I to call to order the council meeting of April 20th, 2026.

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

And to the Republic for which it stands.

One nation under individual with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you.

Marcella, can we get roll call, please?

Councilmember Condi.

Here.

Councilmember Garcia.

Here.

Councilmember Solario.

Here.

Councilmember Weiss.

Here.

Councilmember White.

Present.

Vice Mayor Nielsen.

Here.

Mayor Pineda.

Here.

Thank you so much.

Ron, next item, please.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor and Council.

First, we have a proclamation for National Volunteer Week 2026.

I believe our chief of police will kick it off.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor and Council.

With me is San Hogue, who is the PD's volunteer coordinator.

Suzanne will be saying a few words and recognizing a couple of our VIPs, our volunteers in policing, before turning it back over to you for the National Volunteer Appreciation Week proclamation.

Suzanne.

Thank you.

Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council members, thank you so much for having us here to celebrate National Volunteer Appreciation Week.

There are currently 24 volunteers in police service, known as VIPs with the Avondale Police Department.

Some of them are here tonight, and I'd like to invite them to now stand while I read the rest of the speech.

The VIPs assist the professional and sworn employees of our police department in various ways and areas throughout the city and at events as well.

Our VIPs chose Avondale because they wanted to volunteer with an agency that is committed to strengthening the community.

In 2025, the VIPs volunteered a total of 3,572 hours and are greatly contributed and greatly contributed to the continued success of the City of Avondale.

The Avondale Police Department proudly recognizes and expresses our gratitude to the VIPs during National Volunteer Appreciation Week.

I'd be honored to.

Whereas we firmly believe that the value of compassion, empathy, and community support are the foundation of a united and harmonious society, fostering connections that transcend differences, and whereas the strength and prosperity of our city is based on the selflessness of its residents to serve and uplift one another.

And whereas we acknowledge the profound impact that can be achieved when we extend a helping hand to our neighbors, especially those of diverse backgrounds, lifting them up and collectively working to improve lives.

And whereas we nurture a culture of giving within our cities, emphasizing that volunteerism is not just a duty, but a source of personal fulfillment and a community strength.

And as we work side by side with and learn from one another, mutual understanding increases, misconceptions can be corrected, and new friendships are built.

And whereas we encourage all citizens to care for one another, volunteer and engage in acts of service and kindness that contribute to our city's betterment and its inhabitants, regardless of background or belief.

And whereas the City of Avondale has joined a growing list of supporters, including the President of the National League of Cities and hundreds of leaders to date in making a commitment to volunteerism.

And whereas April is now national volunteer month, a month dedicated to recognizing the importance of volunteering and a time for us to thank our City of Avondale volunteers.

Now, therefore, on behalf of the Avondale City Council, the City of Avondale, Arizona, here bright hereby proclaims April 19th through the 25th as National Volunteer Week and proclaims the month of April as National Volunteer Month and affirm our city's commitment to volunteerism.

Thank you for what you do.

Thank you, Chief.

And again, just uh thank you for all you do.

I know we see I personally see it.

I'm sure we all see uh the cars, right?

Driving around the city, you at all the events, and so you are helping in many ways than just one.

And I think uh I'm actually I'm pretty confident in saying that you actually enjoy doing that.

Uh so we appreciate that, all the time and effort you put into the city and the services you provide, and thank you so much for being here.

I appreciate it.

Are there any other members of council that wish to express any comment?

Okay.

I would Okay, uh Councilmember Silario.

Um, I just want to say thank you to the VIPs for everything they do because as a person um who works at the Hilton, I see them in the mornings and they're constantly there in the parking lot and ensuring, you know, checking license plates and doing all that stuff that so other police officers can be out doing some of the bigger things.

And I know that through the VIPs, I got to meet Larry and Paul, and they're just really great people, and we appreciate what they do at the hotel.

Thank you so much.

And I think Larry and Paul are actually celebrities here in Avondale, so thank you for everything that you guys do.

And thank you so much, Chief.

Appreciate it.

Thank you, Mayor.

Ron, next item.

Well, Mr.

Mayor Council up next is our Chief of Police, uh Memo Espinoza to talk about uh the National Crime Victims Right Weeks 2026.

Good evening, council.

It is my pleasure to introduce Brandy Datcher, who is our victim advocate supervisor.

Uh Brandy will be saying a few words about uh National Crime Victims Week, and we'll be introducing a couple of our victim advocates before turning it over to you, Mayor.

Good evening, City Mayor, Assistant Mayor, distinguished members of the City Council and everyone present tonight.

My name is Braindy Datcher, and I'm the victim advocate supervisor with the Avondale Police Department.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak as we recognize National Crime Victim Rights Week, a time dedicated to honoring victims and survivors of crime, acknowledging the professionals and volunteers who serves in, and raising awareness about the rights and resources available to those impacted.

Our Avondale police officers respond to many calls for service, many of which involve crimes against persons.

These calls come from our neighbors, our friends, and members of our community whose lives were changed in an instant.

In the immediate aftermath of a crime, confusion and fear often take hold.

Yet in those first critical moments, our police officers do something simple but profoundly important.

Before leaving the scene, they ensure every victim receives a blue victim rights brochure.

For many, that brochure may not be opened right away.

It may sit quietly on a table tucked beneath the weight of shock and uncertainty.

But days later, when the initial chaos begins to settle, that same brochure often becomes a lifeline.

A first step towards understanding their rights, discovering available resources, and connecting with someone who can help them navigate a path forward.

That small act reflects something much bigger, a commitment to ensuring that no victim feels alone.

The individuals here today, our dedicated victim services unit and our partners with the Southwest Family Advocacy Center work tirelessly to make sure every voice is heard.

They offer compassion, guidance, and hope, even in the darkest moments.

Together as a community, we can continue to build a culture where victims are supported, rights are upheld, and hope is always within reach.

Thank you for your time.

And now we pass it back over to you, Mayor.

Thank you so much.

So I'd like to read the proclamation at this time.

Whereas crime in America has a devastating impact on victims and survivors, and the tears at the social fabric, or sorry, and tears at the social fabric of our society as a whole.

And whereas no victim or survivor should have to endure the trauma of victimization and its impact, physical, financial, emotional, spiritual, and social alone.

And whereas the community of crime unit victims and survivors, who's those who serve them and countless allies work together to ensure that victims' needs are identified and met with quality, collaborative and comprehensive services.

And whereas there are more than 12,000 system and community-based victim services programs across the nation that help crime survivors and promote community safety, and over 32,000 laws that define and protect victims' rights.

And whereas 2026 is the 45th anniversary of National Crimes Victims' Rights Week, first proclaimed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981.

And whereas this time honored tradition unites all who care about crime, victimization victimization, and survivors to acknowledge and honor survivors, their challenges and their strengths.

And whereas during 2026 National Crime Victims' Rights Week, April 19th through the 25th, we recommit our efforts to promote and strengthen the extensive community that supports and serves victims and survivors of crime.

Now, therefore, on behalf of the Avondale City Council, the City of Avondale, Arizona hereby proclaims the week of April 19th to the 25th, 2026 as Crime Victims Rights Week.

And with this proclamation amplifying our commitment to ensure that crime victims' rights and services are not only recognized annually, but provided daily.

Thank you.

Thank you for what you do.

And you know, one of the things that you you mentioned while you're up there is it's often the case that resources do exist, but in I would assume in this time uh searching out and sharing and communicating, maybe feels like reliving the situation all over again.

So it's just, you know, uh a tremendous act of kindness to provide that blue card, if you will, so that they do have the ability to connect with the resources they need when they're they're ready.

So I'm glad and very um happy with our relationship uh with the Family Advocacy Center and members of council who serve on those boards and everything that they do and everything that you're committed to doing.

So thank you so much.

Appreciate it.

Thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor Council.

Ron, next item.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor and Council.

Before we move on, I'd like to remind folks.

I hope they stick around for pictures.

We'd like to get pictures of those groups and council.

Next item is our Avondale Fire Medical Citizens Academy.

Uh Chief Fire Chief Larry Rooney, I believe we'll make the presentation.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council.

It is my pleasure to uh introduce you to the 2026th Citizen Fire Academy to tonight.

We had 23 community members to attend eight sessions concerning every aspect of our fire and medical department and the all-hazard uh services we provide for the city.

Uh feedback.

I received feedback uh every member that taught receives great feedback about how well uh trained and skilled our firefighters are.

But what brought something to my heart is to hear how passionate they are about helping people and doing the right thing and and doing the job here.

Um I'm gonna introduce uh Kristen Ziprich, our senior management analyst, and she's gonna give you a presentation.

Wait a minute, wait a minute.

I I forgot to mention Chrissy was one of the members that attended all these eight sessions.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

My name is Kristen Zipprick, and I am the senior management analyst for Fire and Medical Department.

Tonight we are here to recognize the 2026 graduates of the Avondale Fire and Medical Citizens Academy.

I would also like to recognize Sue Anglin, our public education specialist who led this year's program.

The eight session program provides community members with a hands-on behind-the-scenes look at fire and medical operations while also equipping them with CPR and stop the bleed certifications.

Participants moved through the program in a structured structured progression beginning with an overview of the department, recruitment and emergency operations.

They even they then explored community risk reduction, including inspections and investigations before transitioning into hands-on fire operations with ladder company functions such as extrication and airbags.

The program also included EMS training where participants learned CPR along with threat response and stop the bleed techniques.

It concluded with special operations, including technical rescue and wildline response, as well as engine company hostline operations.

These photos highlight just a few of the hands-on experiences participants engaged in throughout the program, working directly alongside our alongside our fire and medical crews.

Beyond the training itself, this program helps build a more informed and prepared community.

It strengthens trust and transparency with our residents while also equipping participants with life-saving skills they can use in their everyday lives.

Ultimately, it creates strong community partners who better understand and support the work of Avondale Fire and Medical.

At this time, I would like to invite Natasha Edmonds to come forward to share a few words about her experience in the program.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

Over the past three years, I've had the privilege of completing all four citizens' academies.

With Fire and Medical Academy being the last, it was truly an eye-opening experience.

Every station was thorough and professional and very efficient on how to save lives.

Before this, one might think that if you've seen one fire truck that you've seen them all, but that's far from the case.

Each truck has different purposes and what they do.

We were all surprised by the sheer amount of specialized tools and equipment they carry.

And here's the fun fact: a fire truck can hold thousands of gallons of water, yet can deplete that entire supply in just three to five minutes.

We got to sit inside the trucks and practice our strong stance using our triceps to spray fire hoses.

And big big thanks to uh firefighter uh Virgus, his uh strong triceps, none of us fell back.

All in all, it was a great experience that provided a true inside look at what it takes for our first responders to keep us safe.

This is exactly why, whenever we have another opportunity for Prop 405, we all should really consider looking at how we vote on that.

It's a great way for General Bonds to fund public safety for our growing population without increasing tax rates.

And I want to give a special thank you to Chief Rooney, Chief Ernst, and Sue, as well as the whole fire department for what they have done presenting such a great program for me and my team.

Thank you.

Thank you, Natasha.

Now we would like to recognize the participants who successfully completed the 2026 Citizens Academy.

