OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Eloy City Council Regular Meeting - February 23, 2026

Meeting Portal — Monday, February 23, 2026
BodyEloy, Arizona
SessionMeeting Portal
DateMonday, February 23, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:03:23

Transcript — Verbatim
1:28

Or your hair turns great.

4:04

Looks like a packed house, man.

4:07

Good evening.

4:08

Welcome to the Eloy City Council meeting.

4:11

Today is Monday, February twenty-third.

4:13

The time is six PM.

4:15

And Madam Clerk, may I get a roll call, please?

4:18

Councilmember Vapaska.

4:20

Present.

4:21

Councilmember Curtis.

4:23

Here.

4:25

Here.

4:26

Councilmember Schneider.

4:28

Here.

4:28

Councilmember Garcia.

4:30

Present.

4:31

Council Member Golando.

4:33

Here.

4:35

Here.

4:36

Well, can we all please rise for a moment of silence?

4:39

Followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Council Member Curtis.

5:19

That brings us to item number five, public appearances.

5:23

Those wishing to address the city council may do so by signing in on a form provided by the city clerk.

5:36

And first we'll go with scheduled public appearances, and that will be autumn cottages.

5:50

Yes, my name is Chivelle Guno, and I am a proud, proud resident of the city of Eloy.

5:58

So this evening, good evening, mayor, vice mayor, city council members.

6:03

It's a pleasure to see you all, city staff, attorney.

6:07

We are really excited to present to you all Autumn Community Foundation.

6:12

It's a nonprofit that is established to build worker and affordable housing.

6:18

And of course, if we're going to start with work and affordable housing, we're going to start in our own backyard in the city in which we live.

6:24

We are proud of, and we are strong.

6:26

And so with that being said, I'd love to give you guys an update of what the foundation is doing as well as next steps, and see how we can continue to strengthen and build our beautiful city.

6:40

So we're just going to go through the community needs, a recap.

6:45

So recap for some, but it may be mean for others.

6:48

I'm very conscientious that we have some wonderful new staff members, city council members prior to when we originally presented, identifying some needs, and like I said, let's strengthen this partnership so we can continue to advance and move forward with the city.

7:30

So there are a lot of manufacturing plants in the city of Eloy, around the city of Eloy, and with anything that comes with jobs, we need somewhere to allow them to stay.

7:41

And so the state of Arizona only has 5.6 affordable housing per capita.

7:48

So that's about five wood degenerates and say six houses that are geared toward affordability and workforce in the entire state.

8:09

So recap, we actually purchased a lot downtown Eway on Fourth Street.

8:15

Um when we first purchased it.

8:33

And so there were about seven structures that were there.

8:36

If you can see way back here, there was an outhouse, it just had a toilet in a sink.

8:43

And along this, there were it wasn't, it was maybe a room with just a bed in there.

8:49

It wasn't big enough for anything else.

8:51

And so and it was zoned for a single family.

8:54

So we had to go through the full process of rezoning to a single family to multifamily, put in a lot of work.

9:01

That took a couple, that took about a year to get done.

9:05

But I pay my respect to the land for everything that came before us.

9:13

So seven of those units will be specific to workforce housing and affordable housing.

9:19

Um we have to do asbestos testing, geo testing.

9:24

We cleared everything out.

9:26

So this is what it looked like the day we closed on the property.

9:39

And here we are now.

9:48

So there will be six duplexes that will entail three bedrooms, two baths, and one community center.

10:00

As you can see here, we partner with a lot of people to get this done because nothing or no one can get far in life without the help and the assistance of others or commitment and partnership.

10:06

And so we have community partners who are willing and able and want to make sure that these come into fruition.

10:13

And so this is what it will look like.

10:17

This is a rendering.

10:19

Again, it's going to be six three-bedroom, two baths, one eighty-a-compliant with a ramp, just in case, you know, we want to make sure that we are in position to serve veterans.

