when our grid is strained, and it can keep this life-saving equipment at the Phoenix Children's Hospital, as well as the power for all of our homes and our local businesses running more reliably.

So I'm not a person who does not care, and I do care about this community.

So of course I want to address the safety concerns that the residents have brought up, especially being so close to everyone's homes and businesses, schools, and so on.

So I know everyone here loves this community.

You wouldn't be here if you didn't.

So you want to protect your homes, your families, your schools, and this hospital from any potential risk, and I completely understand that.

I care for the city too, but I want to ensure in my own way that we are preparing our energy infrastructure as best as we can to support our vastly growing population with clean energy in the safest way possible.

So because my climate activists in clean energy heart uh needed a deeper understanding of the safety features of this project, I connected with Inventorgy's team ahead of time to ask some questions and learn more about the logistics of this facility.

So I learned that the company's battery storage tech is state of the art, brand new, and it is following the biggest safety procedures we can have.

I don't want to take up any more of your time tonight.

I just do hope that even if this doesn't happen here in this community, you think about it for the future.

We need this power, we need clean energy, and we need it to be safe.

Thank you, everyone so much.

Thank you.

We hope that you do come to Avondale.

I'm looking at the columns that you brought up, we're looking.

So I'm not sure.

Perfect.

Perfect.

Thank you.

Is there anybody in the audience who'd like to speak on this issue?

Seeing none, I'm gonna go ahead and close the public hearing.

We're gonna give council obviously a chance to speak on this.

There are things that as a council we look at when we're doing a major general plan amendment.

One is the best and highest use of the land.

Second thing is compatibility with the surrounding neighborhood.

And third, that comes up, which really doesn't come up a lot, but it it's safety.

It's it's how to how do how does our team respond to issues?

Mr.

Mayor.

Um offer the applicant a time to speak after before Oh, you did.

Okay.

Anybody in the audience?

Is there anybody in the audience or the other?

No, I don't know that they took it at all.

I'm sorry.

I appreciate that, but that's why I was come on up.

That's why I asked so no, you're fine.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Sorry for interrupting.

No worries.

I'm very sorry.

No, no, no.

Doug, state your name for the record, please.

Hey, Paul Berman, uh, with Inventergy, which is a mouthful.

Uh, we also work in Nevada where the major utility is Envy Energy, and literally nobody can get it right there, which is I guess a I guess this is this is a step in the right direction here.

I think you have someone in the back who got it perfectly right, so maybe there's a career for her.

Yes.

Yes, absolutely.

So I do want to thank thank the council here, thank the mayor, thank the vice mayor, uh, thank the playing department, uh, and thank Josh, Michelle, Catherine, Jody.

Like I know it was a team effort to beat up on me over the these last few weeks, and I I do appreciate it.

Um it's it's humbling and uh and and probably the best way possible.

So as you can see from the maps, this is a difficult place to come to a decision that you know this is a good and like absolutely necessary use of land here.

Um and I can give you a little bit more of the background as to why we are proposing this uh this development in this location, as well as to say that Inventergy is the leading uh energy uh privately held energy company in the United States.

We've implemented uh battery energy storage projects all across the all across the country.

We've built nine in Arizona, we've got two more coming in line uh this year.

Uh we've got a uh 50 megawatt project that is coming online in the West Valley here in Youngtown in a couple months.

So it will be operational be using similar technology here.

So we have a long and deep history of developing these projects, getting them permitted, and working alongside our fire and safety officials all across the country and particularly particularly here in the valley.

So we're confident in our ability and when we say that these these projects will be safe and that we can quantify these risks, that these are not unknowns, um, that these are known knowns of how these systems can be built, can operate, can be profitable, can serve the needs of the community, and we also know exactly how they fail.

Like this is not, you know, a big, uh big picture, you know, unknown, like you know, the we you you build them bigger and then it's all of a sudden it's just gonna completely you know blow up on you.

Um but pull this one back in.