Thank you for your commitment, engagement, and dedication to learning more about the services that help protect our community.

Please stand to be recognized.

Thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council members.

Attendees will be available after all presentation items for a photo opportunity.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Chief.

Sherry, you want to share anything about the experience?

Okay.

I too have just finished all four academies.

And for anyone that's in the audience who hasn't attended any of the academies or all of them, please consider it.

You really get a behind the scenes look.

I love learning about the equipment also.

I was amazed at all of the different trucks that we have and all of the different um equipment, the skill level of our staff and team.

All of the fire uh fighters that we ran into wanted us to have a good experience.

They really worked hard to answer our questions.

They really wanted to make it enjoyable and fun and engaging.

Um I had a wonderful time.

Um I love learning Stop the Bleed.

I'm a NICU nurse.

I don't have the opportunity to do that working with adults, so that was great to learn.

Um then the extrication that they did.

I know I didn't I missed the last night, so I didn't get a chance to do the fire hose.

But the extrication watching that from 1705.

175, station 175.

That was great.

Everything that they did was really amazing, and I just really encourage our residents to attend.

Thank you, Mr.

Did you admit to missing?

I would just I did.

Are the other members of council on the phone or here that would like to share any comments?

Councilmember Garcia.

I just want to say thank you guys so much for taking the opportunity to do this academy.

Uh, the city offers so many opportunities to learn about every part of the city and how it works.

And it takes a lot of your time to commit to that to go do it every week.

So we really appreciate you.

And now you could go into the community and tell them how amazing our fire department is, because our fire department is by far one of the best.

And we have, and that's because of the people that work there.

They honestly care and love the city and the people that they work for.

So thank you guys so much, and everyone who um participated and put on and got to um spend time with our citizens.

Any members of council on the phone?

Like to share any comments.

I do, Mayor.

Council Norris Laurio.

Uh I'm I'm sure that you know, if you have not done any of them, like Sherry said, please do yourself a favor and do it.

It's just the experiences are so invaluable to what you get to learn.

Um, you know, you have CPR certification, stop the bleed.

I have a joke with the fire department that I loved it so much that I decided to try out their services myself.

And it really is uh an amazing academy to go through.

When you talk to, I belong to CivicCraft, and I just actually spoke about all our academies uh about four weeks ago regarding that.

And while some cities have a little bit kind of like our citizens' academies, none have the extent of what we have.

And I shared our link and they shared that with my myself and 48 other people across the state of Arizona so they could see the type of programming that Avondale does.

So I'm so excited that people continue to come and you know, we see the pictures online.

You could tell that people are enjoying their time there.

Plus, you get to meet your neighbors and friends.

Thank you so much.

Chief, thank you so much again.

Thank you for the presentation.

Thank you, residents, for participating.

Your civic duty, if you will, but more importantly, just getting a behind the scenes look as to what happens.

Often it's easy to assume that behind the walls the firefighters are there just waiting for the next issue or the next service call.

And that is indeed not the case, as I'm sure you are well aware.

I mean, there's a lot of training and education and uh functions that they are providing uh in between calls.

And so uh just thank you for participating, and again, thank you again, Chief.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Ron, next item, please.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor Council.

Up next, we have Donna Gardner, our youth and community engagement manager, who will uh present our exceptional student of Avondale recognition, otherwise known as Avi Star Students.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and members of the council.

I am here to present the exceptional student of Avondell nominations.

This is always a pleasure and honor to be here and come before you to recognize these students on behalf of school administrators, principals, educators, and uh nominators from each school.

The achievement achievement being recognized this evening may be academic, extracurricular, or personal, and highlight the impact that students have made for themselves, their family, or their community or soul.

Students, as I call your name, please walk to the podium to receive your award.

Please stay standing for the remaining of the presentation.

After all presentations have been completed, you will be invited back up to take photos with mayor and council.

First up, we have Adrian Almanza.

Adrian is a student within the Awa Freya High School District and attends Alwafria High School.

He is an 11th grader.

Adrian Almanza is an outstanding student leader who exemplifies dedication, service, and integrity in everything he does.

He is a key club secretary and has gone above and beyond in his role.

In this role, he has coordinated the district education and leadership conference, where he played a key role in organizing logistics and communication.

He has been instrumental in fundraising efforts to raise awareness for blood cancer, and his passion for helping others is evident in his actions, and he consistently demonstrates a genuine servant's heart.

He maintains a solid academic performance while remaining approachable, kind, and respectful to everyone he encounters.

His positive attitude and willingness to help others make him a role model among his peers.

Next student.

Great job, A.J.

Next student is within the Avondel Elementary School District and attends Avondel Middle School.

This student is a sixth grader and is Lissandro Aparicio Flores.

Lissandro will go out of his way to make sure everybody feels included and understand what is happening in the class.

He regularly exemplifies the core classroom standards.

Be safe, be kind, be respectful, and be responsible.

He is part of the National Junior Honor Society.

His achievements have made a positive impact on those around him, and his peers know him as someone that they can turn to for help.

Great job, Lysandra.

Following that is Jalen De Jesus.

Jalen is a student at White Tanks Learning Center within Lichfield Elementary School District.

Jaden is a sixth grader.

Jaden is a leader modeling many essential skills and hope for classmates.

He loves to be a helper at White Tanks Learning Center, assisting with any task needed.

Jalen has made significant progress with his academic success and his personal goals.

Jalen is very well liked and appreciated.

Great job.

Next is Alia Keyes Valenzuela.

Aliyah is a sixth grader within the Littleton Elementary School District and attends Lakin Prep Academy.

Aliyah comes to school each day with a positive attitude, even when she is facing challenges outside of the classroom.

Her strength and character as out is outstanding.

She is talented, smart, and a capable student, and this reflects in her academic performance.

Aaliyah is especially talented in drawing.

She is incredibly empathetic and looks out for others consistently.

She brings kindness and integrity into the classroom every day, and that truly makes a difference.

Unfortunately, Alia could not be here with us this evening due to unforeseen circumstances, but we are going to get her certificate to her and her medal at a later date.

But we still want to recognize and honor her.

Following that is Rema Co.

Rema is a student within the Pendergas Elementary School District and attends Canyon Breeze.

She is a fifth grader.

Rema consistently performs well in all her classes and shows dedication and responsibility in everything she does.

Rema is a true example of a well-rounded student.

She plays, she played the lead role in the Canyon Breeze musical and was also part of the winning math challenge, which is set to compete in the regional competition on April 28th.

She also shines as an artist, sharing her creativity and passion with others.

She is a natural leader who sets a positive example for her peers throughout showing kindness and confidence and a strong work ethic.

Her strength, perseverance, and commitment to excellence reflects true leadership and embodies the spirit of Canyon Breeze.

Thank you.

So I hope you will stick around with your parents so that we can take a picture together.

But as I share all the time with students who are uh being honored, such as you is that often is the case that you're not doing what you do in the classroom or outside of the classroom for these awards.

It's just who you are.

And you know, in times like this where you can be celebrated, take the celebrations, but more importantly, just continue to be who you are, continue the service that you provide, and just being kind people that uh other people in this world need, especially during a time of need.

So thank you for what you do.

These awards are great, but more importantly, you all are our greater.

So just appreciate it, appreciate what you've done and the accomplishment you have earned tonight.

Um, but are there any other council members?

Okay, Councilmember Connie.

Thank you, Mayor.

I just wanted to say congratulations to everyone.

Uh, this is one of my favorite things coming here and having you guys join us.

But I also want to just say thank you to the principals, the teachers that are here in attendance that support these students and also to the families, you know.

Um it's not easy making sure to keep the kiddos on tasks, but one thing that I heard for everybody is kindness and empathy.

And so thank you guys so much for all that you do, and I know you guys are going to continue to do great things.

Council Garcia.

Congratulations.

What an amazing accomplishment for you guys.

We need more young leaders in our schools, and you guys are the light at your school, and you are a reflection of your parents and your families.

So, to the parents and families, thank you so much for raising such great kids because we need leaders that will sit up here one day and maybe do this.

Or maybe you'll be president or a doctor or something really, really good.

So continue doing what you're doing and be that light and salt in the world where there's negativity, you just be that positivity in there and continue your leadership.

Thank you guys.

I hate to continue without uh knowing if any council members online have anything to add.

Okay.

I'm good.

Thank you, Mayor.

I um this is Councilmember White, and I'm always excited and very proud of the families, the children, the school, the administrators.

When I see the Abbey part, I know each one of those children work so hard to show up to school every day and give their best effort.

So I'm very grateful we have this program.

Thank you to Donna Neighborhood and Family Services for recognizing the best kids in Avondale with our Abbey Star program.

Congratulations.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

And thank you, Donna, as well for your assistance and support.

Appreciate it.

Thank you, Dan.

Ron, next item, please.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor Council.

Up next, we have a presentation by Adam Shipley, our business development manager, recognizing our business spotlight program award.

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

My name is Adam Shipley.

I am the one of the business development managers here in the economic development department.

And this evening I am so lucky to be joined by uh Bobby uh Cossack and the entire uh Cossack uh leadership team.

Uh they're a local uh distribution and transportation business right here in Avondale.

Uh and so over the last two years, uh the Cossack team has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to Avondale, moving beyond standard operations to serve as a shining light for economic development and workforce development.

Calsac has prioritized buying local goods uh and services, intentionally sourcing everything from signage and business cards to bookkeeping from our own neighborhood vendors uh right here in the city of Avondale.

Um, and they recognize the importance of keeping uh investment locally.

Their commitment to the next generation is equally impactful.

They've recently hosted 30 local high school teachers to pull back the curtain on logistics and warehousing, helping educators bridge the gap between textbook concepts and real world career pathways.

And through a strategic partnership with ASU West Valley, Gosek provides both financial and hands-on uh financial support and hands-on work experience that turns post-secondary students into skilled professionals.

Their impact spans from providing uniforms to the ASU women's basketball team to consistent support for the men and women stationed at Luke Air Air Force Base beyond our national borders.

Cossack has even acted as a global ambassador for the city of Avondale, hosting the Canadian consulate and 23 international businesses to showcase our city as a premier destination for global investment.

Cossack is proving that when a business invests in its people and its partners, the entire city rises together.

And so this evening we are so proud to recognize Cossack for their exceptional leadership and dedication to the city of Avondale with the Avondale Business Spotlight Award.

Thank you.

Well, before I go, Bobby, would you like to share something?

So this is Mayor, nice mayor, city council.

Just wanted to see thank you.

Amundale is not just a city, it's home to us.

You're looking for a future together, growth, and happy to be here.

Thank you so much for the achievement and really happy to be there.

Thank you.

And if I can share really quickly, that you know, you you said something, Adam, that is very important in regards to, and this is a word that I hate using, but it's it is what it is in terms of the ecosystem, right?

That exists within a community.

The fact utilizing local businesses to provide those services that are important to your business again lifts all ships at the same time.

I know that a colleague of mine uh that teaches at uh Stray Mountain Community College, Dr.

Davis Raglan has been sharing with me that her she's bringing her class over for a quote unquote field trip.

But more importantly then, a field trip would really be uh behind the scenes access to business, but more importantly, logistics and the way um business is conducted in that world.

