Councilmember Condi.

Councilmember Malone.

Councilmember Nielsen.

Councilmember Solario.

Councilmember White.

Present.

Vice Mayor Paneba.

Mayor Weiss.

Here.

How are you, sir?

I'm very good.

Mr.

Mayor, thank you.

Item number two, please.

Thank you.

Uh, we have Stacey Swanson, our recreation supervisor with Parks and Rec and Kelsey English, our recreation coordinator with Parks Rick to give an update on our special events.

Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council members.

Good evening.

I'm Stacey Swainston.

I'm the recreation manager, and this is Kelsey English Perry, our recreation coordinator.

Her and the special event team are what are make our special events magic.

I will be talking about the fall and winter events, and Kelsey will be talking about the spring and summer events.

And I'm just taking a second to have it load real quick.

To start off the spooky season, we have Barks and Treats, which will be at Alamar Park Saturday, October 7th.

So you'll see there the map of this event.

This was in conjunction with the grand opening of Alamar last year.

It is an event that we're going to continue to do each year.

So you'll see on this map we have pup photos, a pet costume contest that we currently have about 20 people registered for exhibitors and vendors for the pups, and it'll be a great event this year.

Next up, we have the historic Billy Moore days.

This takes place October 19th through the 22nd.

So on Thursday from Sunday will be the carnival, and then we will have our festivities going on from fry on Friday and Saturday.

That will include food trucks, activities for the kids, active um wild west shows, and then also we will be having our historic parade.

You'll see on this slide on October 21st at Saturday at 9 a.m.

This is the route.

Um the green dot is where the parade will start at Estrea High School.

It will go down central, taking a left on western, and then going back to Algro Fria High School.

So this new route is different, obviously from last year, but less residential impact with this new route that we have.

Okay.

Okay.

This will also take place at Alamar Park on Tuesday, October 31st.

You'll see on the slide um the different uh city departments are actually gonna be different themes for their booth.

So you'll see kind of a tease of what we have going on there so far.

And then also the map, you'll see trick-or-treating on the multi-use field along with crafts, face painting, and balloons, and then also to end the night, we're gonna be showing Casper a free family movie.

So this is kind of the start of trick or treating.

So it's from four to seven, so families can come on over to Alamar, enjoy a pre-trick or treating in the park, and then going out, go out into their neighborhoods.

Then we do have Winterfest.

Winterfest is a bit different this year.

As you guys know, the event is growing immensely.

So we are moving the event to the front of City Hall.

So instead of being in the back of the Amp Theater, we'll be moving it out in front.

So that'll take place all on Civic Center Drive with all of the stage, the food trucks, the exhibitors will all be out in front.

We're also moving the light show out in front.

So the Christmas tree will be right in front of the fountain, and then that will go to music, five different songs, and then we will have the rest of the front of the area with the holiday lights.

And then we also do have Avondale, the Avondale Championship open on November 2nd, and that is a golf tournament put on by the Boys and Girls Club, and that does benefit our local um Avondale Club here.

They have raised since they've been doing this over one million dollars, and last year actually raised 78,000.

We also have the vet run, and that takes place on November 11th, and that is a run at Austrella Mountain Community College, and then we go into a warrior breakfast, a ceremony, and then something new they're doing this year because it's the 10th anniversary.

They're doing a um brunch and booze uh VIP experience.

Then we have Trace Rios Nature Festival.

Unfortunately, due to the flooding at the Trace Rio Space Meridian Wildlife Area, we do have to move the location.

So after careful consideration, we did move it to a Stray Mountain Regional Park.

And the reason for this was because we did really want to still keep it outdoors and that like have that outdoor recreation environment.

And then also we do have an IGA with Australian Mountain Regional Park.

They are waiving all fees.

And our partners that do do this event with us are very excited to hold it there.

I know we held it back in, I believe it was 2010 at this location.

So on this map, you'll see we have um kind of an outline of the area where we would be doing it.

It is a great when we had to think about the relocation of this event.

We thought of as well attended as Trace Rios is where can we fit all these people, especially with parking?

Um, so this location does have 11 different parking lots where we'll also have a shuttle that we'll be able to shuttle to the location.

Before Kelsey um starts up the spring events, I did want to just get into the fact that we will be starting up a run series.

So we plan on doing a run in the spring, and then we'll plan on doing another run slash swim aquathon in the fall of 2024.

Evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council.

Um so I'll go ahead and talk a little bit about our spring events we have coming up.

Um we start with family camp out March 16th and 17th at Friendship Park.

Um, this is really a chance to kick off spring and sleep on some of the best kept grass.

Um, but it includes tent decorating contests, scavenger hunt, dinner, s'mores, and a movie.

This year we'll be showing angels in the outfield.

Um, this is the third year, and this event just continues to grow and grow, so we're excited about that.

We have the egg extravaganza series, which is three days at three different park locations.

Um, it is spread out at various locations so that uh community members in their different residences can come to a location that's closest to their residence.

Um, so this event we do provide an alternative egg hunt option, um, meaning that it's by family.

Um, what that does is it it takes care of all sensory needs for kids instead of like a mass start, as well as it's adaptable for ages of all kinds.

Um, so we do find that a lot of people have a lot of success in that, that we do a bi-family option.

We have one of our bigger events after that, um Kid Fest, April 8th 13th from 9 to 1 at Friendship Park.

Um, this does include the superhero 5K partnership, um, but lots of entertainment, local dance groups, crafts, entertainment, um, things like that.

This is one of our biggest events for um community partnership success.

So anything that is educational or offers any opportunities for kids from zero to eighteen, so not just school age, not just um infants, everybody across the board.

Um, this has a variety of um options, as well as a lot of city of Avondale departments participate in this, especially Public Works does kind of a touch a truck with fire and PD and all the vehicles that they bring out.

We also have Avondale Fiesta Saturday, May 4th in Old Town Avondale from 6 to 10.

Um, this is just celebration of all things Hispanic culture in a street style fair.

So we are um going to keep with that for that format.

Um, the event is the Saturday before Cinco de Mayo.

This year it happens to be on May 4th, so somehow we'll have to figure out how to work some Star Wars stuff in there for the May 4th.

So we also have some of our smaller community events.

Um, so we have Memorial Day ceremony on Monday, May 27th.

That's here at Civic Center Complex at 8 a.m.

Um that is a partnership with many military groups as well as a speaker from Luke Air Force Base and a local ROTC.

Um, we have the summer blank canvas summer showcase and art expo.

Um, so the actual art expo is August 8th here at Civic Center Complex where we display the art for kids at um in two or three varying age groups.

Um, but the canvas pickup is actually in June.

Um, this is an award-winning event.

Last year we had over 300 people registered.

Um, it's growing and growing.

We did push this week date back a week this year just to accommodate the start of school.

Oh, sorry, and then Juneteenth, Wednesday, June 19th.

So we are actually doing it on Juneteenth this year at 5 o'clock at the Avondale Resource Center.

Um, this will be the second year for this event, really focusing on the educational session with a panel and speaker, and then post-event celebration with music and food trucks and things like that.

And then we kind of finish out our season with July 4th, um, Avondale Light Up the Sky at Phoenix Raceway from 6 to 9.

Um, this event is an option of how you want to celebrate with your family.

We have a tailgate option, or you can come to the stage and participate with the activities and food trucks.

So if you just want to come hang with your family in Tailgate, that's awesome.

If you want to come to the VIP and get a full meal and all that, so it's kind of however you want your celebration for the fourth to be.

And that concludes our presentation.

We're open for questions and comments.

Really full calendar, really full schedule.

Um cycle Avondale is gone for now, correct?

Correct.

Just and we talked about this before, having events where um if they couldn't grow or just it wasn't the public wasn't driving it, then we would look at other options and kind of cycle Avondale was that, correct?

That is correct.

And logistics were always hard trying to figure out how to make that.

Is it 31 miles, 34 miles?

Yes, it was 31.

How to get that done.

Um, the barbecue fest, what are we gonna do with that?

Currently, determined events is not doing the barbecue fest this year, so that's something that we would have to look at bringing in-house that we can definitely look at.

Okay, will you keep us updated on that?

Of course.

Veronica, anything?

I do have a couple of questions.

Can we go back to um Australia Regional Park?

Is that where we're gonna have the trust reels?

Yes, that is correct.

So is it because you said we've we've uh outrew it, right?

What is the attendance for the trust reels?

But is it the two-day event, right?

Yes, it's two days.

Usually it's around 10,000.

Last year we got a little bit of cold weather on the Sunday where our attendance was a little bit less, but it does typically between the two days get around 10,000.

Okay.

And then um, do you guys do a survey after each event, or do you have a survey already in place when you guys like if I approach uh parks and recs booth?

Do you guys have like a survey I could kind of um scan just so I can kind of give you guys my input at the during the time of the event?

Yes, of course.

We do have barcodes throughout the event where you can barcode, you can scan it and do a survey.

Um we used to use SurveyMonkey, but we're now getting into Avondale Connect, so we're gonna have those surveys on Avondale Connect.

And those will go um, they're available at 11 59 that same night.

Okay, so then you guys get it, and you guys can get through the feedback, figure out how we're going to do it.

Do we ever anticipate?

I really like the trust reels, and I know we do grow, but do we ever anticipate going back to the trust reels in the wetlands?

Oh, of course.

Um, currently the only reason that we have moved was because of the flooding and the damages at Trace Rios.

It's too unsafe to be out there currently.

All right, so we did unfortunately have to move.

Mr.

Mayor, Councilmember will uh get that survey.

Uh Anisa will send that to all of council the results you were asking for to see.

And that will that include all of the events and stuff.

We'll see what we can get from Parks and Rec and we'll have our team get that to you.

Okay.

All right.

And if there's any changes, any other questions that they might have or something, accommodations.

Perfect.

Thank you.

I'd appreciate that.

Of course.

And we do do a survey, they're all the same templates.

So we do a star rating.

So the biggest question is how is your experience one to five?

So we can easily also give you the star rating for each event that we have.

Okay, and do we all um we probably do, but just in case they we don't we we haven't seen it, but do you guys put those surveys on?

I know I've seen a couple of surveys, but do you guys put like after uh event, would you guys put the survey up?

Hey guys, do you guys see this?

And tell us what you think about the um about the event.

Have you guys done that?

Yes, that's all in um on social media, along with kind of a recap.

Yep, make sure to take our survey.

Perfect.

I thought so.

Thank you.

Welcome.

Vice Mayor.

Okay.

I'm not sure if this is, I think it's on.

I just wanted to make a comment, and it's more of just a thank you to uh parks and rec staff.

Um, this past year uh with the Fiesta being moved from Old Town to Alamar.

