We got everybody back.

Young buddy's down there.

Oh, she's ready to go down there.

Okay.

So punctual.

Thank you, everyone for being here.

Um call to order the regular council meeting of April seventh, twenty twenty-six.

We'll start with an invocation and a pledge of allegiance.

Our invocation is being being done by President Jacques DeWet, the Arizona Gilbert Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Let us pray.

Our beloved Father in heaven, we come before thee with grateful thanks for this day.

We are grateful for the life that we have and the opportunities that we have to continue to learn and grow and develop in this life.

And for the wonderful opportunities that we are blessed with.

That we may choose to do those things which help to bless and strengthen and uplift one another in our community.

Thank you, President.

Our Pledge of Allegiance will be managed by Councilmember Kaprowski today.

This is Pac 101.

We're a brand new Cub Scout Pack here in Gilbert.

Our motto is back to basics, and we're offering a traditional scouting experience for boys on their journey of becoming good men and having fun along the way.

So thanks again for having us here.

Thank you.

We'll move on to our presentations and proclamations.

Oh yeah, yeah.

I forgot to ask for roll call wait, Nathan.

Roll call.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh Mayor Scott Anderson.

Here.

Vice Mayor Chuck Bongiovan.

Here.

Councilmember Bobby Buckley?

Here.

Councilmember Kenny Buckland.

Here.

Councilmember Young Kaprowski.

Here.

Councilmember Monty Lyons.

Here.

And Councilmember Jim Torkison.

Here.

A quorum is present.

All right.

Good evening, Mayor and Council and everyone here this evening.

Excited to uh honor and recognize some of the dedicated, inspiring volunteers in our community.

I'm gonna go through a couple logistical items and then we'll jump right in.

First off, we're we've got um uh uh more than one finalist in each category, so we'll ask um when your name is called and your slide pops up as a finalist.

Um please feel free to stand in your seat.

We'll ask that you not come down to the front, um, and then we will have the winner come down once announced.

You can cheer for the winner when they come down, they'll get a photo, and then those winners will ask that you stay put down here in front of the dais while we go through each category and select each winner so at the end there can be a group photo with Mayor Anderson as well.

All right.

So welcome everyone to our 2026 MVP recognition.

Um these that we're gonna talk about tonight are the individuals who show up, not for this purpose, not for recognition, not for a reward, just because Gilbert matters to them.

So, without further ado, we will jump in.

Oh, I'm doing it.

Oh wow.

You're expecting a lot from me.

Green button?

I could do it.

I got it.

I think.

I don't know.

Let's let's wait and see.

Let's see how I do.

Ready?

Or not.

One more time.

There we go.

All right.

So, first off, I'll talk a little bit about the uh the categories that we use.

Um, our first off, our we've got basically our four town values represented here, and they reflect the heart of what it means to serve in Gilbert.

These are the values of driven, kind, bold, and humble.

Additionally, we have awards for two additional categories, youth and group.

Um, each of our volunteers being recognized tonight show up in a unique in unique and important ways to make a difference in our community.

So we will start off with our first category of driven.

A driven volunteer is passionate and committed to excellence.

They take on new challenges and opportunities without being asked.

They strive every day in their efforts to help others, and they are dedicated to devoting a significant amount of their time to service.

This award goes to someone who simply doesn't stop.

And the finalists are Ashley Maddox.

Since 2022, Ashley has volunteered at Banner Gateway Medical Center through high school, into college, and now through her full-time studies at ASU, returning to Gilbert every single week without hesitation.

In the pre and post-operative care unit, she supports patients as they wake from surgery, scared and disoriented, a warm blanket, a steady hand, a kind word.

She turns fear into relief.

She also steps into the ER, going above and beyond every time.

Ashley's commitment is deeply personal.

She witnessed firsthand how quality care transformed a family member's experience at Banner Gateway.

She's exactly what driven looks like.

And we can give a round of applause.

Our next uh finalist is Brienne Bierman Boyd.

Brienne knows firsthand what it means to raise a child with a disability and navigate the challenges that come with it.

Rather than keeping that experience to herself, she channels it into purpose, supporting other parents on similar journeys and equipping the educators and therapists who serve their families.

Through her story, Brianne gives personal or professionals something no textbook can provide, the parent perspective, with warmth, humor, and emotion.

She bridges the gap between clinical knowledge and lived experience, making those who hear her more empathetic and more effective.

Brianne turns personal struggle into community strength.

This is driven.

And the winner for our value of driven is Ashley Maddox.

Congrats to Ashley.

Please keep living that value of driven.

And Ashley, you'll awkwardly stand up here.

They're with the rest of us, okay.

Our next category is kind.

A kind volunteer believes in all people.

They spread kindness in their words and actions, always serve the community with respect and civility, and do it with a joyful attitude and a smile on their face.

Our finalist for the values of kind.

Jordan Woodworth.

Jordan is a kind the kind of person who shows up before anyone ask, quietly, consistently, and with his whole heart.

His commitment to Gilbert is not defined by a single act, but by a lifetime of choosing kindness every single day.

When his school dreamed of an inclusive playground, Jordan made it happen.

He rallied the community, inspired donations, organized a volunteer construction crew, and secured materials that saved the school over $30,000.

All because he believed every child deserves to play without barriers.

Despite the personal demands of raising a child with a developmental disability, Jordan gives endlessly to those around him.

His kindness is not occasional.

It is who he is.

That is kindness.

For the young women at Cece's Hope Center, healing requires more than good intentions.

It requires someone who shows up week after week without judgment.

Gaylene is that person.

She provides weekly transportation to medical appointments, counseling, job interviews, and essential resources, removing one of the greatest barriers survivors face.

As a mentor, she listens deeply, models stability, and helps restore trust in safe adults, including for a survivor of religious abuse who now calls her a safe place.

Galen leads with humility, compassion, and quiet dedication.

She's helping a young woman rebuild her life, and that is kindness.

And our winner for the value of kind is Jordan Woodworth.

Congrats, Jordan.

Oh, and this one mentions who nominated him, which was Chelsea Elisio.

All right.

Our next category is bold.

A bold volunteer is innovative.

They bring big ideas and create unique situation or solutions.

Their leadership sets a positive example and their service has made a significant impact on a person, a cause, or a group right here in Gilbert.

And the finalists are Paul Schultz.

Paul joined Gilbert Fire and Rescue's community assistance program earlier this year and immediately stepped into some of the most difficult situations a volunteer can face.

Drownings, house fires, accidents, and end of life calls without hesitation.

When a family lost a loved one after a long illness, Paul stayed for over three hours, not to manage the scene, but simply to listen and be present.

It takes real courage to sit with grief and offer calm in someone's darkest moment.

Paul also boldly stepped into a mentor role, shaping new volunteers and professionalism, humility, and heart.

He leads from the front in the hardest moments for the people who need it most.

This is bold.

Our second finalist is Sherry Daydlow.

For twelve years, Sherry's shown up three or four days a week to a sends Gilbert Senior Center, preparing home delivered meals, training new volunteers, and keeping the kitchen running seamlessly, all without ever needing to be told what to do.

When a group of 25 to 30 guests from local group homes began visiting monthly, Sherry didn't wait for direction.

She devised her own plan to serve them separately before the regular crowd, ensuring every guest received attentive, dignified table service without disrupting the daily operations.

Sherry's initiative, reliability, and natural leadership have made her indispensable for over a decade.

She doesn't follow the lead, she sets it.

That is bold.

And the winner for the category of bold is Sherry Daidlow.

Congratulations, Sherry.

And Sherry was nominated by Rachel Edelman.

Sorry, I want to make sure I give Ashley her nominee nominations.

Kudos, but I'll we'll find it.

All right.

Our uh fourth category is humble.

A humble volunteer makes service the heart of everything they do.

They accomplish great things without the need for recognition, make meaningful contributions, collaborate with others, and embrace the servant leadership model.

The finalist for humble are Brandon Lettner.

We know this humble category is the hardest one for you to sit through, right?

When you gotta be here for this kind of recognition.

Brandon never volunteers for recognition.

He volunteers because he can and because someone needs him.

Since 2018, Brandon has put his CDL skills to work for MFBAZ, transporting donated food and disaster relief supplies across Arizona and beyond.

When North Carolina was devastated by a hurricane in 2024, Brandon flew to Illinois and drove a semi-1,400 miles round trip over 17 hours to deliver hay to cattle farmers in crisis.

No fanfare, just a man with a skill set and a calling.

As an advisory board member, scout troop leader, church elder, and community servant, Brandon leads a life defined by quiet, selfless generosity.

He doesn't seek the spotlight, he just shows up.

This is humble.

Our next finalist for Humble is Amy Keller.

Amy didn't seek the role of president of For Our Town Gilbert.

She accepted it because the mission mattered and people needed her.

That distinction defines everything about how she leads.

She consistently elevates others, ensures every voice is heard, and guides the board with quiet confidence and grace.

She chooses in-person visits over emails, listens before speaking, and personally investigates community issues to bring back practical solutions.

At a recent community breakfast, she quietly resolved a logistical crisis before anyone even noticed, keeping the focus on the mission, not herself.

Amy leads without ego and serves without credit.

That is humble.

And the winner for our value of humble is Brandon Brandon Lettner.

Brandon was nominated by Marilee Baptiste.

All right, our next category is the youth category.

A youth volunteer fulfills a need by doing service right here in Gilbert.

They initiate activities, involve others, and encourage teamwork.

They're dedicated, positive, and hardworking, and they inspire all of us with what young people are capable of.

Our finalists for the youth category are Levi Cook.

At an age when most kids are focused on themselves, Levi is focused on others.

He shows up to serve Gilbert's veterans with a great attitude, a willing heart, and a maturity that goes well beyond his years.

Levi actively participates in fundraising events, represents American Legion Post 39 in the Gilbert Days Parade, and attends American Red Cross meetings alongside his mother, always polite, helpful, and present.

Levi's kindness and commitment to this community are a reminder that great volunteers come in all ages.

That is youth.

That is a youth MVP.

Excuse me.

Our second finalist, Shila, didn't wait for someone to create the opportunity.

When she saw our middle school needed a debate club, she spent an entire semester advocating, planning and partnering with teachers and administration to make it happen.

In just weeks since launching, the club's already helped dozens of students find their voice and improve their public speaking.

That is the power of one student and a vision and the determination to see it through.

Shilo leads with positivity, creativity, and inclusivity, always thinking about the legacy she'll leave.

That is the definition of a youth MVP.

And our winner for the youth category is Shiloh Ubro.

Shiloh was nominated by Katie Cook.

All right, our final category is the group category.

A group volunteer gives back through service, monetary contributions, or in-kind gifts.

They help make significant difference in the community and continue to make Gilbert a kinder place for all of us.

Our nominee is American Legion, Merrill Mitchell Post 39.

Together, the members of Post 39 have spent the past year showing up for Gilbert in every way imaginable.

They distributed heat relief supplies to vulnerable residents, raised funds for Alzheimer's research, engaged families at the Gilbert Farmers Market, and honored 12 JROTC cadets from three Gilbert High Schools.

Their collective commitment shines brightest through their Christmas for kids program, where Post 39 came together to deliver $150 in personalized gifts to 124 children from underprivileged or veteran families.

Bringing dignity, hope, and joy to those who need it at most.

When this group comes together, Gilbert is stronger for it.

That's the power of Post 39.

And it should not shock you that the winner for the group award is American Legion.

Post 39.

Everybody sucking your guy.