It's one thing to teach it through theory in a textbook and another to see it in action.

So for that reason, again, you know, what you're doing there within the community specifically, uh, the investment that you've uh you know put here within the city of Avondale can't go understated.

So thank you to you and your team for everything that you've done, and we appreciate it.

Any other members of council wish to share any comments?

Councilmember Garcia.

I think something you said was so great.

Avondale's home.

You guys have done so much into pouring into this community and with the foundation that you guys started as well, pouring into the kids and the education of the young people.

I mean, your story yourself, Bobby, is amazing if people could know where you came from.

And you're teaching that to the younger generation.

Um about a year ago almost, or maybe a ribbon cutting that we did at their location on Van Buran.

So I just look forward to the continuous growth and being able to generate more business in Avondale and make more of their transportation.

Um industrial distribution partners aware of where we are and what we can do here in the city of Avondale.

Thank you.

Oh okay.

No, I am afraid though.

I definitely wouldn't have to do it.

Item three is unscheduled public appearances.

I do see we have a one blue card.

Uh Mona Lopez is Mona here.

Thank you, Mayor.

And while uh Mona is making her way, we received another one, Ramon Lopez.

Okay.

Ramona Lopez, I do go by Mona Lopez also.

And um I'm here because I am um heartbroken and more concerned and um that my grandparents um what they have left us is being um um just like run over working run over here.

So in nineteen forty six or the court order, the five hundred inhabitants um petition for the town of Avondel.

You guys are now the city of Avondel to be an incorporated town of Avondale.

And this port order um still remains in place, and I feel like we are not this city of Avendale.

We still remain as a town of Abendale.

We're natives, and we'd like our um town of Avendale to be considered.

You guys probably labeled it as a historic um area.

But we are actually natives, and my grandfather purchased that from the Bureau of Land Management.

And I think the City of Avondale has no um authority over there because we we do have the right to establish our own um government.

And I know that um the police department was there, and then the city uh was there, and but you guys have all moved out, you know.

But those are our buildings that my grandfather built, along with the other natives that were there.

I've had a hundred inhabitants.

I'm not quite sure how many inhabitants there is now, but we still remain there, and we're heirs to the town of Abendale.

So I'd like for somebody to address it, please.

And just recently somebody had condemned the house.

Um they entered, I believe that you guys entered illegally, there was no search warrant, there's no order for uh notice of condemnation, and nobody's addressed it.

I feel like I'm arguing with the police where it shouldn't be.

I should be asking them for help.

And they have not provided a court order to me.

And I feel like they're just trespassing, and that's how I feel like I'm trespassing on the land that my grandfather purchased for us as a town of Avondale.

And I see that um you guys no longer use the um OC logo, the um coach state stage coach logo.

You guys are another different logo.

So I'd like for it to be separated or just acknowledge that we are still the town of Avondale, and we are still natives and residents there, a lot of us.

Um Ron, uh, do we have uh is it Dale that would be communicating with Mona?

Yes, she can speak with Dale uh after uh she's done here.

Okay.

Would you mind stepping out and talking to our assistant city manager outside?

Sure.

Okay.

All right.

So Dale V would speak with Mona.

All right.

Thank you so much.

And then uh we do we have a separate one or is it the same?

Sorry, Mayor, it was the same um card.

Um we didn't receive um an email over the uh last week, and I believe it went out to all of City Council just regarding the budget agenda item that I'll put as part of the agenda packet.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay.

Item number four is uh to recess into executive session.

Can I get a motion?

Got a motion from Councilmember Garcia, a second from Councilmember Condi.

Can we please vote?

And um Marcella, will you be asking for a voice vote from Council Member Solorio and White?

Council Mayor Solario, how do you vote?

I Councilmember White, how do you vote?

Thank you.

Okay, item passes 7-0.

This time we will recess into executive session and be back.

We will reconvene uh immediately following executive session.

Perfect.

For those who are listening online, city council will be coming back into the council chamber.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you.

For those of you in the audience waiting.

This time we're uh looking at item number five consent agenda.

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

Seeing none, can I please get a motion?

We got a motion from Councilmember Conde, and a second from Vice Mayor Nielsen.

Please vote.

Marcella, are you leaving?

Okay.

Item passes unanimously seven to zero.

Item number six A and B, Ron.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor and Council.

Up next, we're gonna hear from Cole Hunger, our senior planner.

We have a public hearing and resolution, Sura Vista Minor General Plan Amendment, and a uh Planned Area Development Rezoning Application.

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

Uh the first set of items I have tonight are agenda items 6A and 6B, a minor general plan amendment and a rezone for Cerro Vista.

These are applications PL 250217 and PL250218.

Uh the purpose of these items are to review the proposed minor general plan amendment and rezone for Cerro Vista, conduct a public hearing for each, and take appropriate action on each item.

So begin with some background on the site.

It is approximately 10.1 net acres.

It is located at 12104 West Van Buren Street, and it was annexed in May of 1978.

Uh the subject property was rezoned in 2021 to R4 multifamily residential for a 249-unit apartment community.

Uh it has remained vacant since then.

Some of the other surrounding uses include the Fairway Commerce Center to the north, the Highland Preparatory Academy to the south, the river crossing self-storage to the east, and existing single family residential to the west.

The following are site photos showing the existing conditions of the site.

The first image is looking west along Van Buren Street.

At the far end of the property, you see that existing single family residential.

The next image is looking east from corporate drive, and at the far uh end of the property there, you see the self-storage.

For the minor general plan amendment request, uh the request is to amend the general plan land use designation from high density residential, which allows for 12 to 30 dwelling units per acre to medium high density residential, allowing for four to twelve dwelling units per acre.

Some of the surrounding general plan land uses include business park in the pinkish purple color.

This is to the north, east, and west of the property, and then to the south we have education in blue and high density residential in the brownish color.

For the rezone request, uh the rezone uh request is the for the subject property to go from R4 multifamily residential to Cerro Vista planned area development with an underlying zoning of R3 multifamily residential.

This is to facilitate the development of a 99-unit single-story residential development.

Some of the surrounding zoning districts include uh C2 community commercial to the east, uh, agriculture to the west, uh the Fairway Commerce Center, planned area development to the north, and the Coldwater Springs, Planned Area Development to the South.

The proposed deviation requests from the R3 multifamily residential zoning district include uh the decrease to the front yard setback and rear yard setback, to lower the maximum units allowed from one unit per 3,630 square feet to one unit per 4,450 square feet, to reduce the landscape setback on corporate drive, to reduce the minimum common usable open space from 20 to 15%, to substitute the required clubhouse and community pool with a central community hub, and to substitute garage parking with three parking spaces per unit, with at least one of those spaces being covered.

The following is the site plan for the project.

It shows the 99-unit single-story residential condo development.

Uh these units are detached with private 300 square feet uh rear yards, and they will individually be condo plat or be condo platted individually.

Uh there are four floor plans with three elevation schemes, and no identical uh homes will be adjacent or across from one another.

Uh amenities include the central community hub.

This is highlighted in yellow, uh adjacent to the entrance on Van Buren Street.

In this hub, there are shade structures, seating areas, built-in grills, a pizza oven, picnic tables, turf areas, and a fire pit gathering space.

Other amenities on site include a dog run in the northeast corner of the property, uh, pedestrian paths going down the center between the units, uh, and with there there's seating and shade, and then a bicycle storage and workstation uh part of the community hub as well as along Van Buren Street.

For the site design, primary access is off of Van Buren Street with secondary access off of corporate drive.

The internal circulation uh of the site has uh is private drives with shared parking along the perimeter of that.

A detailed review of the site plan will take place during the site plan and design review administrative approval process.

For staff analysis of the minor general plan amendment, the proposed amendment meets the four required findings established by the Avondale General Plan 2030.

The medium high density residential designation promotes a variety of housing types along with infill development opportunities, which also aligns with the city's housing goals.

The request will result in a development that is compatible with and complementary to the existing uses in the area, and the development will meet the necessary infrastructure requirements.

For staff analysis on the planned area development rezone, the proposed rezone meets the five required findings established by the Avondale Zoning Ordinance for the planned area developments.

The development is consistent with the land use and housing goals in the General Plan 2030.

Uh the project will meet the R3 multifamily residential standards with the requested deviations, and the development shall follow the zoning code subdivision regulations, applicable design manuals, and other regulations unless modified.

For the public participation, a neighborhood meeting was held on February 11th, 2026.

There was one council member attendee present aside from the applicant's team and city staff.

Discussion topics included questions around unit ownership, pricing, and size.

The applicant indicated that the project is for condo ownership with a price range around uh 350,000 and ranging between 880 to 1,270 square feet.

Uh there will be two and three bedroom units.

Uh other questions revolved around the responsibility of landscape maintenance and condo owners if there will be a condo owner's association, the applicant and confirm that there will be a condo owners association and it will handle common common space landscape maintenance.

Two date, staff has received two public comments following the Planning Commission uh meeting held on March 18th, 2026 uh on the city's Avondale Connect Digital platform.

Both of these comments expressed concern for traffic strain, traffic strain on the area, the lack of a traffic signal, and pedestrian safety for the nearby schools.

The planning commission meeting for this item or these items was held on March 18th, 2026.

Discussion topics included questions about traffic impacts at the intersection of corporate drive and fairway drive.

Uh staff indicated that a future signal is planned at that intersection of corporate and fairway, and noted that the project is a decrease in density from what was previously approved for this site.

The applicant provided that a full traffic impact analysis was completed as part of the review and that the project will include targeted roadway enhancements, including a left turn lane and deceleration lane on corporate drive.

There were no public comments during the hearing.

Uh Planning Commission recommendation passed a motion of with a five to zero vote to recommend both of the projects uh for approval.

Uh for recommendation for agenda item 6a, uh staff recommends a motion to adopt resolution 1026-0426 approving application PL25 0217 for the reasons set forth in the staff report.

For agenda item 6b, uh staff recommends a motion to adopt ordinance 2010-0426, approving application PL250218, subject to the seven conditions of approval as set forth in the staff report.

That concludes this presentation.

I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for the presentation.

Does council have any questions regarding this presentation?

And I would remind you uh before uh you asked the question that the debate for this motion, I'm sorry, the debate for this topic um uh will have to wait until after the motion has been made.

So are there any questions at this time?

Councilmember Weiss.

Thank you for the um presentation.

Thrilled that these are for sale.

Um I do have a question.

Is there a deceleration lane on Van Buren?

You mentioned one on corporate Um I thought I saw it.

There will be a deceleration lane uh here instead.

Okay, all right.

You just hadn't mentioned it, that's why I just want to make sure.

Okay.

What's my question?

Council More Garcia?

Do we have anything in place to ensure that these are going to be sold and not end up being a rentals?

Excuse me, Mr.

Mayor and Council.

Um, if that's a question of staff, we can't legislate that piece of it.

This is a zoning and a um Got it.

Land use uh discussion.

I I think that's a fair question for the uh applicant, if if so desired, but we can't legislate that.

Thank you.

Would the applicant like to come up and address that question?

Mr.

Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council members, thank you for the opportunity.