Uh while that presented a challenge, and obviously uh some of us may have heard from the community as to uh their dissatisfaction of it being pooled.

I just wanted to commend staff uh for um providing a shuttle service to accommodate those from uh that part of town to be able to make it to Alamar if transportation was an issue.

And I'm sure many of you are aware that that's not something that can easily be done like this.

And while that's the case, our staff made it happen within like 48 hours or less.

So uh just again, just a big thank you that you were able to respond so quickly and provided those who could not um uh provide their own transportation, the shuttle service to get them to and from.

So thank you.

Of course, thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Anyone else?

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

I'm just uh we know we're having technical difficulties with your screens.

Uh we're in the process of printing all of tonight's PowerPoints.

So even if we don't get to them at this second, you'll have them to take with you.

Um but we're working on that.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Item number three, please.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Next up is Harold, our assistant director of public works to talk about We Ride.

All right, oops.

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

Uh my name is Harold Suwensis is director with Public Works, and today we're going to talk about We Ride and its expansion.

And hope everyone had the opportunity to go see our vehicles outside and how wonderfully wrapped they are.

And I just want to give a quick thanks to AZ Pro.

They're locally here in Avondale off on 90th Avenue and Pierce who did all the wrapping on our vehicles.

I think they look great, and you can definitely not miss them when they're out on the road.

So just a quick recap.

We've been in the North Zone providing We Ride services since October of last year.

We have a total of 302 virtual stops covering about 11 and a half square miles.

Through mid-September, we've had a total of 14,000, over 14,000 riders utilize our service just in North Avondale alone.

Our on-time performance is just shy of 98%.

About 38% of our rides are shared rides, as that's one of our main goals is to uh show that this is a public transit system and shared rides is one of our goals.

We want to continue to increase.

Currently in our fleet, we have two minivans and two minivans that are ADA compliant.

So that's what our fleet currently looks like in the North Zone.

And the exciting part is starting October 2nd, we will be expanding into Southern Avondale.

In Southern Avondale, we're gonna have 249 virtual stops.

And we're gonna be adding two additional minivans and then two of the larger vans that you saw out there outside.

So we're very excited about that.

Um I also want to point out that uh as part of this program um we are going to be uh providing services to now all the community parks within the city to include Alamar Park as a virtual stop as well.

So we're very excited about that.

Another thing I also want to talk about mention about virtual stops is just like we did in North Avondale.

Uh this is the first shot at the virtual stops on where would be the best location for for them as the system grows and as a system as our residents get used to the services, we will hear their feedback and make changes and adjustments to those virtual stops as we hear back from the community.

So this is not the you know, the last edition of our virtual stops will continue to modify as we move forward.

So, what does that mean?

That means we're gonna have one big zone.

We're not gonna have a north zone or a south zone, it's gonna be all Avondale zone combined.

So that's about 20 over 22 square miles that we're going to be covering.

551 total virtual stops.

So we're gonna have eight vehicles in total.

Our days and hours of service will remain the same Monday through Friday, uh, 7 a.m.

to 7 p.m.

Um, and at this moment we have uh Transdev has uh has the right number or we've uh hired uh the number of staff that we require to manage this operation to include the vehicles, and to celebrate, we're going to have free service available from October 2nd through November 17th for the entirety of the Avondale uh community.

A few things I just want to note uh is our customer feedback, as I mentioned earlier.

That's really important to us.

Um, most of our feedback uh is really geared towards our operators and our drivers.

Uh we ride Transdev and ourselves here in Avondale, take a really great pride in to our customer service.

We know that if a customer has a great experience, they will return.

And so we want to make sure that we're providing a great service to them.

Um, also we receive feedback in regards to uh how to improve or where to provide services.

We received numerous requests to bring WeRide to Southern Avondale, um, and so we finally are doing that.

And apparently we have the GOAT uh in our team as well, according to the feedback.

So we're very excited about that.

Who's Nick?

Is Nick here?

So with that, I just want to say uh thank you to all of our partners to Transdev.

Um, as you can see, they're all right here in the front row with us.

Uh honestly, without them, we wouldn't be able to uh this wouldn't be uh as successful as it is.

They take great pride in the work that they do and the service that they provide.

Uh we also want to give a thanks to Rideco, who is the technology partner, they're the ones who manage our app for everyone to book uh online, and then to our cities as well that are partners in We Ride and have We Ride in their cities as well.

So with that, I'll take any questions.

So we rolled out North Side how long ago?

In October of last year.

It's almost a year.

Yes.

So when you're planning for the South side, what lessons do we learn from the north side to transfer to the south side?

And I love the fact that it's just one zone.

Uh Mayor, what we have what we've learned is it's basically through basically through our feedback, and a lot of it has been destinations and locations where our operator where our customers want to go.

Um, additionally, understanding um specific neighborhoods andor shopping areas where it might be better to drop off if there is a we've heard back from some businesses that they would like to stop closer to their area, and so we try to accommodate those things as well.

So the number one thing that we learned is trying to be nimble.

We need to be nimble and be able to make those changes as quickly as we can uh to uh kind of shake that uh perception of public transit doesn't move quickly, and so that's what we're trying to break here.

Council Veronica?

I have a couple questions.

Thank you for the presentation.

So on your customers' feedback, do so.

Do we plan to roll out monthly passes?

Um, I believe may I turn to my team?

Early next year.

Early next year.

There you go.

Perfect.

Okay, and um do we plan to uh expand hours for a little bit later and on Saturdays and Sundays?

If so, when?

Mayor Vice Mayor and Council.

Um that is our goal to continue to expand as we move forward.

Uh we want to take one step at a time, and the expansion to South Avondale is going to be a really big change for us.

So we want to get ourselves situated with that, make sure we're providing the right service, and then come back to council at a later date to look at expansion of the service.

Perfect.

Um, how often um do we uh get customers' feedback?

Is it right after the ride?

It is okay, mayor, vice mayor, uh council.

Uh a rider after they complete their ride uh receives uh a notification to leave feedback, and they can either A, leave a uh star rating one through five, or they can provide additional comments in the feedback, and that's what you saw today.

So, yes, the uh the rider is able to provide feedback immediately.

I I've yet to ride the rewrite, so forgive me for asking the questions, and maybe I should.

Um if I got a van and it's I I'm not sure one three one or whatever is a van number.

Would it show me who the driver is?

And I could see the ratings of that as well when I um if I kind of booked it on my phone.

Uh Mayor, Vice Mayor and Council, and uh yes, you are able to see the vehicle and the driver.

There's not necessarily, I don't think the rating of the driver shows up on the app.

No, it doesn't the rate or but the comments and customer service feedback and stuff like that.

Would that show up?

Like just who who's driving that van?

No, they're the feedback from other customers do not show up when you book that ride.

Oh, like a star.

Uh no, there's there is no um there is no rating of the driver and or feedback of the driver that other customers can see.

No, they don't have that.

You know, like when you ride lift, you can see if they're a four-star.

Correct, yes.

Do we plan on doing that?

Um, that's something we could talk to Rideco, our app provider, to see if that's something that other customers of theirs may have for may have asked for, and we can definitely start the conversation with them.

Perfect.

I think that concludes my um questions.

I look forward to it being on the southern part.

We've got a lot of our uh community that's asking about it.

What why not?

When when is it gonna happen?

So it's gonna be awesome to let them know that it's happening next week.

Thanks.

Have a good one.

Thank you, ma'am.

Max.

Thank you so much for the presentation.

Um I know that the shared service is uh something that's really important.

So I am speaking, I guess, from a different posture, having taken We Ride.

Um I I noticed I didn't feel as good about writing my second driver because Samantha was awesome, but she had to stop to pick somebody else up.

And we stopped and we waited um and we waited and we waited.

And they didn't come out, and we have to wait, I guess you arrive early because most of us do, and then we have to wait a certain amount of time, and when the person didn't come out, I just kind of felt away because I'm a brat, but um I I just didn't get the additional rider, and I spent a little bit more time.

How are we gonna address those things?

Because I would hate it to have given a bad review to Samantha.

Uh Mayor Vice Mayor, Councilmember White.

Uh, that is we we do understand that we're going to have more ridership now as we are expanding.

So we're going to adjust our wait time for someone who to arrive to their specific location, so we're not waiting for a long period of time for for someone to show up.

And as we're expanding, do you find that it's easier to get more support from Valley Metro?

Um to uh I I know I toured vehicles there as well to provide more vehicles, or do they want to see the volume before they do more vehicles and support us?

Uh Mayor, Vice Mayor, Councilmember White.

Um, with the new leadership in Valet Metro, they've been very supportive uh with uh with the microtransit services.

Um they're kind of looking at us as the example.

Um so we're trying to set that that baseline of the type of service that we should be providing in regards to the vehicles.

Uh that's an ongoing conversation with what we're having with Valet Metro and how we can utilize regional dollars and federal dollars to replace our vehicles and to bring more vehicles onto uh onto our system.

So that is an ongoing, and there seems to be some openness to that as well.

And um when we take a look at the cities that are involved, can you talk to us about the branding we ride?

Is that something that anybody can use anywhere throughout the country?

How specific is we ride to our cities?

Uh Mayor West Mayor Casper White We Ride is trademarked uh while working through this uh through the trademark process.

Uh so uh we own the the rights to the name.

Um, but in regards to the contract itself, uh it is a cooperative contract, so other cities are able to utilize the contract.

When it comes to the branding, um it's up to that city to determine whether or not they want to stay with Reride.

One of the the positives of staying in with the brand We Ride is a lot of the legwork is already done, meaning the brand is there, people know it, people understand it.

Um, whether you're surprised Goodyear or Avondale, um, it's one app, and you see all the zones in that one app.

So there really is a lot of benefits to continue under the one umbrella of WeRide.

Uh, but that's uh up to each city whether they like to or not.

Um but I think we're gonna see more cities as they want to join the microtransit community that they most likely will like to use a We Ride brand.

Thank you for all your hard work.

Thank you for the presentation.

Uh Tina.

Thank you, Harold, for the presentation.

I just have one quick question on the slide where it's the combine zones.

On the very top right, there's a little corner off what is that location?

Uh on the other side of the loop 101.

Yes.

That's the uh Banner Medical Center.

What is that?

Uh Banner Medical Center, so the hospital.

Uh so we do have some uh areas that are not part of the city of Avondale, but they're critical services uh for our residents that they utilize on a continuous basis.

So we wanted to make sure that we accounted for that.

Um and another point to just kind of point out uh we also are have a stop at the YMCA, which is technically a good year, uh, but we know that our residents use that service.

On the flip side, Goodyear also has a stop at the Australian Mountain Community College, which is in Avondale.

