Eloy City Council Meeting, July 28, 2025: Financial Update, Airpark Plan, Houser Road Water Line, and PFAS Litigation
Eloy City Council Meeting, July 28, 2025
The Eloy City Council met on Monday, July 28, 2025. The meeting was called to order at approximately 6:00 p.m. (agenda had listed 5:15 p.m.). All council members were present. The agenda included a financial update, consent agenda items, and several business items. A public hearing was held for one speaker. The council unanimously approved routine items, accepted a property donation, authorized right‑of‑way dedications and a water line construction contract, amended and approved the Airpark Master Plan contract, and discussed PFAS cost recovery litigation in executive session before voting to direct staff to increase testing and tracking.
Consent Calendar
- Item A: Approval of minutes – no minutes were presented for approval; approved unanimously.
- Item B: Authorization for the Eloy Police Department to enter into an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the Arizona Department of Public Safety for participation in the DPS GIITEM Task Force. Approved after clarification that staffing vacancies are being addressed.
- Item C: Acceptance of the FFY 2025 HIDTA Grant (HT‑25‑2918) for continued funding of a sworn officer position with the Pinal County Narcotics Task Force. Approved together with Item B.
- Item D (Pulled): The professional services contract with Logan Simpson Design, Inc. (up to $260,000) for the Airpark Specific Area/Master Plan was removed by Councilmember Curtis for discussion. After debate, the scope of work was amended to remove language about potential relocation of skydiving operations and replaced with language recognizing existing Skydive Arizona operations. The contract, as amended, was approved unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- One member of the public, Mr. Hill, addressed the council. His remarks were not clearly audible in the transcript.
Discussion Items
- Financial Update (Brian Wright, Finance Director): The city ended fiscal year 2024‑25 with a general fund surplus of $4.5 million (revenues over expenses), driven by higher permit/plan review fees, state‑share revenues exceeding expectations by $427,000 (5.64%), and strong interest income. Local sales tax collections totaled just over $8.4 million, about $720,000 below budget due to a slowdown in construction‑related sales tax (from ~$900,000 in prior years to ~$350,000 for the latest quarter). Retail, restaurant/bar, and hotel taxes met expectations. The city had many unfilled vacancies, contributing to salary savings. A total of 92% of budget was spent on operations. General fund balance is projected at ~$37 million, with a portion allocated to infrastructure projects. Councilmember Schneider asked about using the surplus for one‑time projects; staff noted it is rolled into the fund balance for planned infrastructure.
- Airpark Master Plan Contract (Dan Symer): Following removal from the consent agenda, Councilmember Curtis expressed concern about language in the scope of work that mentioned “planning for the potential relocation of skydiving operations.” Staff clarified it was intended as scenario analysis. An amendment was proposed and accepted: replace the existing language with text recognizing that Skydive Arizona owns significant land and manages airport functions and that future development must acknowledge existing operations while planning for long‑term vision. The amended contract passed unanimously.
- Property Donation (Item VIII‑A): The city accepted a donation of real property at 707 W. 3rd Place from Pinal County. The site, used for storage of public works equipment and waste management containers, has limited development potential due to high‑voltage power line easements. A site assessment found no contamination. The council accepted the donation unanimously.
- Houser Road Water Line Extension (Items VIII‑B and VIII‑C): The council accepted right‑of‑way dedications from property owners along West Houser Road (Item B) and approved a contract with Ellison‑Mills based on a cooperative purchasing contract with Pinal County (Contract #233828ROQ) for up to $450,000 for Phase I construction (Item C). Both items passed unanimously. Phase II, for properties to the north, is budgeted at $300,000 for the next fiscal year.
- PFAS Cost Recovery Litigation (Item VIII‑D): The council entered executive session to discuss legal advice regarding the National Rural Water Association PFAS Cost Recovery Program and retention of the law firm Napoli Shkolnik. Upon returning to open session, a motion was made and approved unanimously to direct city staff to increase testing and tracking of PFAS and provide that information to council for further discussion at a future meeting.
Key Outcomes
- All votes were unanimous (7‑0) on consent items, business items, and the motion following executive session.
- The Airpark Master Plan contract was approved with an amended scope of work.
- The property donation from Pinal County was accepted.
- Right‑of‑way dedications for the Houser Road Water Line Extension were accepted.
- The Phase I construction contract (up to $450,000) for the Houser Road Water Line was awarded to Ellison‑Mills.
- Council directed staff to enhance PFAS testing and tracking and report back.
Meeting Transcript
Councilmember Curtis, I was just thinking of you. Yeah, I'm here. Okay, thank you. Mayor, when you're ready, uh, Councilmember Curtis is on the line. Hi, Sarah. All right. Good evening. Welcome to the Eloy City Council meeting. It is Monday, July 28th. The time is approximately 6 p.m. Madam Clerk, may I have a roll call, please? Councilmember Vadraska. Here. Councilmember Curtis. Here. Vice Mayor Tarango. Here. Councilmember Schneider. Here. Councilmember Garcia. Present. Councilmember Galindo. Here. Mayor Sutton. Here. Thank you. Now I'd like everyone to kindly raise for a moment of silence and the pledge of allegiance that will be led off by Vice Mayor Tarango. Legislature to the flag of the United States of America. One nation. Indivisible. Liberty. Okay, at this time we're going to call for public appearances. Mr. Hill, I believe I see your name. Thank you. With that, worrying the sir. Thank you for addressing the council. Okay, next up is Mayor Announcements. And your mayor was under the weather, so he only has two pages of announcements. Instead of his usual four. On Wednesday the 24th, David Malowitz and I met with representatives for the Southern Arizona director for the governor's office. We discussed many different ways who partner with the governor's office, including computers for learning program. This is where they take the old computers from the governor's office and other city or state offices, and they're going to allow people to package them up and take them to the schools to repurpose them, especially in underserved populations like ours. So to be free computers, we're working with them. I'm looking for a whole truckload if I can. You know me. So if that's it, that's a really positive things, and we are really looking forward to that. And today, along with Assistant City Manager McKenzie Lecture Brian Wright, Dan Simon and Barisa Medina, we met with Laurie Urban, the State Director of Arizona Rural Development, and Alyssa Stanley, who is the deputy state director. Discuss was the many grants available to the city of Eloy. Some we didn't even know were available to us.
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