I think the biggest risk that Avondale and Phoenix, the Phoenix area has here is with a widespread grid failure.

There was a study that came out last year that modeled what would happen in the middle of July when uh when when temperatures are getting getting their highest, if there was a widespread outage due to grid failure due to years and years of chronic underinvestment due to passing up opportunities to inject hundreds of millions of dollars into into your grid to shore it up for when you know everyone's gonna be jacking up uh your your power rates.

Um those studies have shown time and time again that you're gonna put hundreds of thousands of people's of uh lives at risk and that people will die.

You know, this is a young and vibrant community, but there are many elderly neighbors here that if you're if they don't have access to their cooling, if they don't have access to medical equip equipment, um, that they will quit there will be a number of medical emergencies when it's 115 degrees outside, 120 degrees outside that are gonna require attention.

When you see all of our first responders here earlier, those are the people that are going to need to be responding to everything.

You're gonna quickly overwhelm all of the city services, all of the hospital beds, all of the places that do have full-time reliable power due to the diesel gen sets on site that they're required to have.

So just on that, uh, as you know, and if you guys follow the follow the energy news closely, which I'm sure you don't, uh, APS and SRP, your your your largest energy energy utilities here, both shattered records for energy demand last summer.

They're probably gonna shatter it again this year.

Um, and those though the the that demand level was in excess of their projections.

They, you know, these these utilities work a little bit on an island out west.

It's not, you know, there's like again to inside baseball on as to how energy utilities are structured, but there's they need to make sure that they're fully, fully resilient and reliant.

That puts them on a little bit tighter footing that they need to make sure their resources are adequate to cover surging demand from companies like QTS and all the people you have moving here.

So they have significant growth requirements in order to meet these demands.

APS built their system over the last 140 years, they're gonna have to nearly uh double it in the next 15 years.

Um it's pretty impressive to watch.

I'm not totally sure how they're gonna do it, but private developers like us and many others are providing solutions for them that are competitive, they're market-based, they utilize private financing, um, and they help ensure cost stability over the long run.

So safety is the big the big question here.

You know, I think we can I don't I don't necessarily want to uh underplay the uh the visual impact, which you know, I I think they noted some deviations there.

I think we're willing to take every uh planning commission re uh requirement regarding landscaping, wall design, everything.

So I and and I think there there are there are visual renderings in the packet that were submitted.

It just took us a while to get those put together, but you can see what these things look like at ground level.

It's a wall, it's really nice landscaping, trees, shrubs, everything.

So I don't want to under underplay that as to how that's gonna look, but if you want to take a look at those visual renderings, I think you'll you'll say they're probably fine.

We also are committing to upgrading palm lane.

Uh uh, we are we are committing to uh putting putting just doubling the size of that in front in front of our front of our, or doing the half-lane improvement in front in front of our building.

So we're trying to give back where we can as well.

But safety is the big question, it's the existential question.

And I get that it is a difficult one to discuss because it is easy to get people worked up about things.

I think when we were at the planning board uh last week in the process of getting voted down, the other item that also got voted down was just a plain old box.

It was a storage facility, not an energy storage facility, just a storage facility that got voted down because people got worked up about the notion of what might be in there and the unknowns that could be coming in from other community members.

We saw questions regarding toxic content that was that that would go into these storage facilities.

How are you monitoring the security?

So you actually see this same sort of playbook getting used for our development, but it's just a little bit harder to articulate, you know, the the the safety strategy as it relates to that.

And so what I want to tell you here is that when these projects are built, like we're not about to build this project tomorrow.

Um this is simply requesting the zoning change, general plan amendment so that we could consider this at a later point.

We would work collaboratively with the fire marshal, with the fire chief, with others to make sure that this project is put in place and developed in a way that has no negative community impacts.

And this is modeling the worst-case scenarios based on the specific technology that we would deploy at the time of building.

And we're talking about specific hazard mitigation analysis.