Um so we really try to make sure that we're providing the right stops and locations for our residents and where they need to go.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

Thank you.

Ron, item four, please.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Next up is Torin for our senior management analyst from our office to recognize some outstanding um employees.

All right.

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

My name is Torrin Sado, and I serve as the senior management analyst in the city manager's office.

I also serve as the proud leader of the Avondale Innovation Team, and I'm excited to join you today to recognize our 2022 through 2023 program graduates.

Before I invite our innovation team graduates to join me at the DIES for a picture with the mayor and council, I would like to provide a brief overview of the history and the purpose of the Avondale Innovation Team.

The innovation team was created in October 2019 by city management in partnership with department directors as one of the city's primary internal employee training programs with the purpose of empowering Avondale employees to foster a culture of innovation that allows our staff members to create a positive, engaging work environment that helps save our internal and external stakeholders time and money.

To meet the innovation team's core purpose, each new class is challenged with organically establishing their own project pipeline based on team members' experiences working with the city of Avondale following their initial training on how to innovate within one's own sphere of influence.

The objective of the team's projects is to enhance the city's efficiency within the existing budget without adding additional FTE.

Since its inception, three innovation team classes have graduated, representing a total of 34 Avondale staff members from nearly all departments at all levels of the organization.

Innovation team graduates learn valuable project management skills and receive peak performance training regarding how to innovate within their own sphere of influence.

This year's innovation team focused on developing training resources and programming with a focus on retaining our most valuable asset, our employees, through developing internal training opportunities.

Our two project teams in this year's innovation team are the leadership development toolbox, a hub for supervisor-focused training resources to be paired with a future internal supervisor training program and the AVI skills-based training program, which pairs tenured Avondale employees with city staff members poised for growth within the organization to help them build the skills necessary to grow into their next career opportunity here in the city of Avondale.

Now I would be happy to read the names of the Avondale employees who have graduated from the 2022 through 23 innovation team program and invite all of our program graduates in attendance this evening to please join me at the DIES as I read your name.

So thank you to those members of the innovation team who have graduated from the program and have joined us for tonight's meeting to recognize this year's graduates.

Mayor and Council, I would like to ask for a picture with the mayor and council and our current innovation team graduates, once all of our innovation team graduates have joined us up here at the Dais.

This year's graduating members are John Almanza with the fire department, John Reddy with the facilities department, Angela Dustin with our police communications team, Marlena Pinya with our neighborhood and family services team, Adam Shipley with economic development, and Matthew Hernandez with Public Works.

And I'd also like to extend a special thank you to Anisa Romo, our management analyst in the city manager's office who works closely with the mayor and council as my co-administrator for the innovation team program.

Innovation team members?

Great.

Mayor and Council, thank you.

And if you could please join us at the DIES with for a picture with the innovation team.

And all the public.

Congratulations, you guys.

Of course.

Thank you, Mayor and Council.

So uh council and team, uh, we're gonna take 10 minutes after adjournment.

Can I get a motion for adjournment, please?

I have a motion from Councilmember Malone, a second from Councilmember Nielsen, any further discussion?

Seeing none, please vote.

Passes 7-0.

We are adjourned for, let's come back.

Can we say six ten, folks?

City Council regular meeting to order.

Would you all please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of reflection?

Marcel, I know we have some public comment.

Did you do what did you want to read the ones that were given on the Mr.

Mayor?

Uh, would you like the uh uh Marcella to do a roll call?

Oh, please, that would be great.

Thank you, Mayor.

Councilmember Conde.

Here, Councilmember Malone.

Councilmember Nielsen, Councilmember Solario, Councilmember White, Vice Mayor Paneda, Mayor Weiss.

Here.

And Mayor, yes, I will read the request to speak from the individuals who do not want to address the council, but they wanted their comments shared with the council.

Please.

I'm going to start the three minute timer for each one and conclude my reading after three minutes, but I think I can get through all of it.

I believe it would be best interest of I'm sorry.

This is from Jose Castro.

I believe it would be the best interest of all families residing in the Holy Acres, Holly Acres area, river bottom to set a curfew time to enter the river bottom, 7 a.m.

to 7 p.m.

in order to enjoy our beautiful river.

The young people entering the area are driving through from 7 p.m.

to 3 or 4 a.m.

not at a safe time to drive during these hours.

The people are driving so fast and are not following the traffic signs.

The stop sign on El Mirage Road in Southern is knocked down every weekend.

I would also like to address the business on the east side of El Mirage Road.

There is a dust problem, noise problem, and the start time of work is not in the best interest of the neighborhoods.

Too much noise.

Much police presence is needed in the area, not just for a few minutes.

Supervision needs to be addressed as soon as possible before there are more accidents in the area.

Too many careless drivers during the evening, late night hours.

That concludes that request.

I'm actually by the levee before the river bottom, and then there is the river.

The shooting in the river bottom has led to bullets hitting structures in my yard.

We have been sitting outside and have had bullets whiz by.

I'm hoping that some actions, such as permanent barricade, can be done and more patrols down there to stop all of the shooting.

Thank you for your time.

That concludes that one.

The next one is by um Julian Paleo.

Today I want to draw your attention to a critical issue that our city council must address.

The presence of gunshots in our neighborhoods, which underscores the need for immediate action, including impeding barriers to restrict outsiders from accessing our river bottom areas.

Gunshots in our neighborhoods are not just a noise problem, they are a significant significant threat to our safety and the overall well-being of our community.

Each gunshot fired represents the potential for violence, be it a domestic dispute escalating into something more serious, a random act of aggression or a tragic accident involving firearms.

The consequences can be life altering, affecting not only the victims but our entire neighborhood.

Furthermore, the constant sound of a gunshot creates a climate of fear and anxiety in our daily lives, robbing us from the peace and security we should enjoy within our community.

This fear is compounded by the very real possibility of outsiders accessing our river bottom areas where illegal activities and gun violence often occur.

The solution to the multifaceted problem lies in the actions of our city council.

We must urge them to take a proactive stance.

First and foremost, we need to advocate for the implementation of physical barriers to restrict outsider access to our river bottom areas.

By doing so, we can curtail illegal activities, including gun violence, which often thrive in these secluded locations.

Additionally, our city council should prioritize prioritize community safety by investing in law enforcement resources, ensuring they have the tools and personnel necessary to address the issue effectively.

It's crucial to promote responsible gun ownership and to work collaboratively with our local police force to enhance neighborhood security.

In conclusion, gunshots in our neighborhood are a pressing issue that our city council must address.

To combat this problem effectively, we must advocate for physical barriers to restrict outsiders from the river bottom areas and work collaboratively with police law enforcement to ensure community safety by addressing the root causes of gun violence and promoting responsible gun ownership.

We can create a safer, more vibrant community.

Our safety and the well-being of our neighborhoods depend on the decisive actions of our city council.

Thank you.

That concludes that one.

Thank you, Marcella.

And I have one more from Diane D Carlo.

Good evening.

This request is a plea to expand the police coverage to the new Alamar residential area sooner than later.

Broadway slash Avondale Boulevard, Broadway slash El Mirage area.

Unfortunately, during the early mornings on 925, there was a shooting which happened in the Alamar residential area.

The police are still out there as I write this.

As well, there are also people speeding down Broadway by the school and back and forth on Avenue Boulevard.

There are running the lights consistently.

All of these things have problems since the expansion of the area.

It's pretty much a free-for-all out here in this area.

I drive through areas like Rancho Santa Fe or communities in Goodyear and Lichville Park area, and I feel more safe there than in this new development.

Something needs to be done before we turn into the next Maryville.

A tax base for Avondale could lose property values if the community does not step up to do something to ensure the safety of the population in this area.

That concludes that request to speak.

Thank you.

Thanks, Marcel.

We do have a couple more speakers here tonight.

Alex, would you come up?

I don't have your last name.

So do you mind coming up?

And you'll have three minutes.

You'll see kind of the clock there.

Do you need my full name or just no?

So I'm calling, or I came in regards to the Holly Acres community.

We've only lived there a year, and unfortunately, the gunshots have been very um aggressive depending on the day, and sometimes it's random.

Uh I didn't get home this weekend until I think about 10, and they kind of just happen throughout the night.

It's scary because you don't know how close they are.

It's one thing if it's a handgun, you can kind of tell the difference, but some of these sound like automatic weapons, they're very loud and very close.

I live kind of, I want to say on El Mirage Road and 122nd Avenue, so they are very, very um just disturbing most of the times.

So I just hope that something can be done further to kind of regulate who goes down there.

Oftentimes we'll see tons of cars um piled up.

We've seen cars get stuck in between the um exit and I guess like the small berms that they've tried to create, but it's just not really as effective.

When police are called, it's more along the lines of they kind of shoe them away.

There's no real, I don't see any kind of consequences, and I feel like when there's no consequences, everyone can come in.

So whether there's no arrest or tar cars being towed, there's really no fear or no um hesitancy to go excuse me, go there.

Sorry, all the time.

So that's just my piece.

I'm hoping that something can be done sooner rather than later.

Alex, do you mind uh Chief Espinoza is right there?

And I think you've heard some other things here tonight.

Do you mind if he just gets with you before you leave?

Uh yes, we did speak earlier briefly.

Okay, so you're good.

Yes, I did get his name.

I don't know if I need any other contact information.

I we have your contact information via email, so if he needs to get in contact, they can.

Okay, perfect.

Thank you so very much.

Thanks for being here.

Mary.

I don't have a last name.

I'm sorry.

Okay, thank you.

Do you mind coming up?

How are you, ma'am?

Good evening.

Um, my name is Miss Mary Abrigal, and I live in Holly Acres.

I've been there since 1977.

Uh, my family has been there throughout the floods and everything else.

It was it's been very peaceful neighborhood all those years, and um with that being said, and the neighbors have been wonderful.

There's only about 50 people.

Um 50 houses, I should say.

But with that being said, um, the last past year has changed here in Holly Acres with the PIR.

I believe that they've been very respectful as far as them coming out and doing their events and everything, and the fans coming by our houses, and I live right on El Mirage Road, right on the entrance of the river bottom.

Okay, and so like I said, PIR has been very respectful as far as the residents are concerned there in Holly Acres.

However, the last couple months, the river bottom has been unbearable, and the parties and shootings, and and like my neighbor has said over here, uh, it's affected the residents there in Holly Acres.

There's no more peaceful times, there are no more we're fearful during the weekend because especially right in there, and the three weekends ago, three weekends ago, I called the City of Avondale because shots were fired right in front of my house, and so I'm talking 45 feet away from my entrance, and my grandson is his bedroom is right there, and so that's why I'm here.

I'm thinking, okay, are we gonna wait for a tragedy to happen?

I'm not gonna wait.

