Eloy City Council Regular Meeting, October 28, 2024
Eloy City Council Regular Meeting - October 28, 2024
This meeting was called to order at approximately 6:01 PM, though the agenda listed a 5:30 PM start. The council addressed a consent agenda, several discussion items, and held public hearings on multiple solar energy projects. All council members were present. Key actions included approval of a lease renewal with the Chamber of Commerce, a generator purchase, and three solar-related land use approvals.
Awards and Recognitions
- Finance Director Brian presented the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting (12th consecutive year) and the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Annual Financial Reporting (first year). The awards were accepted by the Mayor and council.
Council Member, Mayor, and City Manager Reports
- Councilmember Settin reported on the Rural Transportation Summit in Prescott, where Mayor Powell received a Champion of Transportation award for bringing over $12 million in road improvement funds to Eloy. He also noted challenges with federal grant matching requirements in Arizona.
- Councilmember Tarango promoted the upcoming Eloy Glow event and reminded the public of the Veterans Day ceremony.
- Councilmember Garcia thanked the police department for its presence at the Harvest Festival.
- Mayor Powell acknowledged the Harvest Festival's success and community engagement.
- City Manager Paul announced upcoming events: Chamber Luncheon (Oct 30), homecoming parade and football game (Nov 1), Día de los Muertos (Nov 2), gang night (Nov 6), and Veterans Day (Nov 11). The next council meeting will be November 12.
Consent Calendar
- Items A (Approval of Minutes), B (HIDTA grant acceptance), D (Poligon shade structure purchase), and E (utility easement for APS) were approved unanimously by roll call vote.
- Items C (Chamber of Commerce lease renewal) and F (generator purchase) were pulled for separate discussion.
Discussion Items
- Item C – Lease Renewal with Eloy Chamber of Commerce: Council debated the landlord’s termination notice period. Staff recommended keeping a one-year notice, citing the time needed for relocation. Councilmember Settin initially proposed reducing to 60 or 90 days, but after discussion, the council agreed to leave the one-year term. The item was approved unanimously.
- Item F – Generator Purchase and Installation: Approval of a $225,000 contract with Commonwealth Electric for a 125 kW Cummins natural gas generator at City Hall, plus a separate $10,000–$12,000 gas hookup cost. Councilmember Settin advised inspecting the existing switchgear before installation. The item was approved unanimously.
- Business Item A – Owner-Occupied Housing Rehabilitation Program: Council approved a professional services contract with Property Couple LLC at $7,000 per unit, replacing the previous contractor. Unanimous.
- Business Item B – CDBG Subrecipient Agreement for Toltec Senior Center: Council approved acceptance of $173,090 in grant funds for the project, $43,000 above the allocation. Unanimous.
- Business Item C – Public Utilities Easement for Sewer Main: Council accepted an easement from I-10 Eloy Eleven Mile Corner LLC to facilitate sewer expansion along Eleven Mile Corner. Unanimous.
- Business Item D – Public Hearing and Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for Eloy Valley I & II Solar: Applicant NextEra Energy presented a request for a solar and battery storage facility on ~2,237 acres. Staff and planning commission recommended approval. Council voted 5-2 (Councilmembers Tarango and Garcia opposed) to adopt Resolution 24-1595.
- Business Item E – Public Record for Picacho View II PAD Amendment: Resolution 24-1596 was adopted 6-1 (Councilmember Garcia opposed) to declare the PAD amendment document as public record.
- Business Item F – Public Hearing and Zoning Map Amendment for Picacho View II: Ordinance 24-976 was approved 5-2 (Councilmembers Garcia and Tarango opposed) after correcting a stipulation name from “Rancho del Sol” to “Picacho View II.” The amendment allows solar and battery storage on ~1,040 acres.
- Business Item G – Public Record for Stevens Farms PAD Amendment: Resolution 24-1597 was adopted 6-1 (Councilmember Garcia opposed).
- Business Item H – Public Hearing and Zoning Map Amendment for Stevens Farms: Ordinance 24-977 was approved 5-2 (Councilmembers Tarango and Garcia opposed) after correcting the stipulation name to “Stevens Farms.” The amendment allows solar and battery storage on ~640 acres.
Key Outcomes
- All consent agenda items (A, B, D, E) approved unanimously.
- Lease renewal with Chamber of Commerce (Item C) approved unanimously.
- Generator purchase (Item F) approved unanimously.
- Housing rehabilitation contract (Item A) approved unanimously.
- CDBG subrecipient agreement (Item B) approved unanimously.
- Utility easement (Item C) approved unanimously.
- Resolution 24-1595 (CUP for Eloy Valley Solar) approved 5-2.
- Resolution 24-1596 (Picacho View II public record) approved 6-1.
- Ordinance 24-976 (Picacho View II zoning amendment) approved 5-2.
- Resolution 24-1597 (Stevens Farms public record) approved 6-1.
- Ordinance 24-977 (Stevens Farms zoning amendment) approved 5-2.
Meeting Transcript
Well, let's feel the end. Sorry. Mayor at six o'clock. Good evening. Welcome to tonight's Eloy City Council meeting. It is Monday, October 28th, 2024. Time's approximately six oh one. I call this meeting to order. Miss Mary, can I get a roll call, please? Councilmember Seton. Here. Councilmember Wanna Wapo Rodriguez. Here. Vice Mayor Curtis. Here. Mayor Powell. Here. Councilmember Snyder. Here. Councilmember Garcia. Present. Councilmember Taranko. Here. Thank you. Next, if we can all stand for a moment of silence and continue standing for the Pledge of Allegiance by Vice Mayor Sarah Curtis. Thank you. Liberty and Justice are like. Next we're gonna go to oh wait. Yeah. Uh City Council member meeting City Council member announcements. Sir on my right side, Andy. Absolutely, thank you, Mayor. On October sixteenth and seventeenth, Mayor Powell, Mackenzie Lecture, and David Malowitz attended the Rural Transportation Summit in Prescott, Arizona. While we were there, our mayor received an award for being a champion of transportation. Mayor Powell has fought tirelessly for four years to bring over twelve million dollars to the city of Eloy for transportation and road improvements. And that's a job well done. Also, while we were at the summit, the breakout sessions were fantastic. We all learned a lot there. Last year some of us went to the National League of Cities Conference, Council members and myself. And while we were there, all the breakout sessions, all they talked about was grant money, grant money, grant money, grant money, and how much everybody was getting. During one of the breakout sessions, we learned that many states provide the match funding to the city or towns. Thus this grant money didn't really cost them anything. But that's not the case in Arizona. In Arizona, if we want to pursue a federal grant, we have to come up with the match. Whether it's a fifty-fifty match or an eighty-twenty match, we have to come up with that. So that's why Grants were very selective on what we can or want to do here because it actually cost us money with the other cities and towns, it doesn't. So we're gonna work the best we can to see what we can do to get hold of this money. There's a lot of money being given away out there, and we're not getting it. Also, during this week, I met with some local builders that were a bit confused about a bit confused for lack of a better term about things going on in the city and how they can uh get jobs done. So I just had to direct them to the proper people within the city.
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