10:30

If there is a capability, our goal is to remove barriers as much as possible.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Affordable Housing███████████████████████████27%
Economic Development██████████████████████████26%
Community Engagement████████████████████████24%
Procedural███████████11%
Water And Wastewater Management██████6%
Planning And Development███3%
Youth Programs█1%
Arts And Culture█1%
Personnel Matters█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Eloy City Council Regular Meeting - February 23, 2026

The Eloy City Council met on Monday, February 23, 2026, at approximately 6:00 PM (agenda listed 5:00 PM) in the City Council Chambers. The meeting included presentations on affordable housing and chamber updates, public comments, approval of a consent agenda, and authorization for police vehicle equipment. The council also voted to enter executive session to discuss the city manager's employment contract.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved the minutes from the November 24, 2026, regular meeting.
  • Approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Eloy Police Department and Toltec School District No. 22 for continued assignment of a School Resource Officer (SRO).
  • Adopted Resolution No. 26-1643 approving Case No. CUP2025-010: a Conditional Use Permit for an AT&T wireless communication tower on a 40-acre property at 2365 West Hanna Road (R1-43 zoning).
  • Approved the first amendment to the Purchase and Sales Agreement with Eloy Community Development Partners, LLC for the purchase of approximately 81 acres at the northwest corner of Houser Road and 11 Mile Corner Road.
  • All items approved unanimously by roll call vote.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Scheduled Public Appearances:
    • Autumn Cottages Affordable Housing Presentation: Chavelle Guno, representing Autumn Community Foundation, presented plans for workforce/affordable housing. The project includes six duplexes (three-bedroom, two-bath) and a community center with a pizza cafe and community garden, located downtown on Fourth Street. She noted that Arizona has only 5.6 affordable housing units per capita. She requested the city consider waiving impact fees and public work fees, and provide incentives for workforce housing, such as rebates similar to those given to a large manufacturing plant. She stated she invested nearly $250,000 of personal funds. The city attorney noted that the presentation was informational and could not be acted upon due to open meeting laws; staff would review her requests.
    • Eloy Chamber of Commerce Quarterly Update: Andrew Rodriguez, Executive Director, reported membership increased from 174 in 2024 to 223 currently. Office visits rose from 1,668 in 2024 to 2,593 in 2025; phone calls from 834 to 1,443. The Chamber won the "Outstanding Membership Engagement Strategy" award at the Arizona Chamber Executives Conference, the only chamber in Arizona to receive it. The "Eloy Glow" event had 6,640 paid attendees (23.4% local, 76.6% from outside) and the flyer was viewed 180,000 times. Upcoming events include a golf tournament, farmers market, health fairs, basketball tournament, Cinco de Mayo Fiesta, softball tournament, and Memorial Day event.
  • Unscheduled Public Comments:
    • Jody Baronson (Eloy resident): Expressed concern about the cancellation of the $16 food box program at the farmers market, which affected approximately 120 people. She asked that the city not deny food to elderly, families, and disabled individuals, and requested better communication to avoid overbooking.
    • Mr. Sayed: Invited the council and public to break the Ramadan fast across the street at the Muslim community center, offering free food. He also mentioned his organization is donating nearly 20 acres for a similar nonprofit project.
    • Tahim: Also invited attendees to share food and mentioned distributing toys.

Reports & Announcements

  • Mayor’s Announcements (Mayor Sutton):
    • Attended a budget retreat on February 13; noted reduced funding for next year.
    • Met with owner of new Plate and Pallet restaurant (former Encore space); opening possible soon.
    • Met with County Supervisor Videlello regarding solar projects; attended Solar Neighborhood meeting.
    • Spoke to Arizona State House Transportation Committee requesting $8.2 million for Houser Road completion.
    • Attended ribbon cutting for MHO Hotel on Sunland Gin Road; City of Eloy cut the ribbon with Congressman Ciscomani, who secured $1 million for resurfacing Frontier Street.
    • Attended groundbreaking for Pinal Hispanic Council’s Tiny Home Project.
  • Council Member Announcements:
    • Council Member Curtis: Attended Florence State of the City Address; impressed with their junior city council program; suggested exploring similar program for Eloy.
    • Council Member Garcia: Also attended tiny home groundbreaking; praised mental health focus. Congratulated Santa Cruz Valley Union High School wrestling team for state champions.
    • Council Member Valderas: Attended Eloy Air Park area plan meeting; pleased with resident engagement. Attended budget retreat.
    • Council Member Galindo: Attended Urban Land Institute Trends Day conference; discussed topics including TSMC’s impact, energy gap (future nuclear), housing policy debate, and economic uncertainty.
  • City Manager Announcements:
    • Summer hiring for aquatics and recreation: ~30 positions, $15-$19/hour, flexible scheduling, recruitment open now.
    • Spring break camp at Troy Thomas Community Center: March 9-12 and 16-19, 7:30 AM to 4 PM, registration online.
    • Nitrate update: Blending water reduced nitrate levels below threshold; official ADEQ review in April; notice of violation remains; bottled water available at City Hall for residents (one case per week per household with water bill).