My name is Carolyn Overholder with the law firm of Bergenfrakes Molly and Overholster at 4343 East Camelback.

Very pleased to be here on behalf of Lenar Homes.

And uh on this case, I I don't often have the occasion to be here requesting a decrease in product type and density.

Um as was mentioned, that is exactly what we are asking for tonight.

Now, the multifamily um zoning in place, it was purchased by Lenar Homes multifamily division.

Lenar's single family division is an escrow to buy it from the multifamily division.

Lenar's single family home division does not do anything other than for sale.

Um, as staff mentioned, we are limited by fair housing laws in our ability to legislate whether or not something can be rented.

But there is a stipulation on the PAD that requires that the condo plat be recorded prior to building permit issuance.

And that is being done in order to create this affordability.

This is their dream series.

Lenar is looking to solve the problem that the median age of a home buyer in the United States right now is 40 years old.

And this dream series was conceived by them to get to that attainability, the middle housing.

And the condo plat will provide ownership for the entire unit and every minimum 300 square foot backyard that is walled.

But the condo association will manage the maintenance and costs associated with the rest of the development.

That helps to bring the ownership costs down and get to an attainable price.

And if you'd like to see an example of this, they have already built this product in their Anderson Farms community in Maricopa.

They are selling now.

Um of those.

And the um the predominant makeup is teachers, firefighters uh in the city of Maricopa.

So they're getting at that buyer, but it will be Lenar homes.

They they are home builders of for sale homes in this division.

Thank you.

It's I it sounds like a silly question, but people want to know that because people want to know what's getting built, and they're always afraid of like what's happening.

So when you guys explain it to us, they're able to go back and listen to it.

So thank you for explaining that.

My pleasure.

Thank you for the opportunity.

I would also add to their to that um that I think that some of the sentiment stems from prior projects where they were slated to be for sale, and at the 12th hour, they turned into rentals.

And I think so obviously we can't legislate what you can or can't put there, but you would I I would assume that it's understandably that's understandable that uh council might be a little gun shy when it comes to those things.

Nonetheless, um I'll save some of my comments for later, but I really appreciate you answering that question.

Councilmember Weiss.

Thank you for allowing 99 families the opportunity to build generational wealth in Avondale.

That's just not what I want to say.

Thank you.

Are there any members of Council Online um online or on phone that would like to ask a question this time?

Uh I just have a comment.

Um I'd like to thank thank Carolyn and the folks that have brought this product forth.

Um, whether it's rental or to purchase, which I understand it's his purchase, it's a great quality project.

It's something that we really don't have a lot of that we hear from people as options that they'd like to have.

So thank you for bringing a good quality product, Carolyn.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, thank you uh for the presentation.

Thank you, Carolyn.

Thank you, Lenar Homes.

I um clearly it's in the name of the home builder.

So Lenar bringing uh a smaller home uh style option available in Avondale is exciting.

Um we do have uh uh a gap where we're not building enough residential um at the lower end of the spectrum, and a lot of folks starter homes are being purchased in their 40s.

And I just think that a few of us on the days were able to buy our first home in our 20s.

And so that's almost a 20-year difference of not being able to build generational wealth and having that accumulate.

So knowing this product's coming online is exciting, knowing it's um it's it's what looks like something that could uh start you know that that buying ability at a lower scale in our community is really exciting.

So I do appreciate that and the consideration for the uh future buyers in our area.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay.

And I'll go ahead and just share my go ahead, so I just had one last comment.

I really appreciate the opportunity to come and visit with you when you have that open house here.

We need to get more people involved with that.

But the thing I really like is I can go in there on the house that's next to me, isn't the same color as the one next to it, you know, the same design or anything else.

So if I get lost in there and look for the gray house, I can at least find the gray house where I appreciate the color pallet or whatever you want to call it and the different designs in each one of those.

So somebody who goes in there can actually find where they live and appreciate it.

Thank you.

Okay, at this time I would like to open up the public hearing on item six A.

Marcel, have we received any requests to speak?

Thank you, Mayor.

We have not received any requests to speak.

Okay, thank you.

At this time, I will close the public hearing on item six A.

At this time, I would also like to open up the public hearing on item six B.

Marcella, any requests to speak on item B.

Thank you, Mayor.

No requests to speak have been received.

Thank you.

With that, I will close the public hearing on 6B.

Do we have a motion on staff's recommendation for item 6A?

We can't signal button.

There we go.

Okay, we got a motion by Vice Mayor Nielsen, a second by Councilmember Weiss.

At this time, before we vote on this item, um, I do have some comments that I would like to share, and a lot of them are in alignment with what has been said by council in that it takes a community to ask and uh to require many different options for home buyers and for residents or rentor and andor renters.

And in this case, when uh Carolyn, I you and the team met uh a while back to discuss this project.

I was very happy to he learned that it was going to be a for sale project.

And with that, I as I shared with you that um, even if in terms of the finances working and to justify them means losing a carport or a garage, that the affordability factor of a for sale product was more important to me.

So I am happy that Avondale is Lenar's second attempt at this type of product, this dream series, if you will.

And um, I've been talking about it.

I mean, everywhere I go with and the mayor's dinners and meeting with the council members from the from the um uh from the Southwest Valley region, as I've shared with them is that you see this can happen.

You know, I and we're gonna be talking about another item a little bit later that addresses affordable renting.

And uh that's much different than being able to settle roots, create that generational wealth that's been communicated here tonight, but more importantly, giving uh that segment or those residents, if you will, the opportunity to buy their first home.

So I am proud um to see where this vote goes.

Um, and if passed, be even more proud to be able to continue to communicate projects just like this in the city.

So with a oh council uh Vice Mayor Nielsen?

No, I just like to say thank you.

And then but the mayor has already said we have a dear friend uh he and his wife who uh married about five years ago, have two little children, work in Phoenix and lived in Tullison, but wanted to get their house.

20, 25 years of age.

The only house I could find was in Maricopa.

So he's traded a 30-minute drive for an hour and a half minute drive to be able to have something affordable with having something affordable here.

Some of those drives for those people are gonna be a lot closer, a lot nicer.

So there will be some savings in gas and other such things.

So again, thank you very much and appreciate the opportunity that you've made available for the so you have been able to have it here.

Councilmember Garcia.

Yes, I wanted to say thank you so much for this plan.

Um as a single mom who my first house was a lunar home.

They're affordable, they're beautiful inside and out.

And um, we other single moms need to be able to afford that.

When I was 28, I was able to afford that, and 28-year-olds today are not able to afford that.

And I know the question was silly to many people that you know was it for sale or not, but to educate the community, they don't know, and not always do they know, especially the younger crowd.

So just hearing that there's something affordable and for you to explain it is so important because educating people on what we're voting on is beyond important, and I think that's something that like people don't understand is like silly questions get answered because somebody's asking it that's not in the room.

So thank you so much for taking the time to answer that question, and I look forward to seeing those homes.

Thank you so much.

And is the client here by any chance?

I just wanted to say thank you for investing in Avindale.

We appreciate it.

Um Vice Mayor Nielsen, would you mind reading the motion?

A motion to adopt resolution 1026-0426.

Approving application PL 25-0217, a request for minor general plan amendment to change the land usage designation from high density residential to medium high density residential for the reasons set forth in the staff report and authorize the mayor and city manager, city attorney, and city clerks to execute the necessary documents.

And with that, we do have a second by councilmember Weiss.

So at this time, can we please vote?

Aye Councilmember White, how do you vote?

I thank you.

Okay, item is passed unanimously.

Can we get a motion for item 6b, please?

We got a motion from Councilmember Garcia and a second from Councilmember Condi.

Uh Councilmember Garcia, can you please read the motion?

Agenda item 6.B, public hearing motion to adopt ordinance 2010-0426 approving application PL-25-0218, a request for rezone from R4 multifamily residential to Sarah.

Sarah Vista planned area development with underlining zoning of R3 multifamily residential to facilitate the development of a 99-unit single-story condo platted residential project with detached single family home subject to the seven conditions of approval as set forth in the staff report and authorize the mayor or a city manager, city attorney, and city clerk to execute the necessary documents.

And this motion was seconded by Councilmember Condi.

Is there any other discussion or debate on item 6B?

Hearing none, can we please vote?

Council Member.

Councilmember White, how do you vote?

I thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

This item is passed unanimously.

Items item 6C.

Ron.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor and Council.

Up next, another presentation by Cole Hunger, our senior planner.

This is a public hearing and ordinance on Rosalind Via's major planned area development amendment.

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

The next item I'm presenting on is agenda item 6C, Rosilian Villas.

This is a major planned area development amendment.

This is application PL250250.

The purpose of this item is to review the proposed major planned area development amendment for Rosillion Villas, conduct a public hearing, and take appropriate action on the item.

For background on the subject property, it is approximately 24.89 net acres.

It's located south of the southwest corner of Dysart Road and Van Buren Street, and it was annexed in March of 1960.

The subject property is currently zoned, Avondale Town Homes on Dysart Planned Area Development.

It was rezoned to this in 2020.

This allowed for a 296 unit single family attached townhome community, along with a C1 neighborhood commercial parcel located at the northeast corner of the planned area development.

It received a minor amendment in 2021 and has remained vacant since then.

Some of the surrounding uses uh include the Avondale Shopping Center and a multi-tenant auto sales to the north, uh the Agua Fria Storage Solutions and Estrella Via Mobile Home Park to the east, Madison Heights, a multifamily residential to the south, and uh Estrella Health and Rehabilitation Center to the west.

The following are images of the existing uh site conditions.

The first image is looking north along Dysart Road.

At the far end, uh the property there on the north, you see the commercial shopping commercial shopping center.

The next image is looking south along 4th Street, and at the far end of the site is the multifamily residential to the south.

The general plan land use designation is a medium high density residential.

This allows for four to twelve dwelling units per acre.

Uh some of the surrounding land use uh general plan land uses are local commercial in pink.

This is to the north, east, and west of the property, and then high density residential to the south.

The PAD amendment request.

Uh the request is to change the zone uh the PAD from the Avondale Town Homes on Dysart Planned Area Development and the single family town home uses to the Rosillion Villas Planned Area Development with multifamily duplex uses.

The C1 neighborhood commercial will remain unchanged.

Uh this C1 commercial is highlighted in orange in that northeast corner of the property.

The surrounding zonings include C2 community commercial to the northeast and west, and R3 multifamily residential to the south.

The proposed land use amendments and design standard deviations include remove uh removing the single family residential townhome use and replacing it with the multifamily residential duplex use and the multifamily residential attached residential use.

Uh there is also a deviation request to substitute the required garages with two spaces per unit with one of the spaces being required uh being required to have be covered.

Uh the next slide shows the site plan.

It shows the 291 unit multifamily duplex development.

Uh there were these units will have three to four bedrooms.

Uh 279 units are side-by-side two-story duplexes with an average four hundred an average of a 400 square foot rear yard.

The remaining 12 units are situated above the ADA units and have 100 square foot patios in place of the 400 square foot rear yard.

There's 50% open space with two primary amenity locations in the project.

The first of these is the community hub.

This is located at the entrance off of Dysart Road.

The community hub features the clubhouse, the pool, fitness center, and two playgrounds.