I'm I'm you know, we have to speak out for the residents there at our families, you know.

Like I said, it's been peaceful all these years, and now it's getting to the point where we're gonna be in fear, you know.

We've had new neighbors, you know, just moved into the neighborhood on that road.

They have little children, they're fearful.

They don't they're you know, the weekend comes, and we're we're just wondering what's gonna happen.

Is the shots gonna come by?

So that day that I called the sheriffs, he picked up 16 casings from the piece the the five houses down from right from the river bottom.

So what we're pleading is that something be done before a tragedy happens.

And so I thank you for your time.

Mary, do you mind if you mind if I call you Mary?

Mary, do you mind if Chief Espinosa gets with you after the meeting?

Yes, absolutely.

That'd be great, thank you.

Okay, thank you.

I have a Mr.

I don't want to mispronounce this, Clovis Campbell.

Thank you, sir.

Good evening, Mayor Weiss and City Council.

Um, my name is Clovis Campbell.

I'm a former state representative here in Arizona.

Currently, I publish the Arizona Informant Newspaper, and I'm also the executive director for the Arizona Commission of Active American Affairs under Governor Hobbes.

I am here today because of uh some serious concerns we had about shootings of uh individuals in the city.

Uh one in particular was a young man who was accosted and then shot in the back as he ran away five times by the police officer.

Uh now I am one of the persons who have the utmost respect for our law enforcement.

I believe that 99% of our officers are great individuals.

There's always somebody who's not working the right way.

But in this case, we think it is an unjust shooting.

We want to make sure that this opportunity, this is an opportunity for the city of Pior, I mean the city of uh Avondale to look at this issue, understand what's going on, and please try to address it in the correct way.

As I hear right now, you've got people shooting all over the neighborhoods in this area.

And uh if you take time to look at those issues and not shoot someone in the back who's running away from a police officer, I think that would be a better opportunity and better served in our community.

But again, as I said before, I am a great supporter of law enforcement.

But when law enforcement is not doing the right thing, the citizens have to address it, and I think this is one issue that definitely needs to be addressed.

Sure, I appreciate your time.

The city council as well, and I hope you're looking forward.

I hope you look into this matter a lot more deeply.

Sir, thank you for being here tonight.

Thank you.

Larnice Farmer.

Did I say your first name correct, sir?

Close.

Thank you.

Good evening, everyone.

My name is Larnell Farmer, and uh, I'm the first first vice president for the West Valley and double ACP.

And as Mr.

Clovis just stated, I'm here about the American Hope shooting that occurred back in February.

And um just I know it gained more attention recently because he was just identified, but as I stated, this shooting occurred back in uh February.

So there's been ample time for the Avondale Police Department to have some resolution as to what happened to the officer.

So at this point, we're not really sure because we really haven't asked the right questions because we didn't know what what to ask, but now we know what to ask.

And one ask is what is the status of the police officer that was involved in the shooting?

Is he currently on duty?

Because I've heard a couple things.

One of these on administrative leave.

If he's still on administrative leave, why is he on administrative leave?

Because it's been seven months.

And I know the Peoria police department, they did they conducted the investigation.

So again, that was back in February.

I know Peoria is done with their investigation, and it's in the hands of the uh county attorney at this time.

So that's pending.

So one has nothing to do with the other.

So if it's in the hands of the county attorney, that's to see if any charges is gonna be brought before this officer.

And if I'm wrong, somebody please correct me.

So again, that has nothing to do with that officer's status as a police officer here in Avondale.

So at this time, looking at the totality of everything, this officer should at the very least be fired.

And again, that has nothing to do with it with what's gonna happen at the county attorney's office.

So we're asking these questions.

What is the status of the police officer at this time?

If he's on administrative leave, uh administrative leave at this time, why is he still on administrative leave seven months after the shooting?

And again, to ask the question, why hasn't this officer been fired?

As Mr.

Campbell stated, this young man was shot at he was shot at five times, and I believe he was hit three times, one in the leg and twice in the back.

He died on the scene.

The police officer, this happened on the 21st of February.

The police officer wasn't uh interviewed until the 24th.

That gave this officer ample time to get a story together to match what was on the body cam video.

So it's all these things that are pointing in the direction.

And I've read the police reports, and there was enough time for this officer to get his story straight.

Not straight, we get his story together to make it look like, as I've heard him say, that um his he feared for his life because of this, that, and the other.

But again, seven months have passed, and we're asking why is this office officer still a part of the Avondale police department.

So those are some of the questions that we have.

We have many more, but those are some of the main points that we're looking for.

And again, I thank you for your time and uh hopefully we can get some answers to these questions.

So again, thank you.

Thank you, sir, for being here.

Bishop Anthony Holt.

Sir.

No, thank you very much.

Um Mayor Weiss, Vice Vice Mayor Paneda and City Council.

My name is Bishop Anthony Holt.

I am the West Valley NAAC president as well as the state conference, but second vice president.

As my colleagues have stated before, our concern is that we do not hate the police department.

We're not going against the police department.

We support our police department, especially.

I am a resident of Avondale, I support my Avondale police department.

But when issues like this come up, they are extremely concerning to all of us in the community.

They're extremely concerning to all of us as parents.

They are extremely concerning to all of us as residents, taxpayers.

What we are asking is is that it be looked at very closely, very carefully, and take the time to consider.

Was this officer's actions justified?

Now, yes, Peoria has done this investigation.

I have talked to the chief, they are doing an administrative investigation.

But at the end of the day, when you look at this thing from a broader standpoint, this is something that continues to happen over and over again.

It is something that we're tired of.

It is something that we don't want.

We don't want tragedy in our communities.

Like you say, when I listen to the residents of Holly say about the gunshots, I hear those same gunshots around the PIR down at Heela Bend.

We know that violence happens.

We know that things happen.

But when we see an innocent kid who we think shoplifted a candy bar, whatever the case may be, how much is shoplifting that it cost a life?

So when we look at these things, all we're asking is one thing.

Let's do justice correctly.

Let's find out what really happened, and then let's execute that justice the way it needs to be justified.

This officer should not be patrolling our streets.

This officer should not have a badge.

This officer should not be the one that's protecting the serving.

Because if you're scared of a 17-year-old kid with his hands up, that you shoot him and kill him in the back.

That is not somebody I want protecting the rest of my family.

All we ask is we don't want trouble, we don't want drama, we don't want protest, we don't want all these things.

We want peace, we want quiet, but we also want justice.

We want justice for that family, we want justice for our community, we want justice for our officers to go out here and put their lives on the line every day.

We do not want role cops, and we do not want our families to feel that every time they see the police that there's a problem.

I appreciate your time.

I thank you for your service.

Thank you, sir.

Marcelo?

I believe that's all the cards I have.

Thank you, Mayor.

That does conclude our request to speak.

Thank you for that.

Item number three is consent agenda.

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

Hearing and seeing none.

Can I get a motion on the consent agenda, please?

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

Any further discussion?

Seeing none, please vote.

Councilmember Malone.

Thank you, ma'am.

Pass a 7-0.

I see our good friend out in the audience, Chris.

Chris, welcome all the way from Washington to Phoenix.

We made the weather a little cooler for you.

Liz.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of the City Council.

I'm Liz Barker Alvarez, intergovernmental affairs administrator for the City of Avondale.

As you are all aware, our office has a responsibility of monitoring and tracking legislation and for advocating for the city's interests with all levels of government.

That's hard enough to do when you live here and can um have ready access to your lawmakers, etc.

More difficult to do when they are all the way across the country.

So we have a wonderful partner in those efforts at the federal effort uh at the federal level through Capitol Edge and more specifically through Chris Gilio, who is our representative from Capital Edge, and he is here to provide you with an update.

Chris Thanks, uh Mayor and Vice Mayor, members of the council.

It's great to be here.

Uh it's been it's been a while uh since I've been here in person.

I have uh briefed you guys virtually during the pandemic.

But this is my first time in Avondale since 2019, and uh it's been great to uh to see the city, spent a lot of time today.

I want to thank the city manager uh for um uh making uh city staff available uh to me all day today uh to get caught up on things uh and to Liz for uh arranging all of that.

Uh uh you have a strong staff as as always.

Uh so thank you for allowing me to come today and uh just kind of give you an update as to what's going on in Washington DC.

It's kind of a pertinent time uh to talk about things.

Briefly, this slide just tells you what uh what we do here in Washington, what we do in Washington DC on behalf of you and uh just to sum it up if if it's any uh topic that has anything to do with the federal government in Washington DC, we are here uh to help in uh in a reactive and a proactive way.

So uh and we appreciate that.

So uh I will start at the beginning with the 118th Congress.

We're in the first session of uh of two sessions of the 118th Congress that started in January of 2023.

Uh again, I like I said, I'll go back to the beginning to give you uh an outline of what we're dealing with right now.

Uh you probably know all this, but thought I want to put it all down there.

We've got a narrow, a very narrow uh House majority uh of Republicans uh over on the other side of the Capitol, uh the Senate has a narrow uh Senate majority for Democrats.

Uh and as a result, uh each each uh chamber has been sort of doing their own legislating uh for much of the year and and not coming together on any of that.

For instance, the Senate is spending a lot of time on uh judicial nominations on Biden administration nominations, while over on the House side there uh they're doing legislation that is more uh in line with some of the House uh Republican leadership's priorities, not really matching up.

Uh the one thing that Congress has to do uh every year is a budget, uh, and so they have been trying to concentrate uh or at least doing their best to concentrate on the fiscal year 2024 budget.

Uh and also you may remember earlier this year uh the federal government was bumping up against its debt limit.

We were going to uh sometime this summer, uh, if it wasn't addressed by Congress uh to increase that debt limit, we were going to default on some some payments.

And so those are two things that that Congress uh must, the House and Senate must come together on uh in order for things to happen.

Meanwhile, the White House, knowing that they're not going to get a lot of legislation passed this year, uh, has mostly concentrated on uh infrastructure, uh the uh 2021 infrastructure bill, which is a five-year bill that provides money for uh uh a host of infrastructure programs, uh and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which concentrates on a lot of climate change uh tax uh um tax programs and climate change programs, and so they've been trying to uh implement that while Congress fights about uh about the budget and other things.

So, talking about the FY 2024 budget, uh the federal fiscal year starts on October 1, 2023.

Uh and right now the House and the Senate are not close uh at all on their spending priorities.

Each uh and each uh chamber has approved an FY2024 budget on the committee level.

Uh they're having trouble bringing those bills to the floor for votes, uh, but they have uh approved them on the committee level so far.

Uh I mentioned that debt limit earlier.

Uh in exchange for increasing the debt limit, uh there some in Congress uh uh wanted to see deficit reduction measures taken in concert with that.