I must be in the Legion.

All right.

If we can if we can orchestrate that.

Can I get the finalists to stand up one more time, too, wherever you are?

Check, check.

And to all our finalists and their guests, we have a reception across the lobby in the tower room, so please stop by, get an opportunity to interact with each other and celebrate the amazing work you all do, and thank you.

Thank you.

Our next item on the uh recognitions is a special recognition.

We'd like to ask Mary Goodman if she'd come down here.

I think Dawn also.

So is Dad if he wants.

She's risen through the ranks.

She came to the town as a budget analyst and is uh is finishing her part of the her career here with the town of Gilbert after 13 years as an assistant town manager.

We're going to miss her greatly.

She is an example of excellence, an example of someone who is dedicated to helping uh not only the community, but also the team members that work with her.

And we're going, as I said, we're going to miss her dearly, but we wish her the best.

And on behalf of the town of Gilbert, thank you for your service.

So I have some remarks as well.

Okay.

Let's do that.

Let's do that.

Okay.

Can you hold the gift and give it to her while I because I have chance?

Okay.

All right.

I have some comments as well.

And so it's a privilege to stand here tonight, though I do so with both happy for you and your next journey, but also a heavy heart to recognize my colleague and friend, Mary Goodman.

Mary, for as long as you've served as our assistant town manager, you've been a pillar for this organization.

Your leadership isn't just defined by the projects you've completed or the policies you've shaped, but by the profound respect and admiration you've earned from every person who's had the privilege of working with you.

Flagstaff is getting an exceptional deputy city manager.

And they are lucky to have a great leader who leads with such integrity and grace.

Now we'll do a picture of this group.

And then after this, we'll have the executive team come forward.

And anyone else here.

I think she has a couple other people joining.

May please have Linda Ayers and whoever's with her, come on down.

I think she's out.

She's out in the lobby, sorry.

Um anyone here for the fair housing.

Anyone here for the fair housing?

They didn't show up.

Well we'll read it anyway.

That was no fun.

All right, whereas the Civil Rights Act of nineteen sixty eight, the Fair Housing Act, and the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 ensure full and fair access to housing opportunities.

And whereas shelter is a basic human need, and when shelter is denied, the quality of human life is greatly diminished.

And whereas people must not be denied equal access to an enjoyment of housing because of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, or familial status, and whereas the town of Gilbert recognizes and values the efforts of those who seek to reduce barriers to full and fair housing opportunity, and whereas April is designated as Fair Housing Month.

Now, therefore, I, Jim Torgeson, on behalf of Mayor Scott Anderson, Town of Gilbert, to hereby proclaim the month of April twenty twenty six as Fair Housing Month in Gilbert and encourage all citizens of Gilbert to work for equal housing opportunities in our community.

And I certainly wish Ms.

Ayers was up here.

So instead I'm handing it back to Valerie and I'll go away.

Thank you.

Sorry, the group couldn't make it last minute.

Um but we'll do Arbor Day next.

I believe we do have a group for Arbor Day if you guys want to make your way forward.

Oh, is it bike man next?

Okay.

Oh yeah.

Okay.

Oh reason you guys printed this really really big.

For me.

Okay, so whereas on April 10th, 19 1872, the first Arbor Day was celebrated in Nebraska City, Nebraska with an estimated one million trees planted.

And whereas Arbor Day is now observed through fifty states and in the world and will be observed in Arizona on April 24th, 2026.

And whereas communities across our great nation gather annually to celebrate trees and plant for gr and plants and plant and plant for a greener tomorrow.

And whereas trees uh clean the air we breathe and filter the water we drink, and whereas trees, wherever they're planted, are source of joy and spiritual renewal uh and provide hope for the future.

Now therefore I, Chuck Bon Dravani, Vice Mayor for uh uh for uh Scott Anderson, mayor of town of Gilbert, Arizona, do hereby proclaim April twenty-fourth, twenty twenty-six as Gilbert, Arizona's twenty twenty-six Arbor Day.

I urge all citizens to celebrate Arbor Day by supporting efforts to um protect existing trees in woodlands and plant trees to promote the well-being of this and future generations.

Oh we got both easy like trees.

This paper was not made from trees.

All right, now Bike Gilbert Month, Stephanie, and I know we have a couple local businesses here as well.

Thank you for joining me today for our Gilbert Bike Month Proclamation.

We have staff from transportation planning and from global bikes in our community.

Whereas the bicycle is a viable, low-cost and fun form of transportation, and whereas Gilbert's multi-use path system that connects to other Phoenix Metro regional pathways captivates bicyclists from all over the nation annually.

And whereas creating bicycle-friendly communities has been shown to improve citizens' health, well-being, quality of life, and boost community spirit while improving traffic safety and reduce pollution and congestion.

Gilbert's multi-use trail system attracts bicyclists each year from all over the nation and provides connectivity to trail systems throughout the Phoenix Metropolitan Region.

And whereas bicycling activities and amenities positively impact Gilbert's economy and tourism industry and stimulate economic development by attracting new businesses and residents who enjoy outdoor recreation and healthy lifestyles.

And whereas the League of American Bicyclists proclaims May as National Bike Month, and Valley Metro proclaims April as Valley Bike Month in our region.

And whereas during the month of April, the joys of bicycling will be experienced by many through community events, helmet and bike safety promotions, or by simply going for a ride.

And whereas the Gilbert Town Council urges all who support bicycling to participate in the events around the valley and urges all road users to share the road safely.

I, Young Kaprowski, on behalf of Mayor Scott Anderson of the Town of Gilbert do hereby proclaim the month of April 2026 as Bike Gilbert Month.

Present that to you guys.

Do you guys want to say a few words about your business?

Thank you, Mayor, Council members.

My name is Alan Leepak, owner, founder of Global Bikes Bike Shops.

My right-hand man, Andrew Operations Manager.

Um might be bike month, but um this year is also quite unique.

Global Bikes Bike Shops is uh it's our 25th year anniversary of doing business in the town of Gilbert.

So that's it seems uh just like yesterday.

My wife and I were driving around looking for locations for our first bicycle shop in our early 20s.

I was hoping and praying that somebody would actually lease to us.

And luckily, we stumbled upon upon the town of Gilbert up at Gilbert Crossings, Northeast Corner, and uh the landlord took a flyer out on us and uh allowed us to uh sign a lease without any type of co-signers, and we got in, and 25 years late years later, we are the only original tenant in that strip hall.

So come and see us if you need any of your bikes repaired, want to buy a new bike, uh low-speed electric bike, come and see us.

Sales, service, and repair of global bikes.

Thank you.

As part of Bike Month, we also have a community bike ride coming up on Saturday, April 18th, I believe.

So come join me and other people in the community for that.

I'd like to invite Elaine Kessler from the Gilbert Sister Cities Organization to come uh present and give us an update on what's been happening with Gilbert Sister Cities.

Oh, there we go.

Good evening, Mayor and Council and everyone in the room.

My name is Elaine Kessler.

I'm the current president of Gilbert Sister Cities, and it is my honor tonight to give you an update on the organization.

In a time when it's easy to feel divided, Gilbert Sister Cities creates meaningful connections across cultures.

More than a student exchange, we stand for diplomacy, education, and community building.

Our extraordinary connections with LaShawn China and Antrim Newton Abbey Northern Ireland continue to deepen, opening doors for authentic human connection that enrich our community and expand our global perspective.

As we reflect on the year behind us, we do so with gratitude for the volunteers, partners, and friends who make this work possible and with optimism for the connection still to come.

This review offers a glimpse into the relationships we nurtured, the milestones we reached, and the shared spirit that continues to unite Gilbert with the world.

Each endeavor reaffirms the simple yet powerful truth at the heart of our mission.

When people come together with curiosity and compassion, the world feels closer and kinder.

In October, we gathered beneath the stars for our fourth annual night at the garden, an evening that honored the enduring spirit of Gilbert Sister Cities.

Music filled the air as guests shared in the joy of community at our friendship garden in Gilbert Regional Park.

Several of you were there and graciously shared your exquisite dance moves in service of our organization's future, and we thank you for that.

The night paid tribute to two remarkable women whose dedication has shaped our story.

Suzanne Lunt and Gail Dish.

Gail is a founding board member who helped plant the seeds of the Gilbert Global Village Festival, which happens again this Saturday.

Gilbert Sister Cities has several super fun activities planned for our booth, and we hope you all will come see us.

We also announced our excitement and intention to partner with the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian community to share traditions, initiatives, and innovation.

Our youth ambassador application process also launched in October, and student ambassadors participating in the cultural exchange this summer will be announced publicly soon.

December brought us together for our Irish holiday social.

Vice Mayor Bon Giovanni was able to join us.

Thank you, and we hope more of you will join us at this festive event in the future.

In February, we celebrated the Lunar New Year and the year of the horse in Gilbert Fashion at HD South with our East to West Fest.

Phoenix Wishu Academy, a business based here in Gilbert, put on a spectacular show, and personalized messages from LaShawn China played to the delight of our audience.

We were thrilled to have Council Members Buckley and Koprowski join us for the festivities.

Thank you for being there.

This year we are especially proud to have two youth ambassadors participating in our new mentorship program.

These mentors help candidates meet the high standards that define Gilbert Sister Cities.

Elise Minor and Shandine Harrison were our esteemed mentors.

We are thrilled also to introduce a new scholarship, the Gilbert Sister Cities Youth Leadership Summit Scholarship.

This scholarship provides financial support for active youth to attend, if accepted, the Sister Cities International Youth Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C.

We are excited to share that Shandine Harrison is leading the way as our very first youth ambassador to win this incredible opportunity.

If you haven't heard the name Shandine Harrison yet, mark my words.

You will be seeing and hearing a lot about and from her.

In the coming fiscal year, Gilbert Sister Cities is boldly developing a stronger and more sustainable organizational structure, a structure that supports long-term impact while elevating community awareness so more residents understand and feel inspired to be part of our mission.

We aim to expand our membership and volunteer base with people who are curious, engaged, and eager to develop meaningful relationships here and abroad.

By growing our youth ambassador program, we intend to empower the next generation to lead with curiosity, compassion, and understanding.

We work to build a more connected Gilbert.

We are reminded that the true measure of our work is found in the relationships nurtured along the way.

With gratitude for all who walk this journey with us and hope for those yet to join, we look ahead with open hearts and steady purpose.

We know the world feels smaller and more hopeful when goodwill leads the way.

Thank you all for your support and partnership.

Do you have any questions?

Fantastic.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Our last presentation will be a presentation on the water meter audit.

Um, starting off representatives from Kimley Horn, and then our staff will have some comments also.

Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

My name is Tyler Kaye.

And I'm Paige Helfenstein, leading public engagement for the Watermeter Audit.

And I'm the project manager for the audit team as well.

Sorry.

We are with Kimley Horn, a national multidisciplinary engineering firm out of our Phoenix office.

And through a selection process, we were hired by the town to audit their water metering infrastructure and business processes.

Here in Arizona, we have a team that specializes in asset management and asset inventories for municipal utility systems.

And our role here is to give you a clear fact-based assessment on how the system is performing and where improvements can strengthen accuracy, reliability, and confidence in the town's procedures.

As licensed professional engineers, we are committed to the ethical responsibilities of the profession.

My and my company's reputation is on the line with every project that we sign up for, and this one is no different.

And I have full confidence in my team's analysis and results.

We know this is the first time you'll be seeing any of our results, so there will be an opportunity to ask questions at the end of the presentation.