The other major uh amenity location is the community commons.

This is adjacent to the fourth street entrance on the west of the property.

This amenity location features a large green open space, a splash pad, uh, some shade remotes, and a playground.

Uh other amenities uh in the project include a pedestrian path going north to south through the center of the property, as well as a pedestrian path going east to west uh in the bottom or southern third of the property.

And there are also green, smaller green spaces throughout the property.

For access and circulation, the primary access will be off of Dysart Road to the west or to the east, and then uh secondary access will be off of fourth street to the west.

Uh the site features an internal private drive with shared parking lining that.

A detailed review of the site plan will take place during the site plan and design review uh administrative approval process.

For staff analysis of the major planary development development amendment, the proposed rezone meets the five required findings established by the Admedale zoning ordinance for planned area developments.

The development is consistent with the land use and housing goals in the General Plan 2030.

It furthers the general plan housing goals of develop of development of housing types not currently available in the city to allow for a variety of socioeconomic levels and maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of affordable workforce housing.

The project is in conformance with the planary development requirements of the zoning ordinance, subdivision regulations, applicable design manuals, and other applicable regulations and requirements.

Adequate public infrastructure to support the proposed development either presently exists or will be constructed by the developer.

For the public participation, a neighborhood meeting was held on January 20th, 2026.

There were two attendees present, a city council member, then member of the public, aside from the applicant's team and city staff.

Discussion topics included questions about income restrictions, estimated rent price, and estimated rent prices.

The applicant answered that the units will be income restricted to 60% of the area median income.

Questions were also asked about the provided amenities in open space and unit accessibility.

The applicant went over the open space locations and the provided amenities of the project, and the applicant indicated that there will be first floor only accessible units.

Two date staff has received one public comment on the city's Avenue Connect Digital Crap digital platform expressing concern about not offering enough opportunities to own a home and no new grocery store locations in Attendale.

The planning commission meeting for this item was held on March 18th, 2026.

Discussion topics included the timeline for installing the traffic signal.

The staff answered that there is not currently a set date for the installation of the traffic signal on 4th Street and Van Geren Street.

A condition is in place for a signal contribution prior to the issuance of the first certificate of occupancy.

Another question was asked about the project's intended residence.

Staff clarified that the project targets workforce housing.

The applicant pro applicant provided that the project will be a low-income tax credit housing and will be deed restricted for 30 years.

No public comments were made during the hearing.

Planning Commission passed a motion of 5-0 vote to recommend approval of the project to city council.

For staff recommendation of agenda item 6C, staff recommends a motion to adopt ordinance 2011-0426, approving application PL250250, subject to the seven conditions of approval as set forth in the staff report.

That concludes my presentation.

Happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for the presentation.

Are there any members of council that have questions?

Again, as a reminder, uh debate will have to wait until after the motion has been made.

But if you have questions, go ahead.

Councilmember Condy.

Thank you, Mayor.

Is this going to be a gated community?

Or did you say if it was Mayor, Vice Mayor, Councilmember Condy?

The applicant has indicated that there is not currently plans to have gates at either of the entrances.

However, it is designed so that if in the future a date would be installed, there is enough uh room uh at those entrances to not uh cause any traffic backup.

And then will there be a decell lane on DISART to get them into the community?

Mayor, Vice Mayor, Councilmember Condi.

Uh yes, there will be a deceleration lane along DICER Road.

And then the only entrance and exit would be on Dysart and Fourth Street, correct?

That is correct.

But will there be pedestrian gates to the north or to the south?

Uh Councilmember Condi, there will not be pedestrian gates uh on the north of the top of the are there other questions from council.

Uh I have um not questions but just commentary.

Um I'm really excited about this one.

I think everyone deserves to have a place they call home.

I know serving on the national level.

Um I had the opportunity recently to sit side by side with Dominium and hear some of the great projects that they're doing.

Also serving on the Military Communities Council, um, having my military briefing where they focused on they because you know, low income housing tax credit or LITEC as we call it.

It's crucial for military families because it helps them get that housing, quality housing where they're priced out of other areas.

And you know, yes, ideally we'd like everyone to have a home and to buy a home, but that's not realistic.

When we sat around the table, they talked about how they're being priced out of certain communities, and they mentioned Avondale and Goodyear, and um also sitting with Dominium and sitting in Utah at another conference, then talking about go back to your communities and talk about the importance of light tech housing because that's what young military families look forward to to be able to find a city that's friendly enough that welcomes them with these types of things and to see the quality that Dominium is building is incredible.

They this is a great project.

Thank you.

Yep, Councilmember Weiss.

I have a question, Cole.

Thank you.

Um will there be a light in the front on DICART anywhere there at Washington?

Is that an option down the road?

Uh Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Councilmember Weiss.

Uh the traffic impact study that our statement that was submitted indicated that uh it does not warrant a light at that DISART entrance.

Uh and uh our traffic engineer has also uh stated that there it does not currently warrant a need for a light of that location.

Okay.

Oh sorry, qu uh council member conde.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Sherry or Councilmember Weiss for bringing up a point, good point.

Um can you go back to the um the map of the community?

Well would we talk about or did was there a potential for a light to be on 4th Street and Van Buren?

Uh mayor, Vice Mayor, uh, Councilmember Condi, yes.

There is plans to be a uh traffic signal at the intersection of 4th Street in Van Buren.

Uh one of the conditions of approval was uh uh sorry, the word just a statement.

Uh the condition of approval was a contribution to the to the signal there.

Great.

Thank you, Cole.

Thank you so much, Councilmember Condi.

Okay.

Um at this time I would like to open up the public hearing for item six C.

Marcella, have we received any requests to speak?

Thank you, Mayor.

We have not received any requests to speak.

Okay, thank you.

At this time, I'm gonna close the public hearing on item six C.

Do we have a motion on the staff's recommendation for item six C We got a motion from Councilmember Condi?

Um, can you please read the motion?

Um Agenda Item 6C, public hearing motion to adopt ordinance 2011-0426.

Approving application PL 25-0250, a request for a major PAT amendment for Rosalind Villas to facilitate development of a 291 unit duplex project subject to the seven conditions of approval as set forth in the staff report and authorize the mayor or city manager, city attorney, and city clerk to execute the necessary documents.

Thank you so much.

And we do also have a second from Councilmember Weiss.

At this time, do we have any further debate or discussion before we vote?

Councilmember Condi.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, I just want to piggyback off of what Councilmember Solorio said.

Um this type of development um would really benefit our teachers.

Um, our firefighters.

I know I have a young couple with two kids whose husband um was a firefighter for a neighboring city.

And rent is so expensive, you know, 24 to 2600 for a three or four bedroom.

And having housing like this would be a hand up to folks, to teachers, to firefighters, to military, and also families that are in our city where there's grandparents living with their other with their kids, just because they need that additional income.

So to provide this type of housing, I think it would be beneficial to so many people in our community and our neighboring cities.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you so much.

Any other members of the council, Councilmember Weiss.

Thank you, Mayor.

I like the fact that this is in an area right now that I just feel like it'll spur more development around the area.

Um I like that there are three and four bedroom homes actually toured one of their projects in Goodyear.

Very nicely done.

So I just thought, yeah, it's this good.

Thank you.

Okay.

Any council members on online or by phone?

Have any questions?

Yes, Mayor, it's Councilmember White.

Council White.

Thank you so much, sir.

I just believe that it's important for everybody to have housing that they are comfortable in, that they like, and that they can afford so this is another option of that housing type in our community.

Um I'm not sure.

Um I I believe that the household income percentage that we're looking at would accommodate our professionals in our community, our young professionals.

So we just want to give everybody an entry point to have their own housing.

And so our younger families, our um single parents, our professionals that are out there trying to find somewhere to live close to work, this is going to be a great option to keep them in the West Valley.

So we want to keep as many people as possible in the West Valley of Phoenix to cut down on their commuter costs and to also increase our ability to serve them better.

And we're the right place to do it.

So thank you very much.

Thank you, Councilmember White.

Yep, Vice Mayor Nielsen.

No, I'd just like to say thank you for the opportunity there of annexed to Avondale in 1960, and it's been sitting there, that means 66 years that it's been sitting there collecting dust.

Excuse me for saying that.

I think when Teen and I first came on there, we've seen two or three other developments come try to come in there and leave and try to come in here.

I think I can say we're thankful that we've been able to see in the time that we've been on council that someone now decided to take the bull by the horns and do something about it.

Thank you, Vice Mayor Nelson.

So I will just share my sentiments, my comments, that um I do agree that um there needs to be options provided to our residents.

Uh and I think that you know, in all cases, can is it realistic for all residents to afford a home and home ownership at this moment in time?

Um, probably not.

And so for that reason, you know, I can see why a project such as this would be uh appealing and would meet the demand of those said residents.

Um but I also want to make sure that I I uh comment that you know, as we discussed this project prior to this one, where we have a builder who was coming to the city of Avondale to provide affordable housing that is for sale, just demonstrates that there's other opportunities as well, in addition to multifamily uh for rental um projects.

When I was I I might be coming from a different point of view, but when I was running for mayor during election and out walking the communities, there were two um grievances that most residents had.

One was congestion, the other up for traffic, and the other one was we have too many apartment complexes.

Now I know this is not market rate, so I want to make sure that I'm fair and communicate that I truly understand the difference between what is being presented here as opposed to a market rate project.

With that being said, Councilmember Solorio made the comment that it's just not realistic.

And I think that prior to me ever being on council and of councils of past, one of the questions that had come before them uh by many home builders is that let's bring a lot of affordable homes, let's bring starter homes uh to the city and become a bedroom community.

And that's exactly what happened.

What you don't find here in Avondale is any executive style living, any large uh footprint lots, things of that nature, because at the time I'm sure councils were thinking it's not realistic.

And I'm here to tell you that it is realistic.

We just passed a project that does build bring that realism to play.

And in addition to that, and we look at the pressures, if any resident has ever left the parking lot of Food City on DIES trying to go north or south, good luck.

Takes a while.

Compound that with 291 more properties with the average, let's say household of three, you can imagine how much coming and going is going to be there.

Now that's not why I would vote against the project at all.

I mean, traffic is what it is.

But what I'm here to say, and what I would like to speak on behalf of myself in this role and in the seat is that at what point do these West Valley communities say, let's introduce more affordable housing, not affordable renting.

And with that, I just want to make sure that I communicate that.

And in addition, one other uh point that I would like to make is that as we start to put pressure on our services with additional multifamily and um you know penalized for not being able to collect any taxes on that, the pressure remains on us.

And is that a reason to not want this project?

Well, some would say yes, and I would tend to agree with that.

Um so I just want to make sure that I am not by any means client.

I'm sure the applicant is here in the in the room.

I and I said this when I met with you all uh you know months and months ago when this came before me that um I'm not hostile to multifamily per se.

I just think we need a shift.

We need a shift in what we're looking for, and guess what?

I'm one person on this day that gets the to make the decision.

And my decision is let's offer more affordable housing, not affordable renting.

So, with that, uh we can get a vote on this recommendation.

Councilmember White, how do you vote?

Yay.

Councilmember Stellario, how do you vote?

Aye.