So what are like what what's the specific technology that's being put in there?

What is it, what is the risk profile look like?

How do we uh how do we build a system that would minimize overall uh uh fire risk there?

Failure modes and analyses, like again, another one of these detailed studies that is long, complicated, and requires a lot of study here.

Uh fire safety assessments and community risk assessments.

So if there is a fire event here and the very unlikely event of it, what does that look like for the community?

And then how do you design the system such that everything is contained within the site, within those four walls of the project?

And you can go on and on, but there's UL testing, there's basically like a year's worth of study and information and data that gets put in front of the fire marshal, the person paid to be the safety expert for the county uh for the city and the person designed to be objective arbiter on this.

So as I was as I was saying, it's easy to get people worked up.

If you're in a situation where someone's coming up to you with a petition that says, you know, this battery storage facility is going to cause evacuations out to I-10 and it's going to increase traffic on Palm Lane, even though it's gonna be, you know, it's only gonna be a couple trips a day.

That's a lot of misinformation, and it's a lot of speculative information that we don't feel as though properly represents the actual risks of this project, or is a dutiful way to approach this decision making.

And I think what we've seen with other decisions, it's not that hard to get people worked up about this.

And so that's what makes the decision for the city council here so difficult.

When you're talking about this, I think everyone can agree, and we see this from everyone, that this type of technology is necessary, and that without rapid deployment of additional energy resources, whether clean, whether fossil generated, um, you know, whatever, you're gonna have major problems in here that have impacts that go beyond just this community.

This is a way for this community to say, we're taking a part in our energy security.

We are taking part to ensure that we are not just saying this is somebody else's problem to figure out, this is for Penal County to figure out, this is for coaches, this is for Navajo, this is for Yuma, this is for areas where you know it's it's a little bit more remote.

This is us saying that there is an opportunity here to shore up the grid, to inject hundreds of millions of dollars here, and we can promise you it will be done in a way that your team signs off on.

Avondale employees sign off on, building uh building officials, fire officials, engineers, they will all be involved in this.

And we, as we were, as we were going through this and looking through some of the conditions that were presented to us, we were saying we would agree to more on this just to just so it's absolutely clear what the process is going to be and what needs to happen to actually issue building permits for this.

No dirt would get moved ahead of that.

And I think we're comfortable with that because we've done this nearby.

And I think uh we were just talking about how there was uh an emergency response plan training in Youngtown in December for a project that was very similar size and scope uh for fire officials uh throughout throughout the valley, throughout the West Valley, were there and they uh the the emergency response plan included no evacuations, it included monitoring, it included uh training, but there was no evacuations whatsoever.

So I think when we look at these things, some of the scary language is half-truths at best, and I think potentially misleading at worst.

And I think it's really easy just to say, you know, this is somebody else's problem.

But what I want to do here is find a way where we can leave this on the table, put this in a in a position where we can find a way to work through this together, and when the time comes for this project to be built, you know, it is done in a collaborative way, utilizing best information and utilizing uh best available technology.

So on that, you know, I I don't know if I have much more to say.

I think I wrote like five times as much of this, but I think I'll I'll leave it open for questions there.

But I I I again I do want to thank you for the time and the opportunity and the genuine engagement from so many people on this because I I I think it is very important.

Sir, thank you for coming and speaking for us.

I would ask you to kind of stay in the front row in case council does have questions for you.

Ron, we're gonna go ahead and close the public hearing at the at this point.

Um again, when council looks at projects like this or any project that comes in, we look at the best and highest use of the land, compatibility with the neighborhood, and in some cases, does safety come into it?

And we also look at whether planning and zoning commission has approved or denied it, has staff approved or denied it, has the public come out and spoken on a specific project?

Has our fire team spoken on a project?

Are there major employers in the city who've spoken on a project?

And we take that input.

And I will tell you 18 years on council, I can think of one time that I have voted against a planning and zoning recommendation or a staff recommendation.