We did share preliminary findings with town staff so they could prepare prepare a response immediately after this presentation.

We were here with you about a month ago to provide a status update on the audit, and there we stated that at the time we had not found any widespread systemic issues.

What does that mean exactly?

There is not a singular issue that has affected a majority of customers.

Today, we can validate that statement that there are no system-wide issues.

However, we did find some anomalies that affected just under 3% of accounts.

The good news is 97.1% of all accounts were recording usage and billed accurately during the audit period.

The goal of this audit was to identify and investigate each possible meter and billing concern, quantify the prevalence and impact, and provide actionable recommendations to the town.

This included physical meter testing, including the and the water metering infrastructur the radio transmission infrastructure, reviewing consumption and billing data for all accounts, and evaluating related business practices.

It should go without saying that every customer deserves to have their water usage accurate accurately recorded, transmitted, and billed with full transparency and trust in the process.

Our recommended best practices will promote increased accuracy, timeliness, and reliability moving forward.

We made it a priority to be intentional and meticulous so that we could provide solid solutions for the town and its residences and businesses.

But we also understood the importance of finding answers quickly so that any anomalies could be swiftly corrected.

Our final report will share all findings and recommendations, but this presentation will only highlight those that are most prevalent and impactful.

We will have information at the end of our presentation on where you can view the final report with more details on the overall results of the audit.

Kimley Horn led and managed this audit independently from town staff.

While the town provided information upon request and worked collaborative collaboratively with us to explain their systems and processes, the audit itself was conducted independently by Kimley Horn and our subconsultants.

Emmy Simpson is a national company that specializes in meter testing and repair.

They assisted with field work and performed off-site testing at their calibrated facility.

AMKA Services is a Gilbert-based specialist in water and wastewater assessment and rehab projects.

And they assisted with field work as well.

The calendar icon signifies our presentation here today, and the final report at the bottom serves as a reminder that our final report is coming soon.

We are awaiting the results of 88 meters from the physical meter audit, meaning the meters that were pulled, replaced, and shipped to our subconsultant to be tested at their facility.

Our data team is double checking those results and incorporating that information into the final report.

So for that reason, the report will be posted at the end of this month.

Please be aware that no personal data associated with any accounts will be posted publicly.

First off, we want to provide an overview of the general meter to cash process and explain how your bill is created as well as our audit process.

Our key findings and recommendations are related to each of the three parts of the audit you see here.

Each month you receive a utility bill, which includes water, sewer, solid waste recycling, and environmental compliance charges.

This audit was focused on the water portion of your utility bill.

How your bill is created starts at the meter.

Your water meter tracks your water usage or consumption, which the town collects every billing period either by a manual read or by radio transmission.

That data goes into the town's customer information system, or CIS, which calculates your monthly usage and applies tiered billing rates.

This is then included in your overall monthly utility bill.

While we are separating things into three clear parts to help with our explanation, when it comes to the results, there are instances where there is crossover between the three parts.

Per the meter to cash explanation, these three parts do all work together and influence each other.

So next, we're going to speak in depth about three key components of the audit.

First, at the infrastructure audit.

This portion of the audit involved looking at physical water meters and radio transmitters.

These two assets are critical to a utility's AMI system and is where utilities began their process of collecting revenue for water being consumed.

The goal of this testing was to determine if meters were operating within industry standard tolerances and to verify if the radio transmitters were sending the correct usage to the billing software.

AMI or advanced metering infrastructure uses smart water meters to collect and transmit detailed usage data automatically instead of relying on monthly manual readings.

This near real-time data allows utilities and customers to quickly identify leaks, unusual usage, and inefficiencies before significant water loss occurs.

The installation of a meter and or an AMI radio transmitters where the meter multiplier gets configured.

It's important to understand what a multiplier is and why it's important.

Different meter types and manufacturers may measure and display the volume of water running through it differently.

The multiplier is used to rectify this and to reflect the correct usage before it gets to billing.

Multiplier configurations are one of the quietest sources of revenue loss or billing errors in a water system.

We will discuss this in more detail later in the presentation, but both the infrastructure and data audits would have identified any errors in the multiplier settings.

Testing every single meter would have cost millions of dollars.

We developed our audit approach using the American Waterworks Association's manual of water supply practices for water audits and loss control, which outlines a process for performing water audits and gives case studies of similar sized cities.

Using the standard, we chose a statistically representative sample size that gives us a greater than 95% confidence level that sample results are a true unbiased representation of all meters and radio transmitters.

We used a computer-based random number generator to select the appropriate sample sizes for both the meters and radio transmitters to achieve the minimum 95% confidence level we were looking for.

To meet the sample size, a minimum of 450 meters needed to be removed, replaced, and sent for off-site testing.

To further explain the process, our team was on site overseeing the removal of the randomly selected meters.

We were responsible for the chain of custody of the meters, recording all necessary data and properly packaging them, where we then ship them off to the calibrated testing facility.

And then we received the meter accuracy results after that.

The town replaced each meter taken for testing with a new manufacturer certified meter that will remain in place.

For the radio transmitters to date, the town has installed about 55,000 radios.

So the sample size was slightly smaller.

We needed to test a minimum of 380 radios to achieve a greater than 95% confidence level in this sample size.

Our field staff went to each of these locations, recorded a physical meter reading, manually transmitted the data, and then recorded the transmitted data to compare the physical meter reading to ensure accurate data transmission happened.

Customers would know if their meter was physically replaced as a part of this audit by receiving a door hanger with information about the audit.

If anyone has not received a door hanger, that means their meter was not randomly selected for testing and replacement related to this audit.

Because the radio transmission testing did not disrupt water service, advanced notification was not provided.

However, information was provided to residents on site if requested.

We're confident that the sample sizes chosen are representative of the greater metering infrastructure.

And while the field work for the infrastructure audit was more visible to the public, the data audit represented the bulk of the effort and analysis.

As part of the data audit, all meter data and individual customer account records were analyzed from January 1st, 2020 through December 31st, 2025.

It's a period of six years to verify the system was correctly calculating water usage and billing.

The review also included customer inquiries submitted through the town's website, as well as the audit hotline and email to confirm concerns were appropriately reflected in this data.

The audit team reviewed how billing adjustments are handled to ensure they're structured and applied consistently across all accounts.

Meter work orders were assessed from initiation through completion to verify proper tracking and documentation.

Meter multiplier settings were specifically reviewed to verify that meters were configured correctly and recording usage as intended.

This graphic shows the overall account landscape of the town with approximately 93,500 total accounts, the vast majority of which over 92,000 were active during the audit time period.

The term active means the account was actively using water and receiving a bill at the time of the audit.

When we break active accounts down by type, residential accounts dominate the system, representing more than 86,000 accounts.

Because residential accounts represent the largest volume, they also carry the greatest exposure to billing impacts.

For that reason, much of our analysis focused on residential accounts.

Bottom line, we built our audit approach around the residential accounts, then applied this to other account types.

In addition, the operations and business practices audit focused on identifying opportunities to improve consistency, transparency, and customer confidence in the water billing process.

This included evaluating operational workflows, customer service procedures, and documentation related to billing and meter management.

We reviewed available standard operating procedures or SOPs to look for areas of improvement.

SOPs are critical to maintain consistency in procedures and documentation.

For example, we evaluated how high usage situations are identified and investigated.

This includes flagging outlier usage cases so potential leaks or other issues can be identified by the town and addressed as quickly as possible.

Now we are going to move into the key findings of our audit.

As a reminder, this presentation focuses only on the most prevalent and impactful findings, and the final report will document all findings in full detail.

As I mentioned, we are in the process of receiving a small remaining set of physical meter testing results from the calibrated testing facility.

And while those results are still being finalized, we do not anticipate them affecting the overall results or conclusions you will see here today.

So upon reviewing roughly 93,000 active customer accounts, we found that approximately 97.1% of all accounts were operating accurately and reliably over the analysis period from January 2020 through December 2025 with no discovered issues.

That means roughly 2.9% of active accounts were found to have experienced at least one issue or anomaly over this period.

Typically, audits will set benchmark tolerable misstatements, or more plainly, acceptable error in billing of 0.5% to 1.5% of annual billed revenue.

This audit was more focused on the accuracy of the water metering infrastructure, billing and business practice.

So we were looking at the percent error of total accounts, not the revenue loss.

As stated, we found 2.9% of all accounts over six-year period to have had at least one misstated or incorrect transaction.

The most common types of anomalies we found with billing were related to rounding errors, miscalculated consumptions, multiplier settings, and billing codes.

I'll briefly define these before we move into more detailed findings.

So rounding errors can be introduced because typically utilities round up or down to the nearest 1,000 gallons for billing purposes.

We found inconsistencies in the rounding criteria with the previous billing software that appear to have been remedied with the new billing software.

Miscalculated consumption is when one or some of the factors going into the water consumption calculation are incorrect.

A multiplier is used to translate what any type of meter is recording to a utility's standard billing volume.

Not all meters record usage the same way, so multipliers are necessary for all systems.

And finally, billing codes.

These are things such as your meter size and type of account like residential or commercial.

Of the 2.9% of accounts found with an error, some have already been addressed by the town.

Some are outstanding, as shown on the slide, and some resulted in no financial impact to the customer.

Most of these accounts were not experiencing the discovered issue for the full six-year duration of the audit.

The average duration of an issue we found was approximately five months.

To provide some additional context, overbilling means a customer received a bill that was higher than what it should have been, and conversely, under billing means a customer received a bill that was less than what it should have been.

And if you apply that average error duration to that of five months, that's roughly $25 and $22 per month, respectively.

The final report will include the detailed findings for all other accounts like commercial and mixed use.

First off, when we say consumption, we are referring to the water consumption charge included in your water bill.

This is where your usage is recorded and is converted to thousands of gallons, and the tiered rates are applied to give your total water consumption charge.

We analyzed over 7 million water bill consumption transactions that took place over the six-year audit period.

We concluded 99.5% of those transactions were calculated correctly.

We found that 0.5% of the over 7 million transactions were incorrect.

There were a variety of causes for incorrect transaction calculations, including canceled bills, for example, when someone moved or they got a final bill adjustment, dead meters, for instance, when a battery may have died mid-billing cycle, or even incorrect multipliers.

That could have been when the default setting from the manufacturers were different and the multiplier was set incorrectly.

What these findings show is the overwhelming majority of water consumption calculations are being done accurately and reliably.

There are anomalies that can be improved upon with key procedural improvements.

And several things can go wrong along that chain.

For residential accounts only, we found 506 instances of multiplier configuration issues, which led to an incorrect water bill.

201 accounts were configured with a higher multiplier.

296 had a lower multiplier, and nine accounts experienced both high and low multipliers during the audit period.

And how were customers impacted?

You can see some were already corrected and the accounts rectified.

So the numbers up there that say fixed, that means the multiplier was fixed and the accounts were refunded or rectified with the town.

The high multipliers for outstanding, those have been corrected, but outstanding means we haven't verified yet if those accounts have been rectified financially outside of the audit period.

Some accounts are found still outstanding, which we've calculated accounts were overbilled on average a total of 58.

There are fewer outstanding accounts with the lower multiplier, but you can see these accounts have been underbilled on average almost 1,200.

The sum shows the total revenue impacts to the town due to multiplier issues for residential accounts.

And I just want to clear up that average total per account is not per month, it was for the total amount of the audit period.

Commercial account data was also calculated, but it's included in the final report.