Okay, item passes uh five two.

Thank you so much.

Okay, let's go on to item six D.

Ron.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

We're on to uh 5D.

We have a presentation by Renee Weatherless, your financial budget director, uh discussion, uh presentation discussion of the city manager's recommended budget.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council.

We're here tonight to present the fiscal 2027 city managers recommended budget.

This item is for discussion only and does not require any action.

So to recap our um budget process so far, we started back in November with a council budget discussion as well as a staff retreat.

We then worked through the budget process and through the review and returned to council in March to discuss our funding and priorities, which brings us here tonight.

So I would like to cover with you the changes that have been incorporated into the fiscal 27 budget since the previous version you saw in March.

So the first is carryover.

As we firm up our estimated spending for fiscal year 26, we continue to adjust next year's budget for any monies that won't be spent this year, they need to be pushed into next.

We've also updated detailed projects within our asset replacement CIP and balance the transfers between funding sources.

Contingency budgets were also added per our financial policy, and when we make changes to the budget, we also have to update our indirect costs, which allocate overhead costs to various funding sources.

Then based on council's direction in March, we added back the internal audit consultant budget.

We included funding for election expenses and removed the NASCAR sponsorship.

The Holly Acres project construction is now funded from bond proceeds.

And we incorporated development development costs associated with the boulevard into our forecast and also replenished the capital contingency back to a full $5 million in fiscal 2030 of our five-year forecast.

So when you look at our fiscal 2027 total budget revenues by category for all funding sources, we have bond proceeds at over 100 million dollars or 25 percent.

So we are anticipating issuing bonds next year for water, wastewater, and general obligation bonds for parks.

Then we have local sales tax at 22 percent.

Charges for services license and fines makes up 31%, which also includes our utility revenues and state shared revenue at 13%.

On the expense side of the budget for fiscal 2027, the total is 512.9 million dollars, with the large portion of that allocated to our capital outlay at 40 percent.

General government accounts for 17 percent and public safety accounts for 16 percent.

Now when you focus down on just the general fund for our total revenues are 123.9 million.

So we have sales tax uh at 47 percent, followed by state shared revenue at 33 percent, and property tax makes up 3% at $4.6 million, and just pointing out that we do not plan to increase the primary property tax levy by that allowable 2%.

Now on the general fund expenditures, um, a total is 185.6 million, with general government making up 20 percent, public safety accounting for 32 percent, and capital outlay at 40, 14 percent.

So you've seen our five-year forecast for our general fund, it is for ongoing revenues and expenses, and you can see that we are structurally structurally balanced in fiscal year 2027, and then not again until 2031.

On the other side, you looking at our one-time revenues and expenses, the adjustments that have been made here account for the carryovers of capital that is moving out into fiscal 27.

So it's a smoother trend in our spending line.

And in looking at our total general fund forecasted fund balance, first I want to note this is above stabilization, which is 35% of our prior year expenditures, operating expenditures, and capital contingency, which as I noted is is a total of five million dollars.

Um note that we did replenish that capital contingency out in fiscal year 2031.

Um, so that ending balance is at about a half a million dollars.

So we wanted to highlight a couple of other funds for you.

So on this slide and the next couple of slides that we'll be looking at, the revenue is in blue, the expenses are in orange, and the purple line represents the projected fund balance.

So this first fund is dedicated sales tax.

This fund can be used to fund streets water, wastewater, and transit.

And this funding source is one that we're looking at in the event that um development impact fee growth projections were ever to slow.

We could use this money to pay the debt service for the wastewater treatment facility expansion project.

The next funding source is public safety sales tax, which is used to fund our fire and police operating expenses.

And then lastly, we have our HERF funding, which is solely to fund our streets project.

So here we have highlighted just a few of our budget priorities.

The first in economic development, we have funded 1.3 million in economic opportunities fund to support small businesses, land improvement costs on Western Avenue, in addition to some development incentives.

In parks and recreation, we have a reduction to the event schedule, some irrigation cost increases, and general obligation bond projects, which include the Aure Fria Pedestrian Bridge, Friendship Park Playground Replacement, and Festival Fields Shade Expansion.

In public safety, we have the new fire training center going online as well as a new first responder drone program and additional license plate reader cameras.

In connected communities, we have the Chamber of Commerce membership as well as the Lichfield Heritage Center.

Under services for the WERIDE program, we have begun to fund additional costs from the dedicated sales tax fund.

And we're maintaining our funding level at 200,000 for the contribution assistance program.

And then lastly, we have included a total of 7.5 new FTEs for next year, four of those being funded from enterprise funds, and three being a cost neutral change.

So our next steps in the fiscal 27 budget process will be to return to council on May 4th for the adoption of the tentative budget for the city and for the Alamar CFD as well as the city's financial policies.

We have some deadlines in May to post a notice of final adoption before coming back to council on June 1st to adopt the final budget.

We will then finish the process by adopting the property tax levy on June 15th.

And I will note that we will not be conducting a public hearing this year for truth and taxation since we are not increasing that 2%.

So this does conclude my presentation.

I will take any questions.

Thank you so much, Renee.

Um, do we have any comments from the City Council?

Just keeping in mind this item is for discussion only.

No, thank you.

Anyone online or by phone have any comments?

Okay, thank you so much, Renee.

We appreciate it.

Okay, I don't run.

Item 6E.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor and Council.

Up next, we have a presentation by Edith, our neighborhood and family services assistant director for the fiscal year 2027 contributions assistance program.

Good evening.

Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council members.

I'm here this evening to present on the Contributions Assistance Program with the purpose of providing you background and history, an update on the nonprofit agencies funded this current fiscal year, also providing criteria overview, the preparations we are making for fiscal year 2027's program and a review of the process and timeline.

So the contributions assistance program allocates funding to eligible nonprofit agencies with 501c3 status that provide health and human services to Avondale residents.

We have level funding for fiscal year 2027 of 200,000, which is also included in the proposed departmental budget.

In fiscal year 2026, 33 agencies were funded, providing a wide range of services.

This includes distribution of food, literacy programs for children, workforce development, medical assistance, life skills for youth, and supporting our most vulnerable populations with resources.

Okay.

So these are the current awardees for fiscal year 2026.

All recipients are on track to meet their goals and expend funds by June 30th of 2026.

I also wanted to highlight three new agencies, Avondale Baptist Church, which is supporting the continuity continuity of the Interfaith Homeless Emergency Lodging Program known as IHELP, Friends of the Southwest Family Advocacy Center, which uh provide critical support to vulnerable and underserved populations, particularly children and families affected by domestic violence, and then WAM Art Association, which is currently it will be providing therapeutic art programs for our veterans.

So here's the criteria organizations must adhere to when applying and if awarded.

So number one is provision of direct services, which improve the health and welfare of Avondale residents.

Number two, priority will be given to services and initiatives that support and address city council goals.

Number three, services provided at the Arizona Complete Health Avondale Resource Center will be given priority.

Number four, priority will be given to special projects.

However request for operating support toward direct and measurable services will be considered.

Number five, required to submit current timely and accurate reports.

Number six, organizations that are funded will also participate in quarterly reporting and demonstrate satisfactory progress towards stated goals and objectives.

Number seven, have the ability to generate revenue from other sources.

And number eight, all awards must exceed, must meet or exceed the minimum funding amount requested by the organization.

This minimum is set to ensure sufficient resources are available to successfully execute the proposed project.

I would also like to introduce to you the contributions assistance program council subcommittee appointed to review, select, and determine determine funding recommendations for city council approval.

So we have Vice Mayor Curtis Nielsen and Council members Tina Conde and Jeanette Garcia, who work very hard on this subcommittee, by the way.

So in preparation for fiscal year 2027, staff has offered two grant writing workshops that were held in early April to help organizations prepare for the upcoming application process.

So we had a total of 29 organizations participated with 30 attendees present.

Of those, we welcomed 12 new organizations hoping to form partnerships with the city of Avondale.

So here we have our process and tentative timeline.

So on April 21st, applications will be available on the website.

A press release will be issued.

Current recipients, including new organizations who attended the grant writing workshops will be notified via email.

Staff will also promote the program via social media.

So we have a deadline for the application submittals will take place on May 15th.

Applications will be provided in a binder to the council subcommittee on May 21st.

The council subcommittee will meet on June 11th to review applications and determine funding recommendations.

We'll bring a request for approval of funding recommendations to the city council.

And then we will have the award presentations will take place in August.

So with that, I'd like to thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council members for your time.

This concludes my presentation, and I am available for any questions.

Thank you so much, Edith.

I appreciate the presentation.

I'm just gonna go first, just really quickly, because I like to thank uh my colleagues here uh who are serving on council because you know I I stepped in um one year just to have to assist, and it was so difficult.

I can't even they have a very tough job um determining who is going to be awarded the these funds, but more importantly, um I'm I'm really appreciative of the fact that you're offering the two grant writing workshops because even if you have a a new nonprofit who is uh received their nonprofit status, you know, often it's their first time going after a grant, and that's very difficult, stressful, and time consuming.

So the fact that you guys are providing that assistance, I think is great.

So anyway, I'm gonna turn it over to my colleagues as well.

Councilmember Weiss.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Edith, for their presentation.

Thank you, Ron, for keeping this um these funds in the budget.

This is important to all of us, and I know that in our workshops we have made it very clear that we really want to keep this as funds because the agencies are the ones who work with the residents and they're the ones who know what they need.

And I also want to thank our council members for your hard work and and on this committee, but also at Interfaith.

You're all there all the time and um working with these um agencies, as nonprofits, and understanding more about what they do.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Pondi.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Edith, for the presentation.

Um, you're right, Mayor.

It gets difficult every year because there's new folks that apply.

And so we have to be very mindful to make sure that they are making a difference in helping our residents and our community.

But you know, one thing that we always try to make sure is duplication of services, because there's a lot of people doing the same thing.

And so I know um Councilmember Garcia last year was her first time, so um I'm looking forward to to working with you again.

But you know, Ron, um, Councilmember Weiss said it exactly.

I'm glad they were able to keep that 200,000 there.

And who knows, maybe in the next few years, maybe we can increase it.

Thank you, Councilmember Condi.

Councilmember Garcia.

Thank you so much, Edith.

And then one, I want to say it's an honor to learn from both um Vice Mayor Curtis and Councilmember Condi, they honestly have a heart for the city and the people.

If they could give everyone everything, they would, so they need me there to say no.

Um, but I say that because we we do need the balance of who like who's gonna get it, the duplication of services, and to ensure that this money goes to Avondale residents.

You know, a lot of nonprofits do amazing work, and in recent months and the last year, we've seen a lot of um money go to the wrong places and a lot of fraud happening.

So I think you know, the fact that we personally know the nonprofits that we're giving money to, that the citizens know that we work with these churches, we worked with these nonprofits, we see them, we go to their events, that they know that their money is being well spent because this is the taxpayer money still.

And we want to make sure it goes back to the residents of Avondale.

So I just want them to know that it is being spent well here in the city with people who are working for the people of Avondale.

Thank you, Councilman Garcia.

Vice Mayor Nielsen.

You know what?

I'd just like to say thank you.

I think Quintina, I started a few years ago.