I also want to kind of talk about the necessity of this project.

I look at the Sierra Estrella project that we approved a year ago, that is one of the largest in in the state, and that is getting built uh in the southern part of the city.

And if I look at the land that's around it, even though Alamar is to the south and Verde Trails is to the east, and there's some other homes obviously around the area, it is far away from residential homes, it's far away from schools.

There is a huge buffer that's there.

I'm on Palm Lane every day.

I live at Avondel Boulevard and Thomas.

I'm on Palm Lane every day.

And I was actually out there today and walked the property.

My concerns are while lithium batteries, the the case for lithium batteries being safe, I understand it is it is not a regular issue with lithium batteries that you see in storage facilities like this catching fire.

But I can look at the Chandler facility that was close to homes and close to freeways, I think a year ago or two years ago, and that fire lasted for three days, and they had to do evacuations not only of residences but of schools.

That's a concern for me, especially when I look at the houses that that will face this facility on Palm Lane.

I also think there's newer technologies that are out there.

You mentioned SRP and APS.

SRP and APS are using non-lithium technologies in their stores.

They're actually doing a test case right now on a huge project that they hope to have up and running in 2025.

I think there's places for these facilities in cities.

But I will tell you that with the Australia the Sierra Estrella facility in Southern Avondar, Southern Avondale, South Avondale, I think the city has shown its commitment to energy reliability in the grid.

I will tell you that I don't think this is the best and highest use for this land.

I don't think it's compatible with the neighborhood at all.

And I do have safety concerns.

Sir, you mentioned that the the area, the batteries are contained behind walls.

I would argue that in the worst case scenario, which the city council and this city staff have to plan for, that smoke and toxic chemicals are not contained behind walls.

So while I'm not opposed to a project like this, I'm opposed to the project going in this specific area.

Um in my 18 years on council, this is one of the times where I've seen the neighborhood come out in force against a project, and that usually doesn't happen in Avondale.

So my vote is going to be no on both items.

But I want to hear from Council Tina.

Do you mind if I start with you?

Sure, thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

Um I had an opportunity to watch online the planning commission meeting that just was recently.

So I just really want to say thank you to the planning commission for your time for your due diligence and doing your research.

You guys provided a lot of a wealth of information for me.

And also I want to thank the residents because as I watched that that meeting, I just it took a lot of pride in me just knowing that our residents took the time to research and come up with and really have a better understanding of what this project was.

I don't think that they were opposed to it.

They're concerned about me back up.

After researching it and really realizing the safety concerns of the surrounding area, um, I I was just very thankful.

And for the simple fact that over a hundred residents are opposing this development.

Um I since I've been on council, I don't think we've had anybody oppose that many people oppose a development, but um I can't that I can remember.

But I just wanted just to thank everybody first and foremost.

And then I also I agree wholeheartedly, it's not um compatible with the current um land use.

And when I look at all the documents from Phoenix Children's Hospital, from the fire marshal, when I look and it talks about contaminated runoff, toxic fumes, neighborhood evacuation, it's concerning to me.

It's there's a school right across the street with elementary children.

There's a high school right you know, less than a mile away.

There's a children's hospital full of children in there getting medical attention.

And for the fact that those people, if something happened, would have to be evacuated, it doesn't sit well with me.

And again, I like Mayor said, it's not that we're against it, it's the location that really um concerns me.

And so for me, you know, I I'm not in favor of the of the development.

Tina, thank you for that.

Council Mayor Malone.

Thank you for the presentation.

Um just gonna kind of piggyback off of what both the mayor and um what councilwoman Condi has said.

We do have uh schools, the residents in the area and the hospital.

This is a safety concern and the toxins that uh councilwoman uh con uh conde has said.

Um we do not, as a council oppose uh this type of facility, it's just not in this area.

Um so I would say that for the safety of our residents in our community, I am also a no as well.

Thank you, Veronica.

Councilmember White, any comments?

Yes, thank you so much, um Mayor.