There were more accounts flagged for multiplier issues, but they were caught, corrected, and the consumption charges rectified prior to a bill going out.

So a customer would not have received an incorrect bill because of this.

This example proves that the town's business and operation practices are working, but there is room for improvement.

Our confidence in our multiplier analysis is driven by a multi-layered validation.

We used zone trending by account type and zoning, applied seasonal normalization, reviewed leak indicators, service orders, and Gilbert identified accounts, and we confirmed patterns where usage plateaued after units were changed.

So to translate this data speak, we analyzed numerous data sets that support our conclusion on the number of multiplier issues.

Another key finding was the accuracy of the billing codes.

Billing codes are how utilities categorize and assign charges to an account.

They can include charges, meter types and sizes, service fees, and usage rates.

Out of the 93,000 active accounts, we identified approximately 426 residential accounts billed under commercial codes.

We also found almost 700 residential accounts billed at an incorrect meter size base rate.

These issues typically stem from account setup, historical changes, or meter replacements rather than meter accuracy or radio performance.

And then moving on to the physical meter audit results.

So for the physical meter audit, our goal was to test a randomized statistically significant number of meters to provide a minimum confidence level in our data of 95%.

We collected and sent off a total of 451 meters to be tested, which achieves a statistical confidence level of 98%.

We tested for accuracy tolerances per AWWA standards, which allows for a certain percentage above and below the actual water running through the meter.

These tolerances are tight for manufacturing purposes.

The meters get flow tested with three different ranges of flow, low, intermediate, and high.

This is to simulate accuracy across multiple usage scenarios.

The acceptable manufacturing tolerances are plus or minus 3% for low flow and plus or minus 1.5% for intermediate and high flow scenarios.

Manufacturers provide a warranty that their meter meets these standards for three years.

Beyond that, we found on average meters can stay within tolerance for approximately seven years, with most older style meters moving outside the acceptable useful life after 15 to 20 years.

Again, this is what we've seen based off of our team's experience.

And just because a meter is outside of tolerance does not mean it's not operating effectively.

In fact, based on the results, we've calculated the average financial impact to affected customers.

So far, we've received results and analyzed the data for 363 of the meters.

We just received the data back on our remaining meters and are performing our analysis and quality control.

So here are our initial results that we've found with these 363 meters.

So you can see that the census and mueller meters are the two manufacturers most prevalent in the system.

The Mueller meters are the new meters the town has begun installing as part of the meter replacement program.

As you can see, 50 out of the 51 mueller meters tested were within tolerance.

Census meters are the older style meters and are already in the process of being replaced by the town.

Just over half of those census meters were within industry tolerance, with the rest testing above and below the tolerance ranges.

On average, the meters that failed the test were about 2% outside of those tolerance ranges.

The average cost to a residential customer with a meter outside of tolerance was roughly $34 total over the course of its life.

That's about $6 per year.

The worst meter we tested out of tolerance equates to about $300 total or roughly $50 per year.

This was an extremely high water user.

The results show based on the meter's performance versus its age that meters are failing due to age and use, not because of manufacturing issues.

We tested 394 radio transmitters, achieving a greater than 95% confidence level in our field sample size.

380 were residential, 12 were commercial, and two were mixed use.

Of all radios tested, over 99% were reporting information correctly with all with four meters identified as underreporting due to an incorrect multiplier.

Those issues were confirmed and corrected on the back end.

Follow-up testing should be targeted and focused based on billing data anomalies and configuration checks.

Overall, this audit confirms the system is fundamentally sound, while clearly identifying targeted improvements that will further strengthen accuracy and customer confidence moving forward.

Approximately 3% of accounts experienced an anomaly, and these impacts were limited in scope and do not reflect a system-wide problem.

Most affected accounts experienced issues for short durations and not the full audit period.

While some individuals did experience a range of financial impacts, these were generally limited.

Again, on average, over billing totaled about 125 per account over the entire audit period, which was six years, and average underbilling totaled about 110 dollars per account.

If you apply that to the average error duration of five months, that's roughly 25 dollars and 22 dollars per month.

There were a number of anomalies that resulted in no financial impact, and numerous issues have already been corrected.

Overall, consumption calculations proved to be reliable.

Identified anomalies were driven by special conditions, not flawed calculation logic.

Multiplier configuration errors were found to be a key but manageable source of billing variants moving forward.

Most high-risk multipliers have already been corrected, with remaining cases clearly identified and targeted for resolution.

Billing code accuracy can be better supported through process improvements.

These issues are linked to account setup or historical changes, not meter performance.

The meters that failed testing that failed testing average about 2% outside of tolerances.

The results show that meters are failing due to age and not use.

I'm sorry.

The results show that meters are failing due to age and use, not because of manufacturing issues, which supports a targeted replacement strategy rather than the need for broad changes.

This is in line with the town's current replacement plan.

Over 99% of tested radio transmitters reported correctly.

In summary, the percentage of anomalies identified were isolated, explainable, and confirmed through multiple audit layers.

The consistency between our data analysis, field testing, and billing review gives us a high level of confidence in these conclusions.

Of course, we are aware that public concern triggered this audit.

So today we shared our key recommendations to help improve the town's systems and hopefully bring some peace of mind to residents and businesses moving forward.

We do have a number of additional recommendations that will be outlined in the final report.

The AMI program is already in place and we believe should be prioritized as a primary monitoring tool.

AMI data can support early identification of abnormal usage, leaks, meter issues, and billing anomalies, and it would cut down on the number of billing cycled days.

It would also better allocate resources to system maintenance and customer service instead of manual meter reads.

The town has an established standard operating procedure for meter multiplier settings.

However, there is no reoccurring review cycle in place.

Implementing an automated reoccurring multiplier health check with flagged accounts will help catch configuration issues before they result in over or under billing.

Additional system flags should be implemented to identify billing code mismatches, unusually high usage, and inconsistencies between meter type, account classification, and consumption patterns.

The town should evaluate existing customer communication and resources, including information explaining rates, billing calculations, and high usage scenarios to help improve transparency and customer competence.

Finally, the meter replacement efforts should continue to be prioritized and tracked through asset management outside of the CIS and aligned with the capital improvement program.

We invite everyone to check out the audit website, KHWatermeteraudit.com for any available information associated with the audit.

The website is where the full final report will be posted at the end of this month with all of the findings and recommendations.

If your meter was replaced as a part of the audit, this information will be made available to you.

Due to personal information being involved, further coordination with the town will be needed to confirm how this information will be shared in a confidential manner.

If you believe there is still might be an issue with your meter, we recommend requesting an efficiency check with the town.

So if there is a problem with your meter or account, it can be rectified as soon as possible.

The town's contact information is provided on the screen if you'd like to reach out.

Thank you so much for taking the time to listen today.

Council, we are happy to answer any questions.

Are there any questions different than what we did in the study session?

Thank you.

I'd like to hear from the staff, Hawken.

All right, Mayor and Council, my name is Hawk New Hansen, Finance Director for the Town.

But to articulate that just like the rest of the community, the town has not yet received the full detailed report.

And so our response will be limited to the knowledge that we have at this point.

We have maintained independence of the auditor throughout this process, but what we do have is a general understanding of the areas that were examined and this summary that we just received from the audit team, which has allowed us to prepare for what those next steps will be.

And tonight we're going to share a high level of those next steps.

Throughout this process, the town's priority has been to approach this audit with transparency, responsiveness, and accountability.

At council's direction, staff committed time and resources necessary to complete a sure thorough and independent review, and we appreciate how quickly the Kimley Horn team was able to complete this work to bring clarity to our residents.

The audit results are important.

They confirm no systemic issues with our water meter system.

That matters and it should help restore confidence in the overall system that it is functioning as intended.

At the same time, we know that even isolated issues matter, especially when they may have had a financial impact on individual customers.

That's where the town's commitment to accountability comes in.

Once finalized, we will carefully review that report in detail and take the appropriate steps to address each account based on its unique findings.

Because transparency remains a top priority, today we will be sharing our preliminary approach to resolving any identified abnormalities so residents understand what to expect moving forward.

We also see this as an opportunity.

While the audit found no systemic issues or concerns, it does provide valuable insight that will help us strengthen our processes, improve protocols, and continue to deliver the reliable, high quality services our community depends on.

As a quick review, the purpose of the audit was to evaluate our metering system and practices to ensure water use is measured and billed accurately, reliably, and on time, following established industry standards.

The key takeaway, again, no systemic issues.

The system is working very well.

What Kimley Horn did uncover was that over the six-year audit period, about 2.9% or roughly 2,700 accounts out of 93,000 did show anomalies that require further review.

That also means that zero anomalies were found for over 70, 97% of our of our customers.

While not all were significant, each anomaly does represent a resident experience and that matters.

In any system servicing tens of thousands of customers, there will be small variations due to a number of factors.

That is why we have a dedicated staff of full-time customer service representatives, water conservation specialists, meter technicians, and many others who partner directly with residents to investigate and resolve any issues and discrepancies as quickly as we can.

Of those 2700 accounts identified with some abnormality, just about 1,000 accounts likely resulted in overbilling, and around 800 likely resulted in underbilling.

To restate what we saw, the auditor's presentation of all utility payments made over six years or 72 month or 72 months of the audit period, the average amount, potentially over or under billed, was between 110 and 125 total.

Again, while these findings are not systemic, they are important and we are committed to reviewing, correcting, and making things right wherever needed.

So let's talk about where we go from here.

It starts with accountability, and accountability means more than just acknowledging the findings.

It means taking ownership and following through in a way that is transparent, fair, and focused on our community.

While the audit confirmed, there are no systemic issues, even isolated impacts do matter, and each one represents a resident and an experience that needs to be reviewed and addressed.

And that's why we're approaching this head on.

We will be carefully reviewing the full audit findings and validating them to ensure we fully understand the data on an individual account level.

From there, we will assess the specific impact to each customer and take the appropriate steps to resolve it.

This potentially includes issuing credits or refunds where overbilling occurred, making adjustments where needed and thoughtfully evaluating any instances of underbilling to ensure we are being fair and consistent.

Just as important, we will communicate directly with any affected customers so they understand what happened, what it means for them, and what to expect next.

This is about more than just fixing issues, it's about gaining back the community's trust.

We are committed to being transparent throughout this process, learning from the Kimley Horn findings and continuing to enhance our systems and services that our community relies on.

While we await the full report, we have not waited to act.

We continue to act and address issues when as they arise through our normal processes as well as through questions raised by the audit team.

We have already identified areas to enhance some of our processes and procedures, and these preliminary improvements are focused on increasing consistency, accuracy, and oversight.

This includes updating standard operating procedures for meter reading, billing, data management, expanding tracking tools for better asset and usage accuracy, and clarifying roles across the utility operations.

We're also improving asset and vendor data management and strengthening quality checks, seeking to minimize potential issues as much as possible.

As our review continues, we will identify additional opportunities to evolve and improve how we operate.

So what are the next steps?

First, I think we should feel confident, and our community should feel confident that their bills reflect actual water usage and no systemic issues were found.

Where the audit identified issues, we will correct them.

We're committed to making things right and ensuring each customer is treated fairly.

And as the town is uh able to review that full report, we will confirm those results in detail and bring those back to council.

We are also strengthening our processes to help prevent issues moving forward, continuing to improve how we serve our community every day.

Gilbert remains committed to delivering high quality essential services to our residents and those that they rely on and to being responsive to anyone who has questions or need support.