Some of these binders were about that big and I had to read 15 or 20 pages just to get to the meat of the uh story there.

But you've been able to cut that down, make that more online and whatever else.

It's it's simplified, but it's more helpful for us.

We thank you for that and the opportunity to see those quickly.

And as Jeanette had said, there are these uh locals that are here with the receiving these funds.

We do get to see them once a month at the Interfaith Partnership, and just the joy they get and some of the things that they do been able to mention of what they've been able to do with this is amazing, and listen to some of the success stories.

Uh you can go in and there's a lot of need and whatever else, but when you hear the success stories and the things that actually go from the funding that we've been able to contribute, it's well worth the time and effort and everything else just to hear what they have been able to accomplish and be successful at with with the funding there.

So thank you again very, very much, and we're looking forward to getting with you again and seeing where we can divvy that all up.

Councilmember Solurio or Councilmember White, do you either of you have any comments?

No, I just want to thank everybody who's part of that the decision making and the planning, because you know, from what we hear, we you know, we're not in those meetings, so we can't make those tough choices.

So the three of you guys are God sent because you guys are reaching out, you know, and seeing those people, and I'm sure, you know, as much as we'd like to give them the people that we have to turn away.

I'm sure it's heartbreaking for everyone.

So thank you for you what you guys do.

Thank you.

I thank you as well, Mayor, um, for the time and also thank you to Ida, Chris, the entire neighborhood and family services for that grant workshop.

I talked to an attendee of the workshop, and they felt like it was super helpful because they were one of those folks that got a no in the past.

Um so they understand kind of the process and our focus on making sure we don't have duplication of services and making sure that the services are provided are really benefiting Avondale residents.

And so um that's really important.

I appreciate your time, Vice Mayor, Councilmember Conde, Councilmember Garcia.

I know you have a tough job ahead of you this year.

Everybody's funding has been cut everywhere.

So I um lift you all up in advance and um pray that you are able to make uh the discernment that needs to best meet our communities' needs.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Edith.

Appreciate it.

And item six F, Ron.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor and Council.

Last one for tonight, we have a presentation by Chief Espinoza and Kim Moon, your director and city engineer on traffic safety committee.

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

Uh again, thank you for having us.

It is my pleasure to be here to present on traffic safety initiatives.

This will be a joint presentation by Kim Moon and I.

Well, thank you.

The uh first initiative that I would like to present to you is in reference to our traffic safety committee.

This committee was formed in January of this year, and it was formed in response to your request to continue to improve roadway safety and in conjunction with the elimination of the city's photo radar program.

We wanted to make sure that traffic safety remained a priority for all of us.

And although the committee is led by traffic engineering and the police department, it is composed of other city departments to include development services, public works, the office, the office of public safety, marketing, finance, and economic development.

The mission of the committee is to research and implement strategies to improve safety and the flow of traffic in Avindal while also reducing traffic accidents.

During these uh bi-weekly meetings, I'm sorry, I shouldn't say biweekly, it's every other week.

So we meet twice a month.

Uh we discuss the following objectives.

There's three objectives.

The first one is to identify and address high accident locations, and how we do this is we uh analyze our uh crime statistics along with our uh accident uh uh data, and we develop strategies to address uh those issues, whether it be enforcement by the police department or strategies by traffic engineering.

The next objective that uh we go over at one of those meetings is we identify and address chronic traffic issues slash locations.

And what we're talking about here is uh perhaps you have a location where there's not a lot of accidents.

Uh however, for whatever reason, uh we have issues with the flow of traffic.

Uh we bring those issues to uh to the committee and we discuss them.

When I talk about this item, I think about uh the location that I think about is the uh in and out burger on Dyser Road and I-10.

There's not a lot a lot of traffic associated with uh with that business.

However, traffic is highly impacted.

Uh we see that not only in the afternoons, but on the weekends.

In that particular case, we brought that item to the uh committee.

Uh we talked about whether enforcement would be the best approach.

And uh at the end of the day, we just decided that uh we needed to turn it over to traffic engineering, and they're currently working on that item.

The third objective is to identify and address uh current and future construction projects impacting the flow of traffic.

And what we're talking about here is uh if we all need to be on the same uh page, if let's say whether it's traffic engineering or public works is working on a project project that is going to impact the flow of traffic, let's say on Avenue Boulevard and Lower Buckeye, we bring that item to the committee, we discuss it to make sure that there's no uh conflict with let's say an event uh going on at the uh at the track.

The next strategy I would like to uh present to you is enforcement by the police department.

And if I if at this time, if I can walk you through the PD process of uh traffic enforcement, the first thing that we do is we identify problem uh locations.

And the way we do this is by keeping our uh ears open to the public, we want to make sure that uh our community knows that they can call us and report what they're seeing, what they're hearing, if they have a traffic issue within their neighborhood, or as they commute from uh back and forth uh to work, they see something that concerns them with uh as it relates to traffic concerns.

Uh we want them to contact us.

Uh in order to do so, we provide two outlets for people to uh uh connect with us.

One is a traffic hotline, and the other one is through our Aviwise uh program.

We wanted to make sure that we kept these two uh uh avenues open for our community so that uh perhaps if you don't have uh access to uh internet or uh you don't feel comfortable with technology, you can go back and contact us using the traffic hotline.

The other strategy that we use to uh identify problem locations is through uh traffic accident statistics.

Uh we review these uh statistics at least once a week at the PD.

Once we review them, we uh begin developing uh strategies to address those problems.

The other strategy that uh we use to identify problems is uh we uh use officers' observations, and finally, uh one of the other things that we do is uh to identify problem locations.

We use technology, we deploy uh covert boxes, a covert box is a small device that we strategically uh place on a roadway.

Uh these devices capture data, they don't capture images, they don't run plates, it simply captures data such as the number of vehicles traveling on that particular roadway.

Also, it also gives us speed limits, the average speed limit, any outliers, people traveling uh at a very excessive uh uh uh speeds or whatnot.

So once we know we have a problem location using the the data that I just provided, we do what we call targeted enforcement.

Targeted enforcement could be something as simple as the deployment of a speed trailer.

A speed trailer is what you see there to the right of the uh the screen.

Those devices also simply capture the speed to let the driver know that uh they're speeding.

They don't capture images, they don't capture uh uh license plates or whatnot.

They simply tell the driver that uh their speed.

The other uh targeted enforcement uh strategy that we utilize at the police department is we do special details by using traffic officers and our beat officers.

Uh what happens basically is we uh pull those officers from their regular duties and we assign them to a detail to do traffic enforcement.

The other approach that we use for targeted enforcement is uh we use uh covert traffic vehicles.

These are vehicles that are semi uh uh marked patrol cars.

Uh at when you look at those vehicles, you can't tell that they're a police car until they get behind you and they turn on the lights.

And those are the strategies that we use for targeted enforcement when we know that we have a problem, but we don't want to neglect the city.

If uh we also want to do um proactive enforcement, and to do so, we use our patrol division.

Uh we use the patrol division by uh our expectation of our patrol officers is that when they're not tied up on a call for service, typing a report or perhaps in court, the expectation is that they are proactive, meaning that they stay proactive by uh connecting with the local school, connecting with business owners, or connecting with the rest of the community.

The other way that they can stay uh proactive is by enforcing traffic loss, but to ensure that they're uh properly equipped uh with by to uh enforce traffic loss.

Uh we recently uh added a number of LIDAR guns and radar guns.

If at this point, if I can tell you the difference between a LIDAR gun and a radar gun, a LIDAR gun uses a laser to detect a vehicle's uh speed.

In other words, one of our officers has to be stationary monitoring a roadway.

If they see that a vehicle uh appears to be uh traveling at a high rate of speed, they use that uh radar or LIDAR gun and use they use that laser to identify that vehicle.

The laser pinpoints the exact vehicle uh traveling at a high rate of speed, and then the laser gets uh gives the officer a reading.

The challenge with those uh laser uh guns, the LIDAR guns, is that the officer has to be stationary.

Okay.

With the uh radar guns, what they do when the officer points at that rate uh at that moving vehicle, the radars deploy a cone-shape um waves.

When those waves hit a moving target, they come back and they give the officers a reading.

The challenge with uh radar guns is that if you have multiple vehicles coming at you, the officer will have to not only document in their report, but also testify that my observation was that one vehicle was traveling faster than the the other, and then I use my radar gun to estimate the uh the speed of that vehicle.

So both of them are very effective, they're just used uh differently.

So one of the things that we're doing today, uh we we have 20 LIDAR guns.

In the next month or so, uh we're gonna be uh moving that number to 48.

And uh we're doing so by using RICO funds and other um uh funding.

In the case of the radar guns, we're going from six radar guns to 21 uh radar guns.

Some of these radar guns that we're uh purchasing, uh 15 of them will be what we call moving radar guns.

What happens is you put a device in the front of a patrol car and another one in the back of the patrol car, and as the officers are traveling from point A to point B, uh they're going to be able to estimate uh an oncoming uh vehicle's uh speed, and then the officer will uh determine whether they uh need to do a traffic stop or not.

If I can just very quickly uh thank you for uh making the take-home vehicle program a reality because uh before we had the take-home vehicle program, uh it was difficult for us to assign the radar guns and the laser guns to our staff.

Uh the officers would have to check in with the sergeants at the beginning of their shift, connect with them, and uh uh check out one of these devices.

At the end of the night, they would have to find the uh the sergeant, turn those devices back over to the sergeant, and you know, call it a night.

If the sergeant was tied up uh on a call for service, it became a challenge for us.

With the take-home vehicle program now, uh we're able to assign those uh devices on a permanent basis to each one of those officers.

So thank you for that.

The other uh strategy for proactive enforcement is we are part of the West Valley Speed and Aggressive Driving Task Force.

There's nine West Valley agencies, and all nine of us participate in this task force.

About a year, year and a half ago, the nine chiefs got together and we began talking about the issue with uh traffic uh related accidents and individuals speeding uh through our cities.

This issue is not exclusive to Avondel, it's happening uh throughout the valley, throughout the West Valley, so we all agree to be part of this task force.

And what happens once a month, we take turns, uh, whether it's in Avindle, Buckeye, uh, Glendale, any of the nine West Valley agencies, and all of us will deploy resources to that uh that jurisdiction.

Uh the next time that uh the task force is going to be here in Avondal is uh May 19th, and then after that, August 13th, or I'm sorry, August 3rd.

And what's going to happen?

We're gonna get anywhere between 15 and uh 20 officers from other jurisdictions that are strictly going to be uh enforcing uh traffic loss.

The other uh strategy, proactive strategy that we're implementing at the Avondale Police Department is adding four additional officers to the traffic unit.

These are not new positions due to uh promotions, movement within the PD due to vacancies, we had uh an additional additional vacancies.

At one point, we had uh two officers and one sergeant.

Uh since then, since February 1, we added four officers to the unit, going from again, one sergeant, two officers to one sergeant and six officers.

And to show you the impact of uh adding those four officers to uh the traffic unit, I provided a couple of uh statistics that I would like to discuss with you.