And so what that debt limit agreement earlier this year included was uh an agreement on overall spending caps for fiscal year 2024 and fiscal year 2025.

I think when that was uh when that was enacted, I think a lot of folks thought that the budget, at least for the next two years, was going to be very smooth.

We've sort of set these budget caps, and Congress would you know kind of fight about the around the edges, but they would have that overall spending level.

Uh that did not happen.

Uh the House leadership uh decided that they thought that debt limit spending cap was in fact a ceiling and not a floor.

Uh, and so the House Appropriations Committee crafted their FY 2024 budget at a overall spending level that was much lower than that than that ceiling that the debt limit uh imposed.

Uh the Senate, meanwhile, has been doing their uh FY 2024 budget using that using that cap uh for FY24 in the in the budget deal.

Uh so without this, without some sort of activity by Congress before October 1, we're facing a government shutdown.

Uh there does not look to be a path right now uh for uh keeping the government open on on October 1.

Uh and uh like I say here, the the the impasse that we're at right now kind of has its roots in this in the vote in January for the for the speaker of the house.

And if you recall um Republicans again have that very narrow uh narrow majority.

And so and what happens when you do a speaker vote, all the Democrats in the House vote for their leader as for Speaker, and all the Republicans usually vote for their leader for Speaker.

With that narrow uh majority, the there were a few Republicans that, in exchange for a vote for the current speaker, Kevin McCarthy extracted promises of further deficit reduction in particular, but also some policy demands as well.

And so now with the must pass budget coming up, they are holding the speaker's feet to the fire on this.

And so even the simplest of what used to be very simple, what we called a continuing resolution to keep government running in the absence of a final budget using current levels, even that has been difficult to achieve.

And so as a result, like we said, uh we're not seeing right now yet a path to even that continuing resolution, and as a result, the government uh could shut down on October 1.

Uh I will say the last time we had a uh government shutdown was in the end of 2018 going into 2019, and uh that was over uh former President Trump was insisting on more money for a border wall.

Uh Congress was not giving it to him, and so the government shut down for about 35 days uh between December of uh of 2018 and February of 2019.

So these shutdowns can last over a weekend, and you know, national parks are shut down, and by Monday, Congress has figured it out, but they can also uh last for longer.

So hopefully uh it will be shorter.

Overall, with regard to the fiscal year 2024 budget, um, those deficit reduction goals that I talked about a little bit earlier that Congress is looking at, it's really concentrating on a very small percentage of the overall federal budget, and that's what we call the non-defense discretionary spending.

Uh over 60 percent of our annual budget is Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Another almost 20% of the budget is defense.

I have a colleague who says uh the federal government is basically like a big insurance company with an army, and uh and it and in many ways it kind of is uh that way.

So what the programs that we as a city look at are in that very small slice of the pie, less than 15% of the overall spending, and that's non-defense discretionary spending.

So that's the that's the place where all of that deficit reduction is at least this Congress is expected to find it.

So looking at uh looking at the ways that the uh the House is trying to get that deficit reduction goals is you can see their proposed budget uh includes some pretty steep cuts to a lot of the domestic discretionary programs and agencies that uh that we care about.

Um the Senate, on the other hand, has sort of kept spending kind of right at FY23 levels, maybe a little bit above again, going back to that deficit reduction spending cap.

That's what the Senate is using.

And so uh their budget looks a lot like uh the current year's budget.

Talking about some other federal priorities, there are some other things that Congress will have to do this year, and some may have some you know tangential impacts on on the city.

For instance, the National Defense Authorization Act, which uh uh authorizes programs at the defense department, like it's described, and of course, uh impacts operations at Luke if Congress can't come to any sort of uh agreement on that.

And and like the budget, uh they are farther apart than they usually have been, uh the House and the Senate on the NDAA, and so uh that could have impacts on operations at Luke and their priorities.

The federal aviation administration programs need to be reauthorized, and essentially what's being reauthorized there is the trust fund that pays for the programs.

And so, again, if nothing is done on FAA reauthorization on September by September 30th, October 1, uh it could impact programs there.

So airports in this region uh could could see impacts from that.

Uh we call it a farm bill because it it funds uh farm subsidies, but really in in actuality it's it's really a federal nutrition bill program, food stamps and those types of federal programs make up about 80% of the spending in the farm bill.

And again, the House and Senate are pretty far apart uh on spending levels for that.

That's another place where uh the House is looking to make some deficit reduction, meet some deficit reduction goals.

Uh, and again, that needs to be dealt with by I believe the end of calendar year uh 2023.

The other one I slid in here, this is not enough must-pass legislation, but it's something that has been coming up.

The House uh has been working on a series of bills uh that would involve some pretty serious preemption of local um regulation over the telecommunication industry citing of uh polls uh attachments uh being able to dig for uh broadband fiber, things like that.

And uh what we understand is uh the sponsors of those bills are trying very hard to insert them into this must-pass legislation, like a budget bill at the end of the year, things like that.

So we're watching that very closely, and and those could have some some impacts as well uh on the city.

So uh that is uh oh, and some sorry, I was gonna say that's it, but it's not uh going back to what the White House uh uh priorities were.

We've got the uh the uh infrastructure investment and jobs act, which we call the White House calls the bipartisan infrastructure law, it's the 2021 uh infrastructure law, uh, and then the inflation reduction act of 2022.

I think we've talked about this before, but one of the things when that 2021 bill came out, boy, over a trillion dollars for uh infrastructure.

You know, where's my check, right?

You know, and uh and it has been different, uh administered in a different way than say the uh uh American Rescue Plan Act, where the city got you know uh a fiscal fiscal assistance in the form of a check in addition to some other things, rental assistance.

The majority of infrastructure law funding uh either goes to the states uh and uh a lot of the EPA money for water resources uh goes directly to the states.

The there's 42 billion dollars in broadband money that's being distributed to the states, uh about a billion dollars in cybersecurity money being distributed to the states.

There are some rules that say they need they must be passed down uh to local governments, but not in every uh instance.

The other part of the money, uh a lot of the transportation programs are competitive in nature, and so sometimes they might not uh jibe with what the city has with regard to priorities and uh and projects, and so it hasn't been as easy to say, hey, let's you know, let's let's let's do this money.

There's been a lot of work I know on the staff level to look at the programs that will work best for us, the ones that we will compete for, uh, and so far they've done a good job.

Uh that five that infrastructure bill is a five-year bill, so it funds programs uh uh at DOT that many of these competitive programs for five years.

We're kind of two years into it in many of the programs, and so what we have seen is it kind of gives us a little bit of a roadmap, right, as to what we would apply for down the road.

Uh we know that this administration is concerned very much with uh with equity.

We know they're concerned with climate change, uh, and we know that as far as the Department of Transportation, they they are very concerned with safety.

And we're seeing that play out in the in the awards that they've made uh so far.

The inflection inflation reduction act, like I said, uh really does uh focus on climate change uh in it and uh and also in the in the way of providing tax breaks uh for green energy, the development of the use of uh green energy.

It's uh it's a it's a pretty big tax bill uh in that respect, but also some EPA funding uh for uh programs that address climate change like electrifying your fleet uh uh and things like that.

So uh that's been a very that's been a focus of this administration again with an election coming up next year.

They want to get out as much funding as possible uh to show that they're uh making an impact.

So that's been uh really really uh uh a very hard focus with this uh White House.

So that was all I had, but happy to answer any questions uh that you may have.

Thanks again for your time.

So Chris, a couple things for me.

Uh yes, sir.

A lot of our transportation funding goes through uh uh MAC, yes, the MPO municipal the Metropolitan Planning Organization.

One of the issues that we've been having is that the Phoenix Metro region is now in non-attainment at the I think it's the moderate level for Ozone.

We've been working through ADOT and the state to try and work with the EPA to relax some of those roles, very difficult task.

In fact, ADOT is actually behind on getting that information to the EPA, and they've just hired two people and put together a $13 million plan to kind of get this done over the next couple years.

Um Greg Stanton sits on a few of those committees, transportation environment.

When we come out to DC again, I'm guessing it's gonna be in February or March.

Sharon I'll be out there in the end of October.

I'm guessing February, March.

I'd really like to have a conversation, a sit-down conversation, and have a plan set and get input from MAG and ADOT on how we really push this forward because non-attainment for the region means that organizations, companies like TSMC couldn't build another FAB.

Intel couldn't expand another FAB.

It's because the ozone levels are just set at levels that are 20 years old.

And we've got to work through this.

So I think it's an economic development issue.

So going forward, I know it's out in the future, but it's six months out.

I'd really like to kind of have a plan on how we address that going forward, and what can we do in the in the meantime?

And I know for your role on RPTA, you guys talk about this all the time.

So council members, anything else for Chris?

Um, we've had some good luck, you've been helpful with the with some of the Grijhalva items that we've had, some of the uh earmarks that go along their earmarks being too dirty words, but and some areas that we look at, he really has been helpful on this.

We appreciate all his help all the time.

Um crystal ball, October 1st is six days away.

Yeah, I I think I I mentioned I I really don't see a path right now for uh to break this impasse.

Um there are uh because of that narrow house majority, uh the speaker really is at the mercy of five or more members of his caucus.

Uh, and if they're not ready to move, uh he could keep the government open, but the next day potentially lose this job as speaker.

It'll be an interesting few days.

It will be.

Thank you so much for a wonderful presentation.

Wanted to um ask in the in addition to that, do we run the risk as a country in going into more credit rating review by not having a decision made?

Are we a less favorable uh credit risk as a nation?

And and will we still be questioning whether people across the globe are going to use the US dollar as their primary currency?

Yeah, I you know I would leave that to the experts uh with regard to finance, but I will say that there, you know, that the folks in Washington do talk about that.

You know, we we we got to the precipice of for the first time ever defaulting uh on our payments, not being able to pass a budget on time.

Uh I think a lot of people think that Wall Street and the world is sort of watching and and uh but yeah, I I couldn't say for sure.

I I think when we look at some of these some of these issues, when you go back to transportation cuts and CDBG and everything else, 25% is a lot.

I know that's a starting point, but somewhere in the middle, and it's probably everyone always says a cut, but it's probably a two to three percent increase, whether you agree with that or not.

There's somewhere somewhere there, but I think this is going to be a very ugly few days, and I I think you hit on something because the cost of everything else will go up.

So if the if the credit rating, which has already been downgraded or threatened to, um it happens.

So Chris, thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thanks, Council.

Ronald four easy.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Now we're gonna hear again from Harold, our assistant director of public works, talking about our um solid waste ordinances.

Harold, twice in one night.

How did you get so lucky?

I I don't know.

Hold on, hold on, hold on.

I just I heard a rumor.