As we move forward, utility operations will begin to transition back to normal, and we will share more details in a future update with clear communication ahead of any change.

Above all, this is about trust, earning it, reinforcing it, and continuing to serve the community with transparency and care.

Thank you.

Again, any questions other than you look forward to the final report and uh what uh your report at that time when you come back to us.

Thank you, Hawkins.

Next is communications from citizens.

Vice Mayor.

Thank you, Mayor.

So we value the participation of the community members and robust exchange of ideas.

However, it's essential that the discourse remains respectful and constructive, reflecting the professionalism expected in such forums.

Misinformation and personal attacks undermine our collective efforts and do not contribute to the productive dialogue necessary for the town's progress.

This is an opportunity for the public to address in town council directly about issues impacting the town.

Accordingly, the town council will not allow for moments of silence or playing of music or any recorded material, which could distract from the meeting decorum or violate copyrights.

While we understand and appreciate the passion of our community members bringing to this session, we remind everyone that clapping during the meeting is not acceptable.

This practice can disrupt the flow of discussion, potentially intimidate others, and distract from respectful atmosphere we strive to maintain.

In accordance with state law, we are unable to respond to issues that have not been properly addressed.

Therefore, the town council may only listen to citizens who wish to address them at the and at the conclusion of the open call to the public.

Responses limited to individual members of the council responding to criticism made by those who have addressed the public body.

Um, asking staff to review a matter or asking that a matter be put on a public agenda.

However, please be assured that your concerns and input are heard and valued.

And according to town code, speakers may not use this form to advocate for or against any candidate for public office.

Town resources, including the public speaking, may not be used for for campaign or election purposes.

Each speaker is limited to three minutes.

Priority will be given to Gilbert residents, business owners, and property owners.

Public comments will be limited to 30 minutes total at the beginning of the meeting.

The town clerk will notify the council once 30 minute limit has been reached.

If additional comments remain, uh they will be heard after the conclusion of the public hearing items with it with the same three-minute uh limit per speaker.

When you come up to the podium, please state your name and city of residence.

So we're going to start tonight with Laura Gazicki.

Laura, are you here?

Okay.

I will wait till the end for more of them.

Um Barbara Coleman.

Please turn the mic on, Barbara, if you would, please.

Thank you.

There we go.

My name is Barbara, and I reside in Gilbert.

First, I owe the council an apology, putting all of the blatant debacle of the handling of the fees and rates for our utilities on them.

I neglected to include Rebecca Hamill, Jessica, I don't have her last name at the moment, and the town manager at the time, Patrick Banger, all of whom had been on staff for 10 plus years.

The process was to assess the needs of two of the four enterprise funds for solvency every two years to ensure financial stability and uninterrupted service.

This approach helps prevent simultaneous rate increases across all four utilities, allowing adjustments to be phased and managed.

So even though you had a plan on paper, you neglected to follow it.

The town, and you really should quit calling us a town with 300,000 plus population and multi-level apartment structures everywhere.

And don't even go to the previous mayor and council got us into this mess.

You had a town manager for 14 years that you gave accolades to.

For what?

I've yet to figure out.

He was there and Jessica and Rebecca and many other town staff that knew the infrastructure needed to be dealt with, the sewer lines needed to be dealt with, the waste and recycled vehicles needed to be serviced and or replaced, and the environmental needed to be dealt with.

Some of it may have started under previous staff, but you cannot tell me and everyone in Gilbert that you didn't check the status of the existing infrastructure, trucks, etc.

If you want to play the card that none of you deserve, then none of you deserve to be in the positions you were in.

Your approach to the problem and selected solutions were disgraceful.

And I've been told that a lot of people don't continue with this effort.

You think that they've just accepted that they've been taken advantage of with these increases.

That is not the case.

I'm the one that's here every meeting, and you're gonna see me here every meeting.

The answer is no.

They are as deper desperate as I am.

They are coming under the heading, you can't fight city hall or town hall, whichever the case may be.

And if you, the council want to allow something, all you do is rezone them.

So now what to do with all the little people who don't have a budget that will allow them to pay double or triple the one utility bill they get from you.

What punishment is the town of Gilbert going to impart on them?

They can't pay their bill, let's turn their water off.

That would get you all kinds of publicity.

They don't have the money to move.

What choice do they have?

We are still in a drought, and yet you continue to build and rezone for all more construction going on on every vacant corner and strip, and including increasing the traffic that's going to go and it's boggling up this town something fierce, and you know it.

Thank you.

See you in two weeks.

Thank you, Barbara.

Maureen Hoppy.

My name is Maureen Hoppy, and I'm a resident of Gilbert.

As this community struggles with the financial impacts imposed by this council, I find myself questioning the fiscal ideology behind your decisions.

You've stated that you sympathize with the residents and that we will be thanking you in years to come.

However, you've gone on to demand in a public apology from those who dared to question your actions.

The community deserves better than your bully behavior and baseless excuses.

At the recent town financial retreat, Mr.

Torgeson wanted to know when the town was going to start collecting money from residents with unpaid water bills, a sentiment shared among several of you.

Mayor Anderson encouraged the staff to hurry up and raise fees for parks before the state makes it illegal to do so.

The residents can only hope that this council empathizes with those families feeling the financial pinch.

We pray that you are sympathetic to the fact that the people you represent are being forced to choose between water, gas, and food.

However, it seems that every meeting results in another push to squeeze a little more from our pocketbooks.

Quite by accident, I discovered that some of you are apparently being forced to make the same tough decisions as members of our community are regarding with bills getting paid and bills which don't get paid.

Some of you determined that spending thousands of dollars to get signatures for your reelection was more important than paying your long overdue bills.

Ms.

Buckley, you served got served last week and are currently being sued for not paying your $13,000 Capital One credit card bill.

Mr.

Torqueson, you haven't paid your property taxes in over two years, and you owe over $8,500 as of the start of this meeting, you haven't paid, which directly impacts our community amenities.

And while many people have faced financial issues, having an elected official responsible for $2.4 billion budgets and not paying their bills is absolutely ridonculous.

Did you vote yourselves a race two years ago?

You did.

Can we expect all of you to vote yourselves another race soon because y'all can't afford your water bills?

I'm sure you will.

And while it appears that some of you are having to make tough choices like the rest of us, it feels indigenous, disingenuous and hypocrit hypocritical for this council to pass judgment on the hardworking people of Gilbert who are trying to make ends meet.

The very optics of your financial vulnerability may lead to the public to speculate and question the underlying reasons why some of the actions you have voted on as council members.

So tonight, as you make all the diff difficult decisions regarding how to spend our tax dollars, all of you should be reflecting on how your votes are affecting the residents of Gilbert.

Times are tough, and good people have become before this council questioning your decisions, not for fun, but because you're hurting our community.

Gilbert was and still is a working class community, and we respectfully ask that you remember this as you make your difficult decisions tonight.

Gilbert does deserve better better.

We see you, we see what you're doing, we see behaviors unbecoming of elected officials.

Your actions speak louder than your flapjack and lips in unpaid bills.

Thank you.

Thank you, Maureen.

All right, Noah.

Wow.

Aloha Mayor and to the rest of the city council.

It's great to be back home.

Um yeah, and Gilbert.

So I have a few concerns about Gilbert.

And you know, I've talked about it before.

And so, you know, if I have my shirt off in the store, you know, it's kind of weird for people to be pedophiles and ask me to put my shirt back on.

Even police officers here.

I, you know, it's really unnecessary.

It is pedophile ish here.

Also, I would like to talk about the ICE agreement, and I you guys don't have it, but you know, I'm a Democrat, and I support ICE now.

Maybe we should bring it here.

I I don't know.

But we know who does a better job with it.

President Biden did a better job with it.

President Barack Obama did a better job with it.

So I could never be a Republican.

I I just could not see myself being a Republican.

That's a shame.

Also, I ask because you know, this has been talked about before in Gilbert, but we need to extend the light rail here in Gilbert.

It is a good thing for accessibility for people with disabilities.

Also, there's a few things that we might have not talked about on this city council in the past few months, and I'm gonna talk about it.

Happy Black History Month.

I'm so happy that we have black people here serving the town of Gilbert.

It is something that we need in Gilbert, and I encourage it more here.

And happy women's history month.

I I I think we might have talked about that, but I'm gonna talk about it too.

And um, I I'm so grateful for the woman here and and uh Gilbert.

And we need more women police officers here.

Not all about you white men up in here.

And there's gonna be Democrats here in Gilbert, and I know the Republicans don't like it, but too bad.

Too bad.

They are here to stay in Gilbert.

Mahaloan, thank you so much.

Oh, always a pleasure.

Mindy Brocker.

Do I have to turn this on?

Son.

Hi.

I'm Mindy Brocker, a resident of Gilbert.

Thank you, Mayor, Council members, and fellow residents.

I'm here today to address a deeply concerning pattern of behavior on this council, particularly from Vice Mayor Chuck Bongiovanni.

Let me make one thing abundantly clear right off the bat.

I am not here to determine whether or not Chuck has an MBA.

Frankly, I don't care.

And that is not the point.

The real point is the derogatory and harassing attitude directed at residents who dare to disagree, ask questions, or critique our elected officials.

While Vice Mayor Bongiovan has been the worst of them, there is a general attitude towards dissenting residents that is entirely inappropriate for public servants.

Chuck, your own campaign profile claims that your leadership is defined by unshakable transparency.

And in interviews, you have stated it is vital that the government is transparent and include its citizens along the way.

Yet, when citizens actually seek transparency, we're met with hostility, name-calling, and accusations of harassment.

We deserve the unshakable transparency we were promised, not intimidations from councilmen on the dais.

For instance, you've treated my scrutiny of your campaign as a personal attack.

Let me remind you, pulling your nomination signatures to verify that more than 85% of them were purchased is not political harassment.

It's my right as constituent, and it's a civic duty to anyone concerned about the integrity of our local elections.

Speaking of money in politics, Chuck, you once assured me that $50,000 will buy any local elected seat in Arizona.

Looking at your current efforts, certainly seems you're spending that kind of money.

And I would remind you, the public and remind the public watching tonight that this $50,000 figure has less sting when you consider the size of the rays that the council has recently gifted themselves.

I would like to make a direct plea to the public today.

Please do not let the income level of candidates like Chuck determine the outcome of our elections.

A seat on this council should not be something you can simply purchase because integrity matters, honesty matters, and actions do matter.

Finally, I would like to address the vice mayor's repeated demands that citizens must come to the microphone to ask him campaign questions so he can control the interaction and respond publicly on his terms.

Despite the rules that specifically ban campaigning from this microphone, Vice Mayor Bon Giovanni demanded no less than seven times on multiple social media platforms, and despite me reminding him that this is a campaign issue, that I must ask him from here, or he would not answer the question I was asking.

So I would like to formally request that the council remind Vice Mayor Bon Giovanni that campaigning from the diets is not only highly inappropriate, but it is absolutely an illegal and unethical use of town resources.

Thank you.

Well, thanks, Mindy.

Any council member like to respond to any criticism at all.

Nope.

Okay, we'll move on.

All right, so now it's time for our consent calendar.

I'm gonna turn it over to interim manager uh Don Prince.

Good evening, Mayor members of the council.

So to start our consent calendar, I want to start with our pillars that we focus on as we prepare for the future and ensure Gilbert's resilience, strong economy, prosperous community, and exceptional built environment.

Agenda item number eight is an IGA with Maricopa County.