If you look at uh February 2025, again, when we had one sergeant and two officers assigned to the traffic unit, the unit conducted a total of 61 traffic stops compared to February of 2026, when we went from again one sergeant, two officers to one sergeant and six officers, we conducted a total of 313 traffic stops.

We conducted a total of 313 traffic stops.

That is a 413 increase.

The same goes with the citations.

February of 2025, our team, our traffic unit uh issued a total of 61 citations compared to February of 2026.

The traffic unit issued a total of 275 citations.

Now, when you look at 2026 at February of 2026, you'll see that the number of traffic stops was 313 compared to the number of citations, which is 275.

They don't add up.

The reason they don't add up is because our philosophy, not only uh of the police department, but the city of Avonville is that issuing citations is not a revenue maker, is not to punish someone.

The purpose of issuing a citation is to curve driver's behavior.

And uh to do so, we give the officers the discretion if they pull somebody over and they feel that by issuing a warning rather than a citation is going to change that individual's uh uh driving behavior.

Uh we give them the uh discretion to make that decision on their own.

And at this time, I'm gonna turn over to uh Kimberly.

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

I'm Kim Moon, director and city engineer.

And I want to talk a little bit this evening, and thank you, Chief, for that uh um introduction.

Uh engineering and the police department go hand in hand with uh traffic safety, with the police department doing enforcement activities and the engineering department doing infrastructure improvements.

So we do these safety improvements for the traveling public and our residents across the city.

We do have uh some infrastructure we've been working on, and you've seen this in certain areas of the city that include the hawk signals, CIP intersection improvements, buffered bike lanes, traffic signal retiming, safe streets for all, and safe routes to school, which is a few of the programs that we use for uh infrastructure improvements.

Our traffic safety committee evaluated accident data related to causes and locations in order to focus our efforts on the most impact for the safety committee.

This uh map that you see here is a heat map uh which brings focus on the areas with uh high accidents and the causes uh have been analyzed as part of our committee.

Uh we I want to make note of these locations, Dysart Road and Van Buren Street, Dysheart Road I-10, 107th Avenue I-10, 107th Avenue and McDowell, and Dysart Road and Rancho Santa Fe Boulevard.

Dysart Roads Bancho Santa Fe Boulevard is the intersection the safety committee is focusing on first for our safety campaign, which is why it has a little asterisk or a star there, and also you can see the arrow on the map showing this location.

So here's our campaign.

Look before you turn.

Community outreach is a critical component of our campaign.

We have launched the look before you turn campaign.

Thank you, Chief.

Here's here's uh sample mock-up of the signage that has already gone in at that intersection at Dysart and Rancho Santa Fe.

And uh you also see here on the slides uh utility billing insert that shows uh shows the location.

We've worked closely with Pierre and her team on uh public outreach.

So we're doing media release, social media, rave billboards, inserts, street signs.

We have videos.

Basically educating, uh reminding our drivers to slow down, look before you turn, understand how to yield, who has the right of way.

As part of our campaign, is uh we we looked at uh temporary uh signage installation, and let me back up a little bit.

This sign is uh is not a permanent sign.

It's gonna be rotated every six months in different hotspots across the city.

And um it's gonna be set back from the stop bar so it doesn't conflict with the the directional signage that uh is typical regulation signage.

I want to take a moment to talk about left turn safety.

A lot of these accidents are because of left turn movements.

It's one of the most common causes of serious crashes at the intersections as identified.

We're evaluating those intersections and looking at infrastructure improvement opportunities, such as uh sometimes you'll hear hear it called the carrot, um, where it's you see like a slight V shape in the left turn lane, and so it gives the driver just enough of an offset from the other driver if you ever catch yourself like trying to look around to get some some better site distance.

We can provide that in the way of striping or other types of infrastructure improvements.

So that's a type of offset.

The idea of a protected left turn, some of our traffic signals with the timing and the traffic signal heads, they have a protected left turn movement, so there is no other conflicting traffic.

Not all of our intersections can be that way, but we do have that technique applied at some of our intersections.

Again, just in general, addressing site visibility so you can see and make good judgment before you turn.

And uh a citywide assessment of these locations.

You can see up here in the graphic.

Um there's a carrot right there.

Uh an example of showing an offset using markings, pavement markings to offset the uh drivers so they can see around each other in the oncoming uh direction.

And so I just a quick slide to talk about other safety programs that uh engineering is working on with regards to infrastructure.

We did complete a speed limit update, so we are looking at updating some speed limits across the city.

Uh we did finish, and I have to brag a little bit about uh Raj and the traffic engineering team who did some retiming on DICE art, which I understand other cities are jealous of right now.

So I'm gonna take the win on that one.

Uh he did a good job.

And we do have in an upcoming council meeting an update on the transportation master plan and update on truck routes.

So more to come on those.

And just to close things out, I want to say thank you, council, for your support and your focus on safety for our community.

I appreciate it.

Thank you much.

Thank you so much, Chief and Kim, for the presentation.

Are there any members of council that have any questions or comments?

Okay, Councilmember Garcia.

Thank you so much for the presentation.

I this is so great to be honest, to see what you guys are doing out there to see the success of it.

And then the new I at 19, I got in a really bad car accident making a left turn.

I got I should have um they like used the jaws of life, but the reason I mentioned that is because the left turn is so big, so you guys focusing on that is huge because people don't realize this, but most accidents happen within five minutes of your home because that's when you let your guard down and you're not really paying attention.

Um so having having this campaign is gonna be wonderful, and then everything you guys are doing at the police department to improve to improve the traffic is so great, especially the officers that are willing to do traffic as someone who's done it.

That's not my favorite thing to do as an officer, but people love it, and I and I'm glad to see you guys grow in that department.

So thank you so much.

Councilmember Weiss.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Kim.

Thank you, Chief.

Um, I did have a couple quick questions.

It does seem like sometimes people don't know what to do when they get to an intersection.

As far as yielding, who has the right of way?

Is there anything that we can put in there for education?

If you're sending out education that these are coming, can you is there any education you can give?

Mayor, Vice Mayor, Councilmember Wise.

Uh we are uh doing uh education, utilizing that social media, and we're working with uh the marketing team.

So yes, there's gonna be uh there's gonna be more.

Awesome.

Awesome.

And then I saw that I it said A dot on the I 10 and DISART and I 10 and 107th.

Is that up on the freeway where the accidents are occurring or underneath Mayor, Vice Mayor, uh Councilmember Wise.

It's honestly a combination of both.

Okay.

We're focusing on the traffic signals, so the ramps uh on and off I-10 is where we can make the biggest impact.

Awesome.

And then I had one more thing.

Um the protected left turn lanes.

Um I already mentioned this morning to um Ron, one of my favorite intersections is 99th Avenue and Thomas, probably because I drive it back and forth to work.

Um it has a protected left-hand turn lane, but then after it gets about seven cars through, it turns yellow and it's a flashing yellow.

So you're not just stuck at a red arrow.

And I have to tell you, I they move a lot of traffic through there.

So I just I'd love to see more of those in the city if they're appropriate.

But I would love to see more of that.

Yeah, absolutely.

We can look at that.

Thank you.

Any council members online or by the phone who have any questions or comments?

I just wanted to thank Chief and Kim for their efforts, Chief and the police department for everything you guys do to not only just educate the public, but we often talk about how you know we put the message out there.

And I think you guys do a really wonderful job with your social media presence and getting it out there and making young folks engaged and making well folks of all ages engaged in that.

And this type of campaign is really good.

It was nice to see all the interaction with Benny's like a well-known rock star in the community and him leading the charge with this campaign and explaining it.

The comments were really nice to see, you know, that he's there that he's like not only just talking about the campaign, but they see him as as an icon for safety and everything that you guys do to put that out there sets us apart from other cities.

So thank you for everything that you guys are doing.

Kim Engineering and Raj, because we should brag about our people that our police and our traffic is way better than others.

Thank you.

Council Mr White.

Thank you so much, Mayor.

Thank you, Kim.

Thank you, Memo, for the presentation.

I really appreciate the coordination, especially from the perspective of what we took away from the picture.

I think when we plan ahead for straight safe streets, um your team has done a great job getting um funding and getting grant funding.

And so I also know Chief, you've done a wonderful job in finding aspects where the police can get outfitted with all the things that they need.

Um I know that we do have a perspective of we shouldn't use public safety as a source of income.

But what we have to do is we have to find a way if we're not going to use public safety as a source of income to continue to cut back on expenses.

And if we have safer roads, we have less incidents, and we don't have to use as much human power to go in and do the work and report on those incidents after they've happened.

So it is a strategy to cut down expenses by increasing safety.

Um I just uh I I um I hope that we won't tag any efforts that we have that might make us money in public safety as negative because um we are in need of revenue and um we are in need of safe streets, and we are in need of a community that's connected and can commute because that is what the keys to workforce development and really all of those things that we want to see happen to make lives better in Avondale.

I appreciate all of the work that you're doing.

I'm very proud to um represent you in transit and every other space.

This is exactly where we need to be going.

Thank you so much.

For myself, uh I don't want to I'll make it quick.

Uh many council members already said uh much of what I wanted to say, um, including the yellow flashing light.

I don't know if that's an additional expanse.

I don't know um, you know, how easy it is to transition to that, but I too notice that when you have the flashing yellow light that the queuing is cut down because more people are are able to go.

Um and then, Chief, just one last quick comment in regards to uh the empowerment that you give your officers out there in regards to education versus citation and um providing them the opportunity to navigate that on a case-by-case basis.

I think that's that's wonderful that you give them that that you empower them to do that uh out on the road.

Um and that's it.

There's no other questions or comments.

Thank you for the presentation.

We appreciate Kim.

And in addition, uh Councilmember White said something uh key that I think is true, and that is uh coordination and just how well your departments work together to make Avondale's roads safer for all.

So thank you.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, summary of current events.

Is there any council members who wish to share?

Uh yeah, uh Councilmember Solario, Councilmember White, do you have anything to share?

I don't okay.

Anyone else?

Councilmember Garcia.

Um I got to attend the Olafria Gala this weekend, and it was just so wonderful to see the community come together and support um all the monitor.

I love being an owl, but they do so much for the community.

Um so thanks thank you to those who hosted it and those who participated in going.

And then um I just want to brag about myself because I don't normally do it on here.

Um, but I got legislation passed last week, so I'm very excited.

Um I got a bill um signed into law that will help accelerate military police officers to become police officers in our city.

So hopefully it helps all of the cities and all the departments throughout in their recruiting efforts.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh and she was at Ala Freya's gala, and it's just as Councilmember Garcia said, it's nice to see so many folks participating and um uh working towards a campus that um is uh welcoming and more importantly providing opportunity for their students, and also just another congratulations because those of us who attended as well as staff uh Tracy Stevens' retirement.

It was a good time to uh reflect, recap, and share in her experience here with the city of Avondale and the service she provided.

So at that at this time, can I get a motion for adjournment into executive session?

Got a motion from Councilmember Garcia, a second from Councilmember Condi.

We can please vote.

Councilmember White, how do you vote?

Aye.

Councilmember Solario, how do you vote?

I thank you.

Thank you.

Item passes unanimously.

We will now adjourn to executive session.

For those of you going home, drive safe, and we'll see you in the next meeting.