The Gilbert City Council met on March 4, 2026, to receive an update on the independent water meter audit, hear public comments on midge fly infestations and water rate concerns, and approve a consent calendar and public hearing items. The meeting opened with an invocation by Pastor Richard Nungess of Bread of Life International and the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilmember Torgeson. All seven council members were present, establishing a quorum.
Paige Helfenstein and Tyler Kay of Kimley Horn, the third-party auditor, presented an update on the water meter audit. The audit has three components: data audit (verifying 92,000 customer accounts and billing history), infrastructure audit (physical meter and radio transmitter testing), and operations/business practices audit. Key details:
Five citizens addressed the council:
In response to public comments, Mayor Anderson stated staff would reach out to concerned residents. Vice Mayor Bongiovanni requested staff investigate natural predators for midge flies. The Mayor also requested an economic development update on the number of data centers in Gilbert and their impact.
Councilmember Buckley led the consent calendar for items 4–22. Items pulled for discussion:
Items 17–21 were considered as a group. No items were pulled. Councilmember Koprowski moved to approve; seconded. Approved 7–0.
Okay, if we can have everybody get seated, we'll start. March third, twenty twenty six. Thank you for having me this evening. Uh, mayor and the council. My name is Pastor Richard Nungess, and I'm the founder and president of Broad of Life International. And we've had the honor of having uh former mayor Peterson and Scott September come out to Poland and to see the the work and to serve there as well. And for the past 25 years, I've had the privilege of serving people and working with leaders around the world. And I've worked with and served with close to a hundred different countries. And I've discovered something the same, no matter where you go in our world, that the human heart has a deep desire for two things. That is to be loved and to express love. Now we don't always get that right at times, so I'm grateful for forgiveness. And I'm thankful that one of those ways we can express love to each other is through prayer. So thank you for that honor of opening this evening in invocation and let us pray together. Our Father God. We come before you acknowledging that you are our father. We thank you for what you have given to us. We thank you for your love. We thank you for your son, Jesus Christ. Father, we ask this evening that you bless our leaders, that you give them wisdom, that you give them knowledge, that you give them health and protection. Allow them to lead us to provide to protect our town. We also pray for the citizens here in Gilbert that you'd give us health, that you allow us the opportunities to use our gifts, our talents, our passions, and our desires to live a life that you called us to. We thank you for your grace. And God, we ask that your face would shine down upon us and give us peace. We ask for these things in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Our Pledge of Allegiance tonight will be led by Councilmember Torgeson. Please rise. Roll call. Mayor Scott Anderson. Here. Vice Mayor Chuck Bongiovanni. Here. Councilmember Bobby Buckley. Here. Councilmember Kenny Buckland. Here. Councilmember Young Kaprowski. Here. Councilmember Monty Lyons. Here. Councilmember Jim Torgeson. Here. We have a quorum. Thank you. Tonight we have a couple of presentations and a recognition. We'd like to start with a presentation on the Green Gilbert Junior High and High School 2025 Art Contest winners. Those involved, would you come down? Thanks.