It's under our exceptional built environment pillar, and it is an IGA with Maricopa County for a joint cooperative agreement to waive traffic control permit fees under specific conditions where the permitting entity is not directly involved in the project and the project does not reside within its jurisdiction.

By implementing this IGA, the process of obtaining a traffic coal traffic control permit for town-related projects within county boundaries is streamlined, thereby reducing the time required and potentially eliminating associated costs.

There is no financial impact to the town for this IGA.

Agenda item number eight is a proportional share for consolidated reliability improvements project.

This is under our exceptional built environment pillar, and it is a motion to approve Gilbert's proportional share for the consolidated reliability improvements project GMP 1, in accordance with the IGA between Gilbert, Mesa, and Queen Creek for the Greenville Water Reclamation Plant Improvements and Equipment Replacements as part of the CIP project WW 1290.

The City of Mesa is the lead agent for this project, and Gilbert's portion is 292,600 61.

Um there, but um 292,061 dollars, which is 35% of the total project cost of $821,792.

This item is a rate-supported item from the wastewater replacement fund and the wastewater fund.

Agenda item number 10 is a cooperative purchase agreement with Carry Environmental Services.

This is under our exceptional built environment pillar.

It's a motion to approve a cooperative purchase agreement with Carrier Environmental Services for decontamination services necessary in public safety facilities utilized by the police department.

This agreement is for an amount not to exceed $65,000 per year with a contract term of four years.

Funding for this item is supported by the general fund.

Agenda item number 11 is a service contract with border states industries incorporated.

This is under our exceptional built environment pillar.

It is a service contract with border states industries incorporated for the procurement of Tech Connect maintenance and customer support services.

This item provides the annual support services needed to maintain the programmable logic controller or PLC operating systems utilized within water and wastewater.

This agreement is not to exceed $30,000 annually for a term of five years and is rate supported from the water and wastewater budgets.

Agenda item number 12 is a cooperative purchase agreement with Calgon Carbon Corporation.

This one is under our exceptional built environment pillar and is a motion to approve the cooperative purchase agreement with Calgon Carbon Corporation for the procurement of granular activated carbon or GAC media installation and related services in an amount not to exceed $10 million.

GAC is the material used in the water treatment system to address naturally occurring elements present in raw, untreated water.

GAC is an integral part of the disinfection products used for water at the Northwater Treatment Plant.

Once finished, the new Northwater Treatment Plant will process up to 60 million gallons of water per day.

This item is funded by the WRMPC bonds and system development fees.

Agenda item number 11 is a JOC task order with CS construction, and this is under our exceptional built environment pillar.

It's a motion to approve task order number 67 for the JOC with CS construction in the amount of $841,333 for the installation of approximately 732 preemption devices at locations throughout the town to improve emergency response times and safety of motors.

Preemption devices are devices that trigger a signal light change, allowing an approachable approaching emergency vehicle that is running a code three to proceed through the intersection on green and stopping cross traffic ahead of their arrival at the intersection.

The preemption equipment for this project was supported via an award of funding by the Maricopa Association of Governments.

The agreement with CS construction for installation is supported via the roadway and maintenance fund.

Agenda item number 14 is a task order with uh TALAS Corporation.

It's under our exceptional built environment pillar.

It is a motion to approve task order number 17 with TALS Corporation for the design and construction of the Santan Vista Trail Crossing at Pecos, which will provide an enhanced path, widening signage, relocation of utilities, landscape and irrigation, restoration, installation of a safety curb wall and guardrail in an amount not to exceed $539,603.

This item is funded via the 2022 GO Transportation Bonds.

Agenda item number 15 is agreements for CIP project WA 1594, and these are under our exceptional built environment pillar as well.

And these are a motion to approve agreements that support CIP project WA 1594, which is the replacement of the existing degraded cathodic protection system on the 48-inch raw water pipeline from the CAP Canal to the Santan Vista Water Treatment Plant.

These agreements are a CMAR with Hayden Companies in an amount not to exceed $4,026,938, PMCM Phase 2 services with Consultant Engineering Incorporated in an amount not to exceed $452,524, and AE phase three services with Black and Beach Corporation and an amount not to exceed $571,887.

These items are funded by the WRMPC bonds, the water replacement fund and a WRMPC intergovernmental contribution from the City of Chandler in the amount of $452,324.

Agenda item number 16 is a motion to approve is uh agreements with our CIP project uh PR 1290.

This is under our exceptional built environment pillar, and this is a motion to approve agreements for CIP project PR 1290, which will provide needed updates and improvements to the entrance road, roundabout, sidewalks, medians, curbs, pedestrian ramp ramps, landscaping, striping, light poles, and fixtures at Cactus Yards.

These agreements include Task Order 602 for JLC contract with CS construction in the amount of $94,243, task order number 17 under JOC contract with Sunlin Asphalt in the amount of $362,374.

Both items are funded from the general place replacement fund.

Agenda item number 17 is a cooperative purchase agreement with Alontech, and this is under our exceptional built environment pillar, and it is a motion to approve a cooperative purchase agreement with Alantec for moving and relocation services that will allow the town to engage qualified professional movers to support the relocation of furniture and equipment across town facilities, an area for which the town lacks dedicated staff.

This agreement is for an amount not to not exceeding $70,000 annually for a period of up to four years and is supported by the operating budgets of the departments from which the services are received.

Agenda item number 18 is an IGA with the city of Mesa and the City of Chandler, and this is under our exceptional built environment pillar.

This is a motion to approve an IGA with the City of Mesa and the City of Chandler to share the costs of a downstream impact study, which will evaluate the impact of the SRP CAP interconnection facility, blending of salt and Verde River water into the CAP canal by assessing treatment systems, performance, and identification of any necessary upgrades to treat a blended water supply.

This item includes an IGA agreement with the City of Mesa and City of Chandler, AE services contract with waterworks engineers in the amount of 145,840 dollars, and contingency approval for the same amount from the water fund.

And agenda item number 19 is a contract with BT Touring Incorporated and Music of Spin Doctors Incorporated, and this is under our strong economy pillar.

This is a motion to approve a contract with BT Touring Incorporated for $90,000 and Music of Spin Doctors Incorporated for $30,000 for the annual Sound Bites Food Truck and Music Festival held at Gilbert Regional Park.

This event supports Gilbert's economy with tourism dollars and expands recreational opportunities for the community by bringing over 3,000 visitors to Gilbert Regional Park from across the East Valley.

While the staffing and operations of this event is are supported via the general fund, these contracts are tourism funded via the bed tax.

Agenda item number 20 is a professional services contract and contingency with Brown and Caldwell.

This is under our exceptional built environment pillar.

This is a motion to approve phase approval number three for the to the professional services contract with Brown and Caldwell and contingency funding in the amount of $150,000 to proceed with the next set of required activities that include programmable logic controller PLC and Supervisor Control and Data Acquisition System, SCADA programming, QAQC contract of verifications, and responses to requests for information and submittals in the construction of the North Water Treatment Plan.

Phase three was allocated and planned for in the FY27 budget.

However, authorization is needed ahead of July 1st, 2026 to continue without interruption.

This item is rate supported from the water fund.

Agenda item number 21 is a change order with Dell Marketing LP.

This is under our exceptional built environment pillar, and this is a motion to execute a change order with Dell Marketing LP for laptops, desktops, services, security software, data center equipment, and peripherals in an annual amount not to exceed 775,000 for the next two fiscal years.

Market volatility has created pricing instability and in and significant increases in the cost of components used to manufacture computer equipment necessitating this change order to support town operations.

This item is supported via the general fund.

Agenda item number 22 are change orders and contingency for CIP project American Heroes Way and Gilbert Road.

This is under our exceptional built environment pillar.

This is a motion to approve change orders and CIP contingency funding with the following companies to support the design and installation of a traffic signal at the intersection of American Heroes Way and Gilbert Road and connection into the signal system.

Additional work required to address east-west left turn offsets, SRP work to power the cabinet, and striping modifications was necessary has necessitated the change orders.

There's a change order to the JOC contract with Sunland Asphore and an amount not to exceed $37,726, a change order to the JOC contract with CS construction in an amount not to exceed $19,511, and a change order to the PMCM contract with double CM in an amount not to exceed $17,388.

The funding for these items comes from the roadway and maintenance fund and CIP contingency.

Agenda item number 23 is a change order with TY Lynn International Vaughn Ventilator CIP project.

This is under our exceptional built environment pillar.

This is a motion to approve change order number four with TY Lynn International for design services on the Vaughn Ventilator CIP project in an amount not to exceed $388,577.

This change order is needed to modify portions of the existing design, including the allowable parking on Neely, modifying the delineation of the path and storefronts on the north side of Vaughan, relocating the stormwater crossing under the railroad, legal descriptions to clean up right away along Vaughan, discharge treatment facility requested by SRP to discharge into the Western Canal, lighting for the new temporary parking lots on the north side of Vaughan, and designed for the replacement of the ACP water line along Nealie.

Funding for this item is supported through the general fund and the 2022 GO Transportation Bonds.

Agenda item number 24.

This is a change order and contingency for Green Light Traffic Engineering LLC.

This is under our exceptional built environment pillar.

And this is a motion to approve change order number one and CIP contingency with Greenlight Traffic Engineering LLC for completion of 100% design for traffic signal at Higley Road and Morrison Ranch Parkway.

Changes to the project scope necessitated a request for a resubmittable of the 95% design and additional exhibits to support construction.

The changes to the contract are not to exceed $17,396 and are supported via the roadway and maintenance fund.

Agenda item number 25 is a change order with Justice Systems LLC, and it is a motion to approve the change order for with Justice Systems LLC and an amount of up to 2020 250,000 annually through fiscal year 2030 to support the Gilbert Municipal Court's full court case management system software.

This agreement is supported via the Court Automation Fund, Fill the Gap Fund, Court Enhancement Fund, and Judicial Collection Enforcement Fund.

Agenda item number 26 is a change order with Duber Landscaping.

This is under our exceptional built environment pillar.

This is a motion to approve a change order with Dupper Landscaping for Parkway Improvement District, PKID landscaping and maintenance of common areas.

This change order is necessitated by the unplanned contract termination with another landscape company who is also providing PKID landscaping and maintenance services.

Expansion of the DUPAR landscaping agreement will enable the town to continue to meet its PKID responsibilities without service disruption to residents.

This change order expands the number of PKID assignments with DUPR and as services are paid through the property owners' annual maintenance contracts, does not create a financial impact to the town.

Agenda item number 27 is a contingency for courts legal services, and this is under our Prosperous Community Pillar.

This is a motion to approve general fund contingency in the amount of $211,780 to support the court's legal services.

An increase in DUI and misdemeanor caseload as well as global price increases has resulted in increased costs for services vital to access justice.

These include public defender appointments, language assistant interpreters, and other professional services.

The increase in these legally required expenditures has necessitated a contingency request for FY26.

This item is supported via the general fund.

Agenda item number 28 is a development reimbursement and lien agreement contingency.

This is a motion to approve contingency from the streets fund in the amount of 186,628 dollars in accordance with the terms of a development reimbursement and lien agreement established with Morrison Ranch Luxury Apartments II LLC in 2024.

This agreement supported improvements to Warner Road, which adjoins the town's well site and is adjacent to the developers project.

The town confirmed that the work has was completed and accurate in February of 26 and has been invoiced.

However, the funds for this item were not carried over in the FY26 budget.

This item will be supported from the HERF Streets Fund contingency.