Discussion Items

  • Business Item A – Acceptance of Proposal for Police Vehicle Up-fit: Council considered a proposal from MHQ of Arizona for emergency up-fit services for two 2025 Ford F-150 Responder Police Trucks, priced at $65,000 per Arizona State Contract #CTR078487, funded by a one-time $200,000 state legislative appropriation. After no questions, the item was approved unanimously.

Key Outcomes

  • The consent agenda was approved unanimously (all items A-D).
  • Business Item A (police truck up-fit) was approved unanimously.
  • The council voted unanimously (all present) to enter executive session to discuss the city manager’s employment contract and legal matters, pursuant to A.R.S. §38-431.03(A)(3) and (4). The session was closed to the public.

Note: The agenda listed the meeting start time as 5:00 PM, but the mayor called the meeting to order at approximately 6:00 PM.

Meeting Transcript

Or your hair turns great. Looks like a packed house, man. Good evening. Welcome to the Eloy City Council meeting. Today is Monday, February twenty-third. The time is six PM. And Madam Clerk, may I get a roll call, please? Councilmember Vapaska. Present. Councilmember Curtis. Here. Here. Councilmember Schneider. Here. Councilmember Garcia. Present. Council Member Golando. Here. Here. Well, can we all please rise for a moment of silence? Followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Council Member Curtis. That brings us to item number five, public appearances. Those wishing to address the city council may do so by signing in on a form provided by the city clerk. And first we'll go with scheduled public appearances, and that will be autumn cottages. Yes, my name is Chivelle Guno, and I am a proud, proud resident of the city of Eloy. So this evening, good evening, mayor, vice mayor, city council members. It's a pleasure to see you all, city staff, attorney. We are really excited to present to you all Autumn Community Foundation. It's a nonprofit that is established to build worker and affordable housing. And of course, if we're going to start with work and affordable housing, we're going to start in our own backyard in the city in which we live. We are proud of, and we are strong. And so with that being said, I'd love to give you guys an update of what the foundation is doing as well as next steps, and see how we can continue to strengthen and build our beautiful city. So we're just going to go through the community needs, a recap. So recap for some, but it may be mean for others. I'm very conscientious that we have some wonderful new staff members, city council members prior to when we originally presented, identifying some needs, and like I said, let's strengthen this partnership so we can continue to advance and move forward with the city. So there are a lot of manufacturing plants in the city of Eloy, around the city of Eloy, and with anything that comes with jobs, we need somewhere to allow them to stay. And so the state of Arizona only has 5.6 affordable housing per capita. So that's about five wood degenerates and say six houses that are geared toward affordability and workforce in the entire state. So recap, we actually purchased a lot downtown Eway on Fourth Street. Um when we first purchased it. And so there were about seven structures that were there. If you can see way back here, there was an outhouse, it just had a toilet in a sink. And along this, there were it wasn't, it was maybe a room with just a bed in there. It wasn't big enough for anything else. And so and it was zoned for a single family. So we had to go through the full process of rezoning to a single family to multifamily, put in a lot of work. That took a couple, that took about a year to get done. But I pay my respect to the land for everything that came before us. So seven of those units will be specific to workforce housing and affordable housing. Um we have to do asbestos testing, geo testing.

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