Was yesterday your birthday?

That's correct, yes.

Happy birthday, sir.

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

Uh mayor, vice mayor, council members.

Um here tonight to provide some updates that have been conducted to our solid waste code, which is currently titled as our sanitation code.

In this presentation, um, I'll discuss our purpose for why we made changes uh to this code, uh, discuss the unacceptable and acceptable items for collection for all of our services.

Uh we're going to review and look at some access standard details in regards to what we would like uh in our code to look like to have in regards to new communities.

Uh commercial hauling and then our education enforcement and fees.

To start off, why did we make changes to our solid waste code?

The last time this was updated was in 2004, so close to 20 years ago.

And since then, the city has experienced a tremendous amount of growth, and the solid waste industry has changed a lot during that time as well.

And in response to the growth and the changes in the industry, the solid waste uh division within public works made changes to his operations based on an operational study that was recently conducted.

And uh, we've seen some of those changes recently in regards to the bulk zone changes, and we made uh changes internally within our operations as well to uh ensure that we're providing the good service and we're as efficient as possible.

So, with those changes that we made operationally within uh solid waste, uh we also uh require the changes to our code to ensure that we are at maximum levels of efficiency within our operations and to provide clarity on the services that we provide to our residents.

So, first items we're gonna we'll discuss is the unacceptable items uh for collection, and this goes across the board for our trash, recycling, and bulk services.

In our current code, uh we have language that states that we will not accept automotive parts.

We wanted to define that a little bit better, uh, as we know that automotive parts are not just for automobiles, but anything that has uh gas-powered uh motorized items in it, such as your lawnmowers, uh wheat eaters, and things like that, they all have uh motorized parts in it as well.

So we wanted to define that a bit better and make sure that our customers understood exactly what we do and do not accept when it comes to those parts.

We won't take anything that has either may have had fuel or oil in it, so our uh oil filters or fuel filters, those items we will not accept uh in any of any of our collections.

Um so that's a new item that changed.

Landscape business waste that's in our current code, we're gonna keep that in there.

Fire hazards, dangerous or hazardous and medical waste that is currently in our code, we're keeping that in there, but we're also adding livestock foul waste as well into our code as items that we will not accept.

Um, this is due to health and safety for our community.

Um we do have with the rise of chickens in our in our um in our backyards, and and uh we want to make sure that those are being disposed of properly, and we cannot accept that in our collections and foul waste uh livestock as well when it comes to uh we do have some horse ranches in our in our community, and we wanted to make sure that you know we residents understand that we cannot accept that in our collections.

Additionally, we cannot accept dead animals in our collection for any resident who may have had a pet that may have passed or another uh livestock animal.

We do uh uh request that they reach out to either a local uh pet cremation uh location or speak to your local veterinarian to provide uh additional options for how to dispose of your your lost uh pet.

Moving on to acceptable items, and here I'll talk about residential trash.

Household garbage, pet waste, and small amount of yard waste is still acceptable within our uh trash collection.

Uh but we also did add small amounts of construction and demolition material.

Since COVID, we have seen a rise in kind of DIYs, you know, do it yourself projects within your homes.

So if someone is uh trying to change a faucet from their sink, whether the kitchen or bathroom, we want to make sure they can dispose of that properly.

So as long as it fits within the can, and as always, all the materials must be securely bagged and cannot exceed 250 pounds.

If it fits in the can, it can be securely bagged, we will accept those items.

In our current code, it says no construction material whatsoever, and we needed to redefine that a bit more so that our residents knew exactly what they can and could not put in their trash cans.

This also includes small drywall as well.

So if someone had a leaky faucet, needed to replace a drywall in in their home, they can bag that up and put it into the trash can as well.

On our recycling, we made no changes to that.

We're sticking to what we have requested in the past or what we can except in regards to recycling items.

Paper, cardboard, aluminum cans, foil, glass containers, um, several plastic bottles and uh with and jugs.

Uh but the difference between the preparation on trash and recycling is that recycling uh cannot be bagged.

Um, and the reason for that is as we send our materials to the city of Phoenix currently uh for our materials recycling.

Um, these go through conveyor belts, and it's usually uh human hands that are separating the materials in the first level of conveyor belts.

And so it's important that these items are not bagged so that they can go through the system uh more easily and require less hands to tear up those bags.

And sometimes if that uh the individual can't tear that bag, it usually goes back into the trash.

So we want to make sure that uh all of our recycling materials are not bagged.

And just like our trash, that the can cannot exceed 250 pounds.

And now we'll go into bulk for the acceptable items.

Um we changed the language uh to large household appliances uh previously or currently, it's called white goods.

So again, kind of changing with the time, changing with uh the industry.

Not all of our appliances are colored white anymore.

They used to be mustard yellow back in the day as well, and but now they all come in metal, you know, mostly metal colors uh now today.

So we want to make sure that we provided a true or a name that made sense to our community today.

Uh but only large hold houses appliances did not contain any refrigerant.

So we will accept your washer dryers, uh, dishwashers, microwaves, ovens.

Uh, if it does have refrigerant, meaning refrigerator, we do request that you dispose of that or at a recycling local recycling center.

Um we do still accept yard waste and furniture and household furniture.

Um, and the other item that we also wanted to make sure we included was small home fixtures.

So, as I mentioned earlier about your DIYs, we want to make sure that if you do your own replacement of a kitchen sink or a cabinet, or if you're replacing a toilet, you have a location to be able to put that in.

To be clear, we're not accepting a full remodel of your uh of your bathroom or your kitchen.

You still need to work with your contractor and or uh work with a private hauler to bring a dumpster to your home.

Um the preparation of our material, it cannot exceed three uh three cubic yards.

What is uh but that also excludes your large household appliance.

So, for instance, you can have a large household appliance plus your three cubic yards, so you can have uh both items out at the same time.

And what is three cubic yards essentially?

That's uh two sidewalk panel links right in front of your home, up to three feet high.

That's kind of the our measure how we visualize and see our material out there.

It's not always going to be perfect, but as long as it stays within those bounds, we will make sure we take your items.

And one thing we really want to stress also is um household garbage and items that can be recycled will not be acceptable in our bulk.

Um, so no household trash in our bulk, and if you have cardboard boxes, we ask our residents to please cut up those boxes, put in put it in your recycling bin because those are recyclable materials.

So now I want to pivot to another new item within our within the code.

So as I mentioned earlier, since the code hasn't been updated since 2004, we've experienced a lot of growth, and more recently, the city has seen an increase in more dense developments, and whether those are those are proposed or whether they've been built already to date.

This has led to the question if the city would provide solid waste services to these denser communities.

Um as we all know, we only provide uh residential services with our side loader cans, our side loader vehicles, and we also provide our bulk trash with our rear loaders.

So, in order to accommodate these questions, we wanted to create what we call an access standard.

Um, what we wanted to basically state was for any future development, as long as you met these standards, we can provide our services to your community.

And what do these standards accomplish?

It establishes a street design criteria to accommodate our equipment.

As we all know, our equipment's really big, and um, and it's important for our equipment to be able to drive through the community safely, uh not only for our drivers but also for anyone within the community as well.

Um it requires our containers and bulk to be placed in and on the street in front of the producer's property so we can identify who actually put the bulk out or who that can may belong to.

Additionally, it requires the route to be free from street level and aerial obstructions, i.e., such as trees and or parked vehicles.

And what we want to make sure is that the community is per is receiving the correct and the right solid waste service for that community.

Um I'll give some examples here as to why we want to make sure those communities are receiving the right uh solid waste service.

On the top right uh corner of uh the photo, you see a recycling can under a tree.

Um so in this instance, if our operators were to service that can, we could potentially cause damage to that tree, which is private property, and to our equipment as well.

So that's what we mean free from obstructions, aerial obstructions.

If you look at the bottom left corner photo, uh this is a what we call a townhome community where there is a single driveway for up to six homes in that community.

Um as you can see, what should be a two-lane road turns into a one-lane road essentially at this point because we have vehicles parked on the road and we also have trash cans as well there on the road.

It can get very congested and it can become dangerous for our operators to be able to operate in that area, and as well for the community as they're walking through for kids and children might be playing outside, even though our services are provided early in the morning.

Uh, for the most part, we can still have kids out there walking to school or go into school, we want to make sure that everybody is safe.

And the bottom right corner photo, um, we also provide bulk services to this community.

As you can see, the bulk is placed out, not on the curb, it's put out on on what essentially is private property and blocking your fire hydrant as well.

Um so these are the kinds of things where we want to make sure that from an access standard detail, if the community can meet those requirements, that we will provide services, and if we cannot, then we will uh refer to a developer to work with a commercial hauler to provide uh those services for that community.

Speaking of commercial hauling, our current code requires us to permit every single vehicle that our commercial haulers utilize within our city.

Um we're requesting or we are removing uh this permit requirement because currently it is unenforceable.

We don't have staff that are out there ensuring that every uh private hauler vehicle it has a permit from us.

And when we permit a vehicle, we are basically stating that the vehicle is safe to operate within the city.

Um and we're don't we're pretty sure we don't have all of them tagged.

We don't have every single one of those vehicles uh with a permit.

Uh additionally, the Maricopa County Environmental Services Department already uh provides and is required within Maricobacano to have a permit with the department of environmental services, including our own vehicles.

So even our own trucks have a permit through Maricopa County Environmental Services.

We still do want to provide some standard requirements in regards to how the vehicles here within the city.

Uh they must be maintained and operated in a clean and neat manner to prevent solid waste from spilling and leaking and blowing uh out for the safety of our of our drivers in the streets.

And any open top uh roll-off container must have a cover to prevent anything from blowing off.

So those are just uh that's still within Maricopa County environmental services requirements, but we just want to reiterate that in our code so that private haulers understand that we still require that here within the city.

Uh lastly, I want to talk about education enforcement and fees.

Um with the update to the code, uh, we will provide clear guidance to our residents on what it means, uh, how we what exactly has changed uh and uh why we made those changes.

Um and we'll continue our education through our website, through city events, social media, and our community events uh that we hold uh here at the city and our community meetings that we hold with our community.

Um additionally, our solid waste inspectors will continue to conduct their weekly reviews of the trash and recycling service uh bulk waste that we have out, and then we'll continue to utilize the technologies that we have in place for any violations that may occur.

When it comes to our enforcement, if a violation uh of our city code is found, our first step as always is to educate and to conduct outreach.

That's always our first step.

We want to make sure and give opportunity to our residents uh to appropriately attend to any violations that they uh may have conducted in regards to their solid waste.

Um, but if we uh this is a new item within the code that if a violation is not attended to appropriately after education and outreach, a fee will be assessed to the residence utility bill.

What is the in the code?