Agenda item number 29 is uh 2022 Homeland Security Grant Reallocation.

This is under our exceptional built environment pillar, and this is a motion to authorize the application for an acceptance of a 2022 homeland security grant reallocation contract in an amount not to exceed $13,500 for chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive CBRNE response team enhancement and hazardous material technician training.

The 2022 state homeland security grant application time frame was altered due to ongoing litigation.

Therefore, this is only a partial award for training using allocated FY22 FEMA funds.

Agenda item number 30 is an amendment to governor's office of highway safety grant.

This is under our exceptional built environment pillar, and this is a motion to authorize the acceptance of an amendment to the governor's office of highway safety FY26 grant funding in an additional amount of up to 15,000 to support overtime expenses for police traffic enforcement education DUI enforcement and expenses related to program equipment.

Agenda item number 31 is a community development block grant annual action report acceptance.

This is under our prosperous community pillar, and this is a motion to approve the community development block grants or CDBG program year F uh program year 2026-2027 annual action plan and submission to the U.S.

Department of Housing and Urban Development.

This annual action plan is a requirement for all local governments receiving CDBG funds and identifies the town's priorities for CDBG funding, including the Gilbert Emergency Home Repair Program, improvements to the Heritage Center, and public services such as program administration.

Agenda item number 32 is an invitation for bids for 18 acres of surplus property.

And this is under our strong uh strong economy pillar.

This is a motion to authorize staff to advertise an invitation for bids for APN 304-26-888 to identify the highest bidder for the land sale of 18.9 net acres of identified surplus proper property in the area of ray road and greenfield.

Bids below appraised value will not be considered, and proceeds from the sale will help us to fund critical capital improvement projects identified as part of the town's infrastructure program.

And with that, I'd be happy to we'd be happy to take any questions you may have.

You can breathe now, Don.

Um I know Councilmember Um Torgison wants to talk about number 19.

And Councilmember one second here.

But anyone else want to do any other ones, talk about any other ones.

Yes.

Um Michael Elliott's gonna come up on number 19.

Okay.

And let me look at number 23.

23 is just I'll I'll take care of 23.

Okay, perfect.

Sorry.

Evening, Mayor and Council.

Oh, thank you so much.

Excited to be able to stand, actually, literally stand in front of you.

I remember the last time I was a broken man, but I'm fit as a fiddle now.

Uh but I'm here to talk about the Soundbites Music Festival.

Uh we're going into our third year of the festival taking place in Gilbert Regional Park.

Uh it's an opportunity for us to have national acts that we draw to the town.

It's a big tourism draw for us.

Uh, but it originated as a wildly important goal that was set by town leadership in its efforts to drive economic impact to the town.

Uh we've sold over 40 or 4100,000 tickets or 4100 tickets, excuse me, since the first year, which was 2024.

We've had about 6700 visitors to the park during those times.

Uh, we've used our um uh data tracking in order to track uh visitors to the park during those times, and we've actually um had a 65% increase in visits year over year.

But the vision of the festival is to grow it into a two-day weekend event with multiple stages and performers.

Uh if you look at some of the more popular festivals that are throughout the country, they they are typically two or three days with multiple stages with multiple activation opportunities, and we're looking to do that at a scale that's commensurate with the regional park.

We want to enhance that experience with drink and food tastings in order to highlight those festival elements and they continue building sound bites as a signature regional destination event uh with the goal of strengthening that tourism for Gilbert.

Uh there's pretty much a high-level overview, but I did want to open it up to any questions that you may have Councilman Parkinson.

I realize that this is what the third year of the program and things need to build.

I'm I'm not here to uh pick at your budget, and I know realize where it comes from.

But I I want to stress this.

This is something that I have an incredible amount of knowledge in and many, many, many years of experience in.

And I would I implore you to partner this with an outside promotions company or promoter.

Because the things that the venue lacks and the time it takes to get up to speed to uh effectively negotiate these things to provide proper services to get and to build that reputation that you've given yourself less than 10 years to in order to become a coacheller or a country thunder or anything, uh Carnel by the sea.

Uh those things you don't learn it and operate it well once a year from somebody on staff.

It's something this is something that is detailed and you have to be immersed in to make it as successful as you want it.

And if we want this to be a three-day event or a two-day event every year, and to bring people in, it will take a lot longer to do it this way and cost a lot more rather than bringing somebody in that we can partner with uh or possibly rent the venue.

Uh but that we can bring it up to the level that would that would make it worth being this event.

So I'm just taking this moment not to to criticize the the the ROI on it or anything of that nature, is to employ your to we can do it better, and this is something the private sector does much better.

And I would do it except I sit up here, not down there.

I'm telling you the gentleman I introduced you to or any one of several people, uh would be an exceptional asset for this town, and it seems as though they're willing to discuss it.

And let's let's make this what it should be, not a once a year throwing ourselves in the mix.

There is nobody on the staff that can do that job.

I'm just saying it.

So let's really give some serious consideration.

Next year this time, I want to be seeing something else.

Because if we're gonna grow this, it has to grow more at more than 4100 tickets.

It really does.

Uh mayor and council member Torqueson, uh, we're on the same page like a paragraph.

Uh the the first couple of years, uh, we started with the infancy, it was very local, Jen Blossoms, Roger Klein and the Peacemakers.

This is our first foray into national acts, uh, blues traveler, um, spin doctors.

You and I joked about hearing two princes on repeat for three hours.

Uh but as we continue to develop it, uh, I think we'd be remiss if we didn't look into those resources to see who could help us do this more efficiently, who could help us attract more talent as we work on our end on the special event side to uh maybe build around it with the activations.

And so I definitely want to take you up on your offer, and uh we really want to embrace the soundbites philosophy and kind of get uh make this uh that premier um festival for the Gilbert area.

So we appreciate any uh any help that you have for us.

Well, I've I've I've put you in touch with at least one of the right people.

I just wanted to make sure that this communication was clear and on the record, not just you and I talking.

Of course.

All right, thank you very much.

Thank you, Michael.

Jim, do you want to um do a separate vote on that one?

You want to just include it?

Okay.

So um we're set, Mike.

Thank you.

So with that, I want to uh have a motion to approve all items associated with number eight to twenty.

I'm sorry, hang on one second.

I'm sorry.

Um council member.

Go ahead.

Sorry.

For item number 23.

I need to recuse myself.

Um, the engineering company that I own, Y2K Engineering is the lighting subconsultant on the Vaughn Ventilator project.

We were on this project prior to me getting on council, but I need to recuse myself for that vote.

Okay, so we'll vote on for all of them first, then we'll vote on that one.

Okay.

So motion to approve all items associated with item number eight to twenty-two.

Twenty-four to thirty three.

Can I get a second?

Second.

Second by councilmember Torgeson, please vote.

Motion passes seven zero.

Okay, so uh item 23 motion to approve item 23.

Can I get a second on that?

Second.

Second by councilmember Torgison, please vote.

Item passes six zero with one non-voting.

Thank you.

Mayor, I'm turning the meeting over to you for public hearing.

Thank you.

I know that the uh last three 43, 44, and 45 will have to consider separately, but does anyone want to consider 34 through 42?

Any of those items separately.

If not, I'll open the public hearing on items 34 through 42.

I'll close the public hearing and ask for a motion to approve items 34 through 42.

So moved.

It's been moved and seconded.

Please vote.

Motion carries 70.

Thank you.

We'll move on to item 43.

General Plan GP 2503, zoning Z2503, Harvest Grove, conduct hearing.

And I will open the public hearing on this item and ask for staff presentation.

Mayor Anderson, members of the uh town council, um, good evening.

So the project before you uh here we are coming back for Harvest Grove for the general plan amendment and the rezone.

So the re so the site, before I get in jump into the request, uh the site is located as you already are very well aware of at Germain and Higley, 312 acres, 11 acres approximately, and you can see it there on the screen in front of you, it's south of the regional south of the uh Gilbert Mercy Medical Center in that in that whole area there in that vacant farm field that you can see out there today.

So the request before you tonight is for a minor general plan amendment on uh 145 acres of the 311 acres and a PAD rezone on the whole project on the 311 acres, which includes some deviations, which which I will briefly touch on here in just a few minutes.

So presentation overview, we'll talk about the general plan and the rezone request, some open space, traffic and circulation.

We'll have our our town engineer come up and spend a brief moment on that.

Phasing uh PAD deviations and public participation.

So the first is the general plan and rezone.

So the first request by the applicant is to change the existing general plan designation, which is our guiding document for land use, which will allow the applicant to change the underlying land use that exists today on the land.

As you can see on the map in front of you, on the 145-acre portion of the site that is going to be changed.

Um it will be changing from two two to three and a half dwelling units per acre to four different general planned uh land use categories.

And you can see on the screen on the far right, there's 35 acres of regional commercial, about 37 acres of residential three to five, three and a half to five dwelling units per acre, about 50 acres of residential five to eight, and about twenty acres of um eight to fourteen dwelling units per acre.

So on this slide, you can see how the more dense land uses, which is the eight eight to fourteen, start at the very top in the north end, and as you go further to the south in the development, it gets less and less dense.

You can see there's a blue line on the screen on that graphic on the right.

That blue line indicates the Santan character area boundary.

Everything north of that boundary is not inside the San Canteric character area, it's outside of that.

Everything south of that blue boundary, which you will see on other exhibits, is in the Santan character area.

So moving on to the zoning exhibit.

Uh today there's about 60, about 235 acres of SF35 zoning.

You can see on the the uh aerial on the left, and there's about 68 acres of SF 15 zoning.

So the proposed zoning, kind of similar to the general plan, is you have regional commercial up in that top left-hand corner.

You have um it's about 20 acres of SFA, about 89 acres of SFD, single family detached.

You have about 1204 acres of single family six, which is six thousand square foot lots, and about 41 acres of SF8, which is about 8,000 square foot lots.

And you can kind of see on that map on the right where everything is is distributed throughout the site.

So the next thing I wanted to show you is the development plan comparison.

So staff and the applicant have continued working together to address concerns and to refine the proposal after its initial presentation on November 18th of 2025.

The project was bat wrought back before you on January 20th, 2026, where it was denied.

On February 3rd, 2026, a council member in the in the in the majority moved for reconsideration, and at and the council unanimously agreed to hear it tonight on this April 7th hearing.

The applicant was directed to revise the proposal, and since then has made key updates to improve compatibility, livability, safety, and overall response, and design overall design and response to council and staff's feedback.

So I just wanted to go over with you some of those, what some of those changes are.

The plan on the left was the plan that you saw on January the 20th.

The plan on the right is the revised plan.

So a few things that have changed, and I'm sure the applicant will go over some of these things as well.

Is the total residential unit count went from 1,676 units to where it stands today at 1,106.

So a significant decrease in the number of units.

That is now below the target density in the Santan character area, which is three and a half dwelling units per acre.

That is listed in our general plan.

Removal, they had the applicant has removed all multifamily from this development and have replaced it with single family homes, single family attached homes is what they've replaced it with, and single family detached homes.

And you can see on the map on the right, all a majority of those homes are located in the northern northern part of the development, outside of the Santan character area, and there is one spot on the bottom left-hand corner north of that future commercial parcel.

All homes immediately bordering the Gilbert Youth Soccer Association soccer park along the eastern boundary have been changed to larger lots and will be conditioned as one-story homes.

So that addresses a huge concern from the soccer park.

So here's the development plan a little bit larger so you can see it better.