Um thank you, Josh, for the presentation.

I appreciate hearing both the um both sides, both views.

I do believe residents have a huge impact in what we do here in Avondale, and like you can't move your house from where it's located, so I I kind of um lean into hearing their comments because I know um I live behind the boulevard and I'm really excited about what's coming behind my house.

So that's an equal opposite feeling, right?

So I I just want to honor the place where you're coming from.

I also believe in energy.

Um one of the few people here from Ohio who actually sat in a blackout back in um I think it was August 14th and 15th of 2003.

Um the reason that blackout happened and impacted over 50 million people from the whole northeastern border in Massachusetts down to New York and Canada was because of a tree limb that broke off and interrupted our energy system in Ohio.

50 million people lost power over Mother Nature.

Um I think that we try to uh manipulate and maneuver energy in ways that work best for us.

But I think that we've done that.

We've made that commitment, and we've opened up something like that here in Avondale, and there's also one nearby.

Um it sounds like that's going to be happening in Youngtown.

And so um I I believe in having adequate energy resources, but when we see like the brownouts in California, when we notice uh the power outages that happened a couple of um winters ago in Texas, um some of that is is is um lack of infrastructure, some of it is poor planning, um, but then some of it's gonna just be Mother Nature, which we have absolutely no control over.

I think we have sufficient power resources here in the city of Avondale.

My son attends West Point, my daughter will be going there.

I would hate to get an active evacuation call where they can't get south of the I-10 because everything is shut off.

That makes me scared.

Um I believe our fire marshal um I I don't know if you're making any new friends out there in these streets, but I do believe that his wherewithal and ability to have discernment and provide us adequate information into how the potential impacts could affect us if we have worst-case scenarios.

Um that that's important because I think the best case scenario is you all will continue to about to develop these types of battery locations.

I think what we're hearing from the people of Avondale is just not here.

Thank you, Councilman White.

Curtis, I have solar panels on the top of my house.

I've looked at batteries to do exactly what you're talking about there.

And the strange numbers that came up when they came to my house and told me they wouldn't put it in my garage because I wouldn't guarantee it and whether we're the safety of it or the activity of it for everything up of 115 to 118 degrees.

So if we're gonna get 115 to 118 degrees in the next month or two or year or two, or whatever, I already know that they won't put them in my garage right now.

They will put them in my house because I've got the air conditioning going in there.

So there is a heat externally that comes in that I've already been aware of, and uh no, no, I'm not gonna put it in my house.

But um that's one thing I'm concerned about is uh the the unknown of what that might be.

The other thing is just again a personal type thing, all the excess solar power that I put up on my solar panels, I don't get back.

It goes into the batteries that are out there, and then they'll sell it back to me for 10 times more whatever it is what it is.

That it's just just a personal thing.

I agree that the batteries are a wonderful way of storing them, and I agree with the rest of the council that that's not the exact place that they need to be.

Thank you, Curtis.

Councilmember Salorio, thank you for the presentation, Josh.

Um, just to kind of similarly echo similar with the council, um, when I look at things that um, as the gentleman explained, all the positives that come with having a battery storage facility.

I think it's great.

I will say first and foremost, I wouldn't want it near school, especially when you're looking at a school, a hospital, a community, nothing when you're looking at when lithium batteries catch on fire, things such as gases as carbon monoxide, hydrogen fluoride, and hydrogen chloride could be in your community.

That's a huge no for me.

I'm not willing to take that gamble with so many critical businesses that are in the area, children that are in the area.

Can you imagine parents trying to get to their children and not being able to?

Children and parents that are in hospital in the hospital across the street having to evacuate.

And if your child's having a life saving surgery to have to do that, it's a no for me.

Thank you, Gloria.

Vice Mayor.

Thank you.

Um, you know, many things have been said here.

It's a compelling argument on both sides of the coin, uh, one in favor and one not in favor.

And as a proponent of business, I'm all for investment.