What was been changed is not necessarily the establishment of the code of the fee, but the the allows us to create a penalty fee, um, which will we'll bring back to council on a later date.

Very similar to any other fees that council approves, uh, such as solid waste rates or utility rates, it will be part of that process.

If a violation is not appropriately attended to after a fee is applied, civil enforcement will take place.

Currently, in our code, civil enforcement is already in action that we can already conduct.

One of the reasons why we wanted to include this fee is because we went from education straight to civil to civil enforcement, and what we want to do is be able to provide more opportunity for our residents to uh to comply with our code and to be able to work with them uh instead of going straight to a civil enforcement.

So it's kind of like that added middle middle ground uh per se.

And why do we need these changes?

I'm gonna show a few examples as to what our crews see on a daily basis out there, and these are recent photos uh from the last month.

Um so for bulk waste, as you can see, uh we have large logs, we have uh construction material such as pavers that we still do not accept.

Um, and we also have uh someone who may have been booted out from a rental property and they put everything out on the street.

Um, and we also just have very large piles.

Um, and also in the bottom left photo, you will see a mattress, which is an acceptable item within bulk, but then you'll see residential trash or regular trash and recycling material on top.

And we really want to start making the enforcement of not accepting those items because it does cause a mess.

Our equipment, our claw tractor grabs, and if there's anything that may spill out of it, it spills onto the street.

And so we want to make sure for the safety and the health of our community that we are not accepting those items within our bulk trash.

When it comes to our recycling and our and our uh trash collection services, we do have uh some contamination issues when it comes to our recycling.

Um, and so we try our best and we're working with our community to ensure that they understand what is recyclable.

Um, and then when it comes to our trash uh side, we uh have primarily overfilled cans as our violation.

And so when we do see this, we try to work with our customers to ask them if they maybe need a second can uh to help with their with their overflow.

Um, and uh also on the recycling side, you see that one photo where you have a cardboard box just kind of sticking straight up.

Uh, we would reach out to that resident and let them know that they need to cut that so it can fit within the bin so we can be able to take their material.

So all these changes, as I mentioned, because we need them.

We have had any changes to our code since 2004.

We want to make sure we provide the right services to our customers.

We're providing a good customer service and experience to our customers and ultimately keep our costs down to ensure that uh to ensure that we're being as efficient as possible with every all of our services that we provide.

So, with that, I'll take any questions.

With some of the pictures that we saw.

Um, there's people who my guess is because it's just human nature.

There's people who will continue to abuse the system.

What percentage of that is in the city?

I know when I did a right along with bulk pickup, um, there was there were some where the houses were perpetual abusers.

What's the percentage?

And then how do we deal with those people?

Mayor, Vice Mayor and Council.

Um I don't have a specific percentage in regards to that, but we do yes, it is small.

It is not large.

Um, but we do hope that with these changes to our code that we maybe be able to assess some fees that can maybe curb some of that behavior.

Um, we're hoping that that could help with that.

A couple of questions.

Thank you for the presentation.

Um how many inspectors do we have that go out and check on bulk trash areas before we go out and pick up?

Uh Mayor Vice Mayor and uh Councilmember Malone, we currently have two inspectors on staff.

Uh one inspector is dedicated to our recycling and uh trash cans, and the other inspector is dedicated to bulk trash.

Um combined, um they their duties are a little bit different because of the different types of service, but for our bulk inspector, uh their role is to go ahead of the uh of the team uh in the morning to make sure to look at all the piles, make sure there's any violations and be able to talk to our customers.

Um and so they're ahead of the crew per se.

And then if there's anything that needed to go back in return, they will.

In regards to the number of inspections conducted, that depends upon the put out rate, uh, what our customers are putting out.

Uh but to give you uh kind of an idea, both of our inspectors combined uh through the last couple of months, they've have conducted about over 300 violations in total uh over the last couple of months.

So just to kind of give you an idea of the violations that we have.

And you said the bulk uh inspector goes out the day of but just in front of the crew.

Uh mayor, vice mayor, and council member Malone, they will also conduct any early put-outs per uh, for instance.

So um if we have the opportunity to go into a community that we know will be going in the following week, we'll double we'll do a sweep to make sure, okay, is it any early put-outs, yes or no?

Additionally, if there's any late put-outs as well.

Uh so we'll turn around and make sure that there's any late put-outs.

If we get a call from uh from residents stating, hey, my bulk wasn't picked up, we'll make sure uh we do also have uh technology in place with with our cameras that we've installed into our into our uh equipment that we can verify that as well.

Normally it's typically like the Monday before something is what you guys are asking us, right?

Correct.

We do get phone calls that say, hey, we had it out there, but I think they probably had it the Monday after, like in the afternoon prior after the inspector has gone around, and then there's they're saying, Hey, we didn't get um pick bulk uh trash didn't get picked up, right?

Yeah, mayor, vice mayor, and council member Malone, that is correct.

We do get calls uh where we we uh a resident may have a state that we didn't pick up their bulk.

We'll verify that uh through through our camera system just to make sure if that's the case.

And if not, we'll make sure we come back.

Mistakes do happen and we'll come back and make sure we pick it up if that if they did put it out before we entered into that community.

And uh bulk trash on rental properties, the like the uh one of your pictures here.

What do we do?

You're if we are we the city is not going to pick that up, but it's a rental property.

Do we just contact the owner?

What what happens if that owner is out of state?

What and what I get is my community is calling me and saying, I don't want to see that all month long, and I don't want it all over the the road, right?

So how how do we how how does the city and how does your crew take care of that?

Uh mayor and vice mayor and council member Malone.

In regards to that one photo that I showed, I'm gonna go back just real quick.

This is a community that was already approved for bulk trash.

So these are uh uh owned properties.

Uh so we are working with these can with these communities where we already are providing services and giving guidance to I think this is an HOA community on where to place that bulk to work with our residents.

So this is an ongoing effort, it works for a few months, and then we kind of go deviate back and then we got to come back to them again.

Uh so we're constantly working with uh with our community to ensure that areas like this, we are giving some clear instructions on where to place it so that everyone knows in that community where to place it.

Um but again, we always have to come back every so often to ensure that we're providing the right education.

Can you go to the next slide?

About 13 right there.

So in the top um the top uh right side that so say that was a rental property and it's in an um non-HOA area.

How do we handle that?

And I've had um I had a community member who had this um incident.

Uh mayor, vice mayor, council member Malone.

Uh we work with code enforcement to reach out to that property owner to try to uh pick to get this resolved as quickly as possible.

If it's not resolved quickly, we will make sure we pick it up just for the safety and the health of the community.

But we do work with code enforcement to make contact with that property owner to ensure that that's being taken care of.

So with us implementing um the fines and getting it together and putting this in code policy going forward, if this happens, then if we the city have to pick it up, your guys' crew, then we can um pass those fines on to our community.

Uh Mayor Vice Mayor and Councilmember Lone, that is the intent.

Yes.

Okay.

Um one last question.

I have been seeing um several refrigerators out on the corner for pickup in my neighborhood and other parts of the um the community.

And they're not it's concerning because one, they're not tied up, kids can get in there.

Um do we look at that?

Are you guys educating your um our community on that as well?

Uh Mayor Vice Mayor Council Member Malone.

Um I'm not fully aware of a lot of those out, but if there are communities out there, we'll we'll make contact with them and ensure that we're providing the right information to them.

Yes.

Okay.

Perfect.

Well, thank you again for the presentation.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Tina, anything for you?

Max?

Welcome down the line.

Thank you, Carol.

I appreciate it.

Um, a couple quick questions.

In regards to automotive rate waste, it looks like if you are somebody who changes oil at your house or puts oil in your car, you can't dispose of the oil container in recycling and/or in your garbage.

Uh Mayor Rice, Mayor Councilmember White, that is correct.

Okay.

And then um taking a look at I guess one of the pictures that we had there.

I noticed you you did highlight the fire hydrant was blocked.

I have two questions for you.

Um, it was the smaller alleyway um townhouse.

One, um, do we have any painting requirements for our HOAs to tell them that should be like a red kind of area in front of the fire hydrant, so there shouldn't be parking or anything.

Is that a part of the code or something?

Uh Mayor Bice Mayor Councilmember White, that's not part of the solid waste code.

Um, I think that would be found in some other code within the city, I believe.

And then in that same picture, it's currently supposed to be on the street, not on the private property, correct?

That is correct.

Okay.

And then um, taking a look at where the garbage cans are here.

I noticed that all of the cans are on on the lower um left-hand picture.

All the cans are on the left side of the street, but parking is on both sides.

Do we ever not pick up a can because it's too close to a car?

Because that person may have, you know, left for work, put the can out, had no idea they were going to park everything up, and then that 10 feet of clearance is gone.

Uh Mayor, Vice Mayor, Councilmember White, uh, yes, that does happen.

Um, not only in this community, but also uh throughout uh single family home communities as well, where we have a vehicle parked too close uh to the can where we will not pick up because we will cause damage to that vehicle and to our own equipment as well.

When that does happen, our inspectors uh do outreach to that homeowner to ensure to either A to move it or B to uh excuse me, we will make contact with that homeowner and ask them into the future to move it, but we won't go out and move the can for them.

So unfortunately, they may have to wait another week uh for for the service, uh, but we try to make contact as quickly as possible prior to us going in through that neighborhood so that we can at least provide the service to that community member.

I I think the only challenge I have with that is the homeowner might not be the owner of the car in these small communities, so they might have no control, and then if they leave, you would be reaching out to somebody who might go two, three weeks without their garbage being picked up.

So I I don't know if there's another effective way to address that or for us to look at it in the future.

It's just they have no control.

Um, and then I guess the final question that I have for you is with the overfill.

Did you say that you would offer an additional garbage can to people who were uh repeat offenders for overfilling the garbage cans?

Uh mayor, vice mayor, council member white.

Uh we would recommend for them to have a second can, which they would have to call our utilities uh line, and then they would be charged for that second can.

Oh, okay.

Thank you very much.

Yes, and if I may go back to the automotive parts real quick, um normally when you conduct work on your own vehicle, um there are other options to uh dispose of of those items.

Uh your local auto zones or your um uh parts, uh commercial parts uh uh stores will accept those items for disposal as well.

Thank you.

Curtis, yes, thank you very much.

I just uh go back to maybe what Max and the others met, but the education part of it.

Uh the ten feet between the garbage and a vehicle.

I know on my street there's a guy that parks out there all the time, and he I think he attaches his garbage can right up to the hub or the you know back on the trailer hitch back there.

So then you know that's got to be you know educational part of it.

The other one I think you put in there that the pieces for bulk trash can be as wide or as long as two sidewalk panels.