This slide shows the colored version of it, illustrating the whole design of the master plan.

All single family homes.

Along along the street frontages.

One off Jermaine Road, four off Alvista, and one off of Queen Creek Road.

So as I stated before, um the this will alleviate a lot of congestion along Rome Street.

Providing a range of housing options in this development.

And as you move further south, they turn into SF6 and SF8 lots, and there's some SFD down in there, and there's also a small pocket in the bottom left-hand corner of SFA.

And as I stated in the previous slide, the density for the overall project is now 3.5 dwelling units per acre, which matches the target, which is target density in our general plan.

As noted on the previous slide, those density ranges are changes, are pretty significant.

An overall reduction of approximately 450 units within the Santan character area has been changed, has been taken place.

That's taken place by the applicant and has been changed to align better with that target density.

So we wanted to represent how significant of a change that is, and that we've worked very hard with the applicant on that.

So as far as the Santan character area compliance is concerned.

So this was a concern raised at our previous hearing, and whether or not whether or not this proposal has complied with that.

Since that time, the applicant has worked closely with staff to revise the plan in a lot of meaningful ways.

I already stated one earlier.

They have reduced the density in the Santan character area down to 3.15 dwelling units per acre.

They've removed those row homes along Rome Street.

They've improved land use transitions adjacent to commercial.

The entry landscaping has citrus, we'll have citrus trees and layered plantings, arranged like crop rows.

There's an agrarian, there will be agrarian style fencing materials, slump block, stone, board form concrete, agricultural themed elements throughout the development within parks and amenity areas.

And the overall design is more consistent with nearby Santan character area communities, such as Waterston, Leighton Lakes, and Belrose.

A lot of these Santan character area design elements will be reviewed and approved as part of the preliminary plat approval if you decide to approve this project tonight.

Open space for the development, about 64.35 acres of total open space, about 27 and a half percent for common open space.

There's a four-acre park in the middle of the development in that dark green color.

Total pocket park acreage is about 8.75 acres, and the whole trail corridor system that runs through the neighborhood on the right side and some on the left side as well, will be about 6.63 acres of trails.

The top portion is 50% of it's phase one, including the commercial piece.

And phase two is there in the middle, and then phase three at the bottom.

And they'll opening, they're expecting to hoping to open phase one and around 2027, and then estimated full build out by 2032.

So that is all I have right now for planning.

I would like to transition to uh Susanna Struble, who's our town engineer who is here to discuss some of the traffic impacts and circulation impacts uh that this project has in the surrounding area.

Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

Um, tonight we're going to talk a little bit about how these changes have affected the traffic within this area.

So at this point in time, what we do know that when we had 27,000 vehicles in an initial submittal here, we're now down to about 21,580 trips that will be generated out of this.

This is very similar to what the Santan character area residential density trips would require.

So we are very much in alignment with that.

About 55% of those trips are due to the commercial areas that are on the corners.

So some of that is also being generated based off of commercial.

Um, the oversaturated intersections, similar to the 2040 mag model that we have talked about in the past, that we were expecting that.

The change in densities and the change in the environment here is basically now matching close to that oversaturation rate, is what was expected growing into this.

So moving from the 2030-32 time frame, we're now back closer to the 2040 that we were expecting and hoping you know to move forward.

So these changes have have allowed us to do that.

Um, and at this point in time, we have done uh initial review of the traffic impact study based upon that, with very, very minor changes that have have occurred or that we we've come back with for them to make changes on and do expect that to come forward very easily.

So, from a traffic mitigation perspective, what you're gonna see here, I tried to put this in a graphic that that is um available for you.

The yellow in here is that half street improvement they're going to do for Coronado.

Um they are going to be putting some improvements on southbound dual left turn storage at Germain and Valvista.

We will see two uh dual left turn lanes down at Queen Creek and Valvista.

Um, and then there will be several right turn enhancements that are going to go along Valvista, Germain, and Queen Creek.

They are installing three new signals for us, one of them on Valvista, one of them on Germain, and then one up by Mercy Road and Rome Street to again help with some of the congestion there at the corner of Germain and Valvista.

And then we'll have some improvements also being happening to upgrade the traffic signals down at Queen Creek Road at Key Biscayne and Coronado Road.

Mostly those are just to extend the mast arms and make some changes to the signal heads themselves.

And then as a part of preliminary plat stipulations, we are still looking into if there's need further need on the traffic calming on Rome on Rome Road or others.

The curvature of Rome Road is helping with that.

The media's in there are helping with some traffic calming, but we reserve the right to continue to work through that during preliminary plat.

And then on parcels two and three, we're looking to develop a primary vehicular circular route as we go through preliminary plat.

So expected engineering technical variances that we'll be seeing as we move through that preliminary plat.

Again, we have the local street intersection spacing.

We're down to one at this point in time that we we're in agreement with standard local street and alley spacing.

So the distance between where those intersections are with local streets and the alleys.

They've been reduced down to about 14, and again, we're in agreement with that distance and where those locations are being proposed.

The horizontal curvature on Rome Street and Partridge Drive, they are meeting Astro standards, but not the town standards.

Again, we're in agreement with how that's being proposed at this point in time.

Again, still working through the Roosevelt Water Conservation District as they proceed to the design of undergrounding that canal that's in there, making sure that the prior rights are still reserved for RWCD.

We get it outside of our roadway and we we work through that as we get into final plat.

And then there may be some other miscellaneous design considerations that will occur as we move through here again, minor stuff, things that we would normally do in the preliminary and final plat process.

So that is basically our review of this.

We think we've made a whole lot of progress as far as it goes with the traffic circulation, and very satisfied with the way that this is this is coming through.

I'm gonna turn it back to Keith.

Thank you, Susanna.

Thank you, Susanna.

We appreciate that.

So I'll just um go over some of the deviations that the applicant is proposing real quick here.

Um I'm not gonna read every single one of these, but but this is for the regional commercial.

They're reducing some of the side and rear setbacks, and then um some and rear rear landscape setback down to 10 feet, um, which is which is adjacent to to some of the alley loaded products or the actually sorry, the street frontage on um Rome Street.

Um the SFA zoning district, uh they're asking for a lot size of 1600, but they are exceeding the blue is exceeding standards, they're exceeding some uh lot width and depth standards, which there aren't any in the code, so they are providing those, and then they're actually going uh uh 30 feet tall for for some of these homes where they could go up to uh three stories at 36 feet in height, so they're proposing 30 feet, and then and then a lot coverage deviation as well by 10 per up to 10 percent higher.

Single family detached, a little bit smaller uh alley loaded lot size than what the code requires, and then the blue, they're going above and beyond town standards for for those uh standards, and again, they could have gone up to a 36-foot tall three-story um house height, but they're they're um capping that at 30 feet, two stories, and then a small setback deviation for SF6 um lot size deviations and also some some setback deviations as well for these ones, and again, they are exceeding lot size for quite a few of the lots.

Three of those lot sizes are exceeding the standard minimum lot size.

Um, and the last zoning district that has deviations is SF8, and they're just uh a small setback deviation there on the side, but they are exceeding the lot size standards for for both of the lot sizes that they offer, or they're saying they're gonna go up to that standard for these SF8 lots.

Um, as far as public participation is concerned.

Um the applicant held a neighborhood meeting in February of last year.

They had six surrounding residents or property owners attend.

Um staff has received um 31 emails expressing support for the project.

We've also received 69 emails, five phone calls from surrounding residents expressing opposition.

We've also held three meetings with some interested parties in the immediate area.

Town staff also received a letter from the Gilmore developer expressing concern that the proposed regional commercial multifamily parcels don't reflect the area's established vision, and they just they urge a more distinct distinctive mixed-use product.

Planning recommendation, the planning commission voted on this project.

We presented it to them in September of 2025, and they voted to uh recommend approval to you with a 4-2 vote.

Um staff, town staff is moving moves to recommend that you approve Harvest Grove, the general plan amendment.

And also we recommend for the reasons listed in the report that you approve the uh proposed rezone request.

Um that concludes my present portion of the presentation, my presentation.

Um if you have any questions, I am available for those questions.

And the applicant is also here and has a presentation that they would like to share with you as well.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Keith.

Questions for Keith?

Councilmember Buckley.

Yeah, I I just have a quick question.

Uh on the I don't know if you can go back to one of the slides.

On the units in the south southern portion.

Are those alley loaded?

Because they seem to be smaller.

Or maybe I there's a lot of numbers and things going on, but I just kind of wanted to know what um what size lots those are.

Um Mayor Anderson, Councilmember Buckley.

Um, you're probably referring to the lots that are the yellow color on the far left-hand side, correct?

Uh well, on my screen, it is their pink.

The pink one is off Queen Creek.

Councilmember Buckley, those are zoned single family detached.

And the lot size for those.

Here, I'm gonna move back a few slides.

Um they're not these aren't these ones are not out, those ones are not alley loaded, those are more standard single family lots.

They are about 38 3800 square feet.

They're they're and they're front loaded.

So they slightly exceed the minimum lot size, but they are um they're not alley-loaded product.

The alley loaded product, if I may go back to the exhibit, are the ones that are the yellow to the left, not the ones to the north, but the yellow ones along Valvista, right in front of the above that commercial, those are alley loaded, and then you have alley loaded products south, just south of the commercial, uh, at the at the far northwest corner.

You see that yellow color, that's called parcel two, and then a few more alley loaded products above the blue line on the right side below the townhomes.

I yeah, I see those.

I see those.

Okay.

So those are the alley loaded, but the ones to the far south are not alley loaded product.

Okay, what size are the ones in yellow that are north of the ones you said are about 3,800 square feet.

Um, Mayor Anderson, uh, Councilmember Buckley, those are zoned, um, those are zone SF six.

So if I go back to the table.

Okay, those would be about six thousand.

Yeah, about six thousand square feet.

Yeah.

Six to up to actually up to eighty-four hundred, some of them could be.

Okay.

So those are bigger.

Okay.

All right.

I just wanted to double check and see what what it is.

So thank you.

No problem.

Councilmember Lyons.

Uh Keith, you said earlier, and I just want to correct a record that the council voted unanimously to reconsider this.

It was a split vote.

Was not unanimous.

So just want that for the record.

Thank you for that.

Thank you.

Other questions.

If not, I'll invite the applicant out.

Thank you, Keith.

Yep, thank you.

Um, good evening, uh, mayor, members of the council.

Um Brennan Ray, 2325 East Calmback here on behalf of the applicant.

We are beyond appreciative for the opportunity which we have to stand before you this evening to talk about Harvest Grove.

Uh, we are grateful for the town's leadership guidance uh and input um that we've received that has allowed us um to come here today.

We acknowledge that that leadership has allowed you to continue to receive input from the community, input that at some times has been critical and opposed, and also an opportunity for input that is supportive and positive.

And so we want to again acknowledge I acknowledge the position that you all are in tonight as we talk about this decision and are grateful for your willingness to allow us to come back here tonight.

But this additional time is not meaningless.

It has allowed Lenar to look at this proposed development with fresh eyes, to look at every single detail of it and strongly consider the community's feedback that we've heard as we've as we've gone along this way.

We are also very extremely grateful for town staff, including the town manager's office, engineering traffic, economic development, and the development services and planning teams.

I think it was pretty evident by the presentation that Keith made that we have word collaborative, collaboratively, to come to this point tonight to be able to present this to you.

And we know it's not possible to quantify the amount of time that staff has spent working with us on it, but wanted to publicly acknowledge that they have gone above