Uh I, you know, nothing more than being able to share with the residents that uh the revenues coming in will help to offset cost and provide services and things that uh you have mentioned.

And then on the flip side, hearing residents who live across the street who have to um you know deal with an unfortunate, a fortunate circumstance that could happen, right?

We're not guaranteed one way or the other, and technology has been um expressed tonight in regards to you know the safeguards that have been put into place, but opportunity costs has to prevail here in terms of while I don't live there, I have to listen to the residents that do.

And if the argument is as compelling as you know, we would be afraid for everything that's been mentioned up here to occur, then I have to concur with that.

And so that I'll make the motion to move to the deny resolution 10220224, a request to amend the general plan 2030 land use map designation for mixed use to public civic.

Michael, thank you for that.

I have a motion from our vice mayor, a second from Councilmember Salario.

Marcella, are you ready?

Thank you, Mayor.

And I do want to clarify that a yes vote on this agenda item with that motion is a denial of the application PL 23-0053.

Which mirrors what the council has just said.

Thank you for that.

Any further discussion from council?

Seeing none, please vote.

This motion is denied 7-0.

The I'm going to open up, let me go back to um 5B.

I'm gonna go ahead and open up the public hearing on item 5B.

Is there anybody in the audience who'd like to speak on this issue?

Seeing and hearing none, can I get a motion on item 5B, please?

I have a motion made from Councilmember Solario, a second from Councilmember Conde.

Again, a yes vote to this item is a denial of the application and mirrors what council comments were here tonight.

Mayor, I just have one comment.

Yes.

I just want to say I at some point we heard a comparison in regards to um gas stations.

I would just like to make sure the record reflects that the gas stations that we have in our communities are throughout most communities that are off the I-10 freeway throughout this entire country.

So the infrastructure is in place to manage any types of incidents that may happen with those entities, and we're very well accustomed to managing that, not only in our community but across the I-10 throughout the nation.

Thank you for that, Councilmember White.

The votes before you, please vote.

This application is denied 7-0.

Summary of current events.

Um the only thing I have coming up, honestly, is that we have a meeting tomorrow to kick off Prop 479 with stakeholders and kind of how we're going to move forward with that.

That is downtown Phoenix.

Uh, Friday I sit on a panel on Prop 479, which is the former Prop 400, and we'll be laying out strategies for that and just kind of getting our feet wet.

That vote is coming up, I think, in just six months.

So uh you'll hear more about that.

Council members, anything from you?

Curtis?

Mayor, I just had the opportunity this morning to go into the Sonora room there where they've got things set up for voting.

They've got six people in there that are just waiting for anybody that we can to come in and be with them.

They're gonna be there until the 19th of March.

If we can encourage our people to get out and vote if they want to come up here, these are great people.

They're all up there all day long and just wanting to visit with somebody.

So it's a thankless job.

It's a thankless job.

Council, anything else?

Liz, can you just tell us real quickly who the they picked for LD 22?

Sorry, they want to put you on the spot, but I think it's important for council to know.

Thank you, Mayor, and members of the council, as you're aware.

Um the LD22, one of the um seats in the House of Representatives has been vacant since Representative Lisa Sun resigned uh this morning.

The uh Board of Supervisors approved Dr.

Elda Luna Nahina.

Uh she is the president of the governing board of the Tullison Union High School District and also employed by the Agua Fria School District, I believe.

And I think she's gonna be um sworn in either later today or tomorrow morning.

So it moves pretty fast.

And you mentioned that you're gonna do a thank you letter from her for her.

We're gonna do a congratulatory letter uh to her from mayor and council, and then I'll be reaching out to um begin to brief her on legislation that's impacting the city of Avondale.

Appreciate that.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

Can I get a motion to adjourn to executive session?

I have a motion from Councilmember Malone, a second from Councilmember White.

Any further comments seeing none, please vote.

We are adjourned to executive session.

Thank you, team.

Please drive safely.