Eloy City Council Meeting - June 10, 2024
Eloy City Council Meeting - June 10, 2024
The Eloy City Council met on Monday, June 10, 2024, at approximately 6:01 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. The meeting covered reports, a consent agenda, and four business items including approval of professional services contracts, a time extension for a solar facility, adoption of the tentative budget, and approval of a new city manager's employment contract.
Reports and Announcements
- Councilmember Andy reported on a community yard sale at the park; despite low attendance, vendors sold many items. The event may be repeated when weather improves with increased social media promotion.
- Mayor Powell reported that an officer from the Gila River Indian Community was killed in the line of duty. Two Eloy officers in field training had attended school with the deceased officer. The mayor extended condolences to Governor Lewis and offered city assistance.
- Mayor Powell announced that the Pinal Regional Transportation Authority (PRTA) board decided to hold an off-year election in 2025 for a new RTA resolution. If passed, each city (except the largest) would receive 1% of total revenues annually, starting at $300,000 and growing to over $640,000 by 2045.
- City Manager David Malewitz reminded that city offices will be closed Wednesday, June 13 for Juneteenth. The "Moving Under the Stars" event is scheduled for June 22 at Jones Park. He also noted Proposition 486, the road maintenance and improvement fund renewal (an existing excise tax), which brings in over $36 million for county road projects; Eloy is a participant in several projects. An intern, Antonio, will start June 18 to assist with graphic design and website improvements.
- Mayor announced that a $2 million grant application for the police department's CAD RMS (records management) system was accepted and will proceed to the appropriations committee. Captain Jerome explained the grant would replace the existing system and integrate with new technologies like AI and body cameras.
Consent Calendar
- Item A (Minutes): Approval of the regular meeting minutes from May 28, 2024. Moved by council, seconded, and approved unanimously via roll call.
Discussion Items
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Business Item A – On-Call Professional Service Contracts: Dan Seimer (Community Development) presented a request to authorize the City Manager to execute eight contracts (four for engineering, four for planning/development) based on an RFP from November. Contracts are for services such as building code review, planning review, and engineering project management. Each contract has a two-year term, a maximum of $200,000 total, and no more than $150,000 per year. Councilmember Sutton questioned the open-ended nature and aggregate $800,000 annual potential. The City Manager clarified that extensions require council direction, budget approval each year caps total spending, and single expenses over $20,000 require council approval. Motion to approve passed unanimously.
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Business Item B – Solar CUP Time Extension (Resolution 24-1572): Public hearing opened. Dan Seimer explained the request for a two-year extension to a previously approved Conditional Use Permit (CUP2022-038) for a 100 MW solar photovoltaic and 100 MW battery energy storage facility on approximately 646 acres at the southwest corner of Milligan Road and Eleven Mile Corner Road. Kevin Johnson (Avantus) stated the extension aligns with the original project schedule (construction start March 2025, commercial operation May 2026); no project changes are proposed. A member of the public, Joanne Galindo of Eloy, asked for location clarification; staff confirmed the site is south of I-10. The public hearing was closed. Resolution was read by title with a typographical error ("Solera Road" instead of "corner"), amended by council. Motion to approve as amended passed 6-1, with Councilmember Garcia voting no.
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Business Item C – Tentative Budget Adoption (Resolution 24-1575): Brian (Finance Director, whose last day is June 21) presented the tentative budget for FY2024-2025 in the amount of $64,444,735. State law requires adoption before the third Monday in July. After adoption, the budget will be published June 13 and 20, with a public hearing on the final budget and property tax scheduled for June 27. The budget includes schedules A-G as required by the Auditor General. Motion to adopt the tentative budget passed unanimously.
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Business Item D – City Manager Employment Contract: The council moved into executive session for up to 30 minutes to discuss legal matters regarding the contract. After reconvening, City Attorney Steve Cooper presented the final contract highlights: base salary of $161,401.29, eligibility for the same compensation increases (COLA, bonuses, incentives) as other city employees, nine months severance if terminated without cause, and an additional three months if terminated within a certain period after a new council is seated. Amendments were made: removal of "or in any manner take part" regarding appointment/removal of officers (Section 1), and addition of language encouraging residency within city limits (Section 12). Motion to approve the contract as amended passed unanimously by roll call.
Key Outcomes
- Consent agenda (meeting minutes) approved.
- Authorization granted to City Manager to execute eight on-call professional service contracts for two years.
- Resolution 24-1572 approved (6-1) granting a two-year time extension for the solar and battery storage conditional use permit.
- Resolution 24-1575 adopted, establishing the tentative budget for FY2024-2025 at $64,444,735.
- Employment contract for David Malewitz as City Manager approved with amendments; effective immediately.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. Welcome to tonight's city council meeting here in Eloy, Arizona. It is Monday, June 10th 2024. It calls me in order. Time is approximately 601. Miss Mary, can I get a roll call, please? Councilmember Sutton. Here. Councilmember Wanowatho Rodriguez. Here. Vice Mayor Curtis. Here. Mayor Powell. Here. Councilmember Schneider. Here. Councilmember Garcia. Present. Councilmember Terengo. Here. Thank you. Next, we're gonna have an invocation by Mr. Bob Skyer. If you can remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. In verse 41 of the 19th chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, Jesus asked the blind beggar, what do you want me to do for you? He replied, Lord, that I may see. We here have been blessed with our sight, but what do we actually see in our daily routine? In accordance with the old saying, the sun which provides sight to the eagle blinds the owl. Let us be as the eagle and see what is truly important to our Eloy community that all ordinances, resolutions, and policies be adopted for the health, safety, and welfare of its current and future inhabitants. When we encounter the difficult decisions, let us simply pause and pray for wisdom as we say quietly, Lord, that I may see. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Any public appearances signed in. None? All right, thank you. Council reports. Anybody over here? Andy. Thank you, Mayor. Uh just want to say sadly I went to the uh community yard sale we had here outside at the park. Although it wasn't highly attended, the people who were there actually sold a lot of stuff. So a lot of money exchanged hands. And I think going forward, probably when the weather breaks, we'll do this again with a little bit more push out to the public on our social media, and we can look for a bigger success. Thank you. Sylvia Sarah. No. Thank you. My left side.
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