At one time I thought they had to be shorter than three feet to uh Mayor Vice Mario Castle Nielsen.

Um you are c uh the uh your bulk waste can be up to two sidewalk panels in length.

In regards to tree stumps or limbs, they have to be cut into uh at four feet in length maximum.

And that's due to our equipment.

So our rear loader is only wide enough in the rear, so we can't put anything longer than that.

I was asking it.

There's only a width on that.

The other thing is some of these things you're talking about for education, you put on the the website.

I don't know how many people use Abbey Wise.

Is there maybe a way that you could link what it is?

Because there's always a question in my HOA and other HOAs, when is bulk trash?

Well, you can go to the website and people don't always have the back card, but if they've got a phone, they could pull up Abbey Wise and at least put on there, you know, bulk trash pickup or something and pull up some of the things that just might be you know a little bit easier for people to see, and it goes back to that education part of it.

That these people can, you know, there's their sources, but I don't have a computer or I can't get the website right now.

But Abbey Wise, I can click two buttons and I might be able to find it there.

Uh one other thing on the education.

Most of these HOAs, if you get it, I know at least in ours, we put out a quarterly newsletter.

They're always looking for information to pass on.

Uh, you know, cutting down trees or uh on the walkways or whatever, but something you know, along that way, if you're looking for HOAs to at least participate in it, that might be another way to go.

And here's something you can put into your quarterly newsletter or your biannual newsletter, whatever it is.

Here's something that they are always looking for.

And then I guess just a curiosity question.

Bulk uh the recycle.

You got a bottle and a cap.

They're not necessarily the same plastic.

Do they are they supposed to be put together when they're for recycle?

Do you separate them and put them in the can?

Uh mayor, vice mayor, counselor Nielsen.

Uh the the the current uh recommendation and ask from our recycling facilities is to keep leave the cap on.

Okay.

Can you say that louder?

Keep the cap on.

Because my wife is listening right now all the time.

So I just want to make sure that's out there.

Yes, keep the cap on, please.

Happy birthday.

I just came back from a trip, and every water bottle that I got, you take it off and it's got this little streamer right there that holds the cap to the rest of the bottle.

I'm trying to get it, I get it in my nose or in other places.

It was uncomfortable, but it may, you know, the question is to why I wanted to ask that.

Thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

Thank you, Curtis, for that insightful and important question.

Gloria.

Harold, thank you for your presentation.

I did want to ask, I I like that um the example that you gave that says bulk items generally fit between two sidewalk panels.

Um that's a good visual for some folks.

Do you guys plan on maybe making that a visual at maybe city events and such, just so that people get a generalization of what that space looks like.

I think that would be really good as well as maybe putting it in Abbey Wise and putting it anywhere we can so that people are very visual.

And when we're trying to understand where to put items at something like that, I mean, I know I would go out there and look at my sidewalk and then count two places and go, okay, my trash is here.

So I know that would be helpful for some people.

That's just a suggestion.

And then secondly, I noticed um I've been walking neighborhoods more, and I've noticed that when you guys do the bulk pickups, some of our sidewalks are getting ruined from the little I don't know, the little like fork thingy?

I don't know.

But it's uh and we're seeing that.

So do we report that on Abbey Wise as well?

Or who takes care of that?

Because that would be considered private property, correct?

Uh Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council Miss Lario.

Um, yes, so um, in regards to the scraping and or damaging of either the street or the sidewalk, that will still come to public works in our street maintenance division to uh go back and repair any uh any damage that may have been uh may have happened.

Um in regards to that though, we are conducting additional and continuous training.

We have had some additional turnover within our team, so we have a lot of new members within uh the solid waste crew that we're continuously training to ensure that they have better skills in using our equipment so they don't leave any of those scratch marks on the on our sidewalks and streets.

And then lastly, I think another area of education is um helping people uh know where to go to get a replacement garbage can because I have seen some that are broken, especially the blue ones with the wheel just hanging out and they've been sitting there the whole week.

So I think um it would be great to see that either where wherever we can, maybe Abe Wise on how to get a new trash can if yours is broken, because maybe someone thinks they might have to pay for it or whatever the process was so that we can bridge that gap together if we do have those broken cans in the community.

And that's it.

But thank you.

You're anything that I've run around.

And I think Avondale does bulk pickup as well as any city I see.

I've seen it.

And I'm not saying that because yesterday was your birthday.

I'm saying that because I've seen areas that are just devastated by bulk pickup, and it's it really does impact the communities.

When I look at the picture right here, especially the lower left, I can understand the concern that Max has on this because it could be someone else's car.

I think that's probably a tendency for the owner to have a conversation with their neighbor and say, Hey, by the way, or for the HOA to say, on these days, don't park your vehicle.

You and I live back east, and we would have snow days where they would say, on this day, if we're gonna plow the streets, you have to park on this side, and then we're gonna move.

So I don't think it's a far reach, but I think that's also education for the HOAs, especially in communities like this, and especially since we are looking to bring in more town home communities, multifamily communities that have these types of structures, but have more narrow streets.

And I think that's where code and forth, like we're police, um, planning and public works get together, and really it is an education process for the HOA.

Would you agree?

Yes, sir.

Okay.

Go ahead.

If I may, I just one more one more thing if I may, Mayor, uh Vice Mayor and Council.

I just want to say uh it thank you for alluding to our bulk services.

Just want to say thank you to all of our solid waste operators and the team out there.

Uh they have a really difficult job out there, and they do a great job day in and day out.

Um, you know, in the heat in the elements, it doesn't matter what day it is, they're out there all the time.

So I just want to, you know, make sure they get their their recognition as well because they're out there every day working hard for us.

So I told you this before, it's the middle of summer last year, and bulk pickup is out there at 6 p.m.

It's obviously been a long day.

It's obviously been a tiring day, and the guys, when I tell you they were laughing and singing.

Now it could be because they were really dehydrated and they're just gonna fall over.

I don't think that was the case, but they were they they love their job and they love their community and that shows.

So again, if you could express from city council how much we appreciate them.

Thank you.

Oh, you need to vote though.

Can I get a motion on this item, please?

Ron, you were gonna say something to me originally.

Okay.

I have a motion by Councilmember Ballone, a second by Councilmember Conde.

Any further discussion?

Seeing none, please vote.

Pass the 7-0.

Thank you for the presentation.

Thank you all.

Catrice, good seeing you.

So she's right here.

She's hidden behind the thing.

So, summary of current events.

Um, I have been admonished a couple times that it has to be under have five minutes or less.

So, while everyone has a lot of stuff.

I know Max last time got short um cut a little bit.

So, Max, you had a couple things you want to talk about.

Yes, thank you, Mayor.

Um, so much.

I wanted to share.

I had the opportunity to participate in three events.

One was here on September 9th.

Um, it was a fundraiser for Omega Sci-Fi and Delta Sigma Beta Sorry here in the West Valley.

It was Coleman Love Affair.

Um, that was the first time I've ever seen an event like that.

I just wanted to acknowledge we had some city staff come out and support this event.

Normally I don't look to see our legal department there, but since it was the first of a kind, it was really awesome to see um the coal out at that event.

I also had the opportunity to sit in um with Senator Hatafi on her um form for local cities and law enforcement to address sober living homes.

Um that happened uh the day of our last council meeting on September 11th.

A lot of great information exchanged.

Um, also had the opportunity um to meet Lieutenant Governor of the Hillard River Um Indian Nation.

So I was very grateful to participate and also sat with Harold last week at Valley Metro Board of Directors retreat.

Really wanted to just share with council that the bulk of the growth in the population, of course, we know is here in the West Valley.

Um, and so we're doing our best to make sure and we're advocating for Valley Metro to really try and connect the outer loop.

But anything that they're doing in the West Valley has to come out of Avondale.

It's got to start here and go further west.

Thank you.

Thank you, next.

Gloria.

I just want to share that.

Last week I spent uh three days in Dallas on a scholarship through the Nileo Um Education Fund organization in regards to working with Department of Homeland Security in FEMA and um getting certification for um emergency preparedness, emergency response and management for that.

It was a really great course.

Best of all, it did not cost the city a dime.

Um it was on scholarship.

Um so it was really great to go out and see that and become certified with 49 other Latino elected officials.

And someone and a bunch of people got stuck in the elevator.

A bunch of people got stuck in the elevator.

They didn't read the weight limit.

Then they called the general manager, and I felt bad for the guy, and I felt like I had to step in there because I know what that role is like.

Like, how did I know more about elevators than other people?

And I said, because this is what I do for a living.

I tell people not to overcrowd the elevator because then it'll get stuck.

But I did get to see the Dallas Fire Department out there in action with their little crowbar trying to find out what floor they were stuck on.

Not nearly as good as the Avonville Fire Department.

They were wearing t-shirts and like baggy pants.

Our fire department is better.

So Ron's either give me the peace sign or he's giving me two minutes.

Are we two minutes over or two minutes short?

Two minutes.

Veronica?

You want to talk about your golf thing?

We won't do that.

But whoever wants to do a team with me, we're I'm more than happy to be on your team.

Um that's an inside joke.

Um I had the opportunity to uh go to the sheriff's um department, the new subdivision they have with uh assistant uh chief baits, council members uh Solorio and White.

It was pretty it was it's a nice building new and um we got some great ideas of what we can kind of come back to council when we start uh finishing up our uh detention center.

Thank you.

And and lastly, for me, I know Mike was there, Veronica was there.

Awafria took home the river rock against Hollison.

We will do a proclamation for them in the future and have I talked to coach and have the team here so we can present that proclamation and uh celebrate their victory.

And uh to Mayor Juan Rodriguez, um, if anybody can get on to the Tolson City Council meeting and see if he's wearing uh a hat.

I don't know if it's today or tomorrow, but we gave him an hour free of hat.

So um that being said, can I get a motion to adjourn to executive session?

Did my sermon Mike you Mike, you have a minute for uh real bike home.

I thought we were out of time.

Uh so on Saturday, I was uh fortunate to uh attend the Elks the Raceway Elks Lodge 2052, um, who honored uh two of our own.

Um Captain Uh Cassie Last name is hard.

Last name was very hard, and I should have remembered it.

Uh so I'll look for it here in just a second.

And Jennifer Salman, officer Jennifer Salmon of the police department.

So Chief Rooney, can you help me with our last name?

Cassie's last name.

I'm afraid I'm gonna butcher it.

Kevin Cassie.

Captain Cassie.

So Captain Cassie, wherever you are, out of respect, I appreciate uh the fact that uh uh they were there, they well served and uh were honored for their uh going above and beyond service.

Um I get a motion to adjourn to the executive session.

I think we have one.

I have a motion by councilman Laman, a second by councilman.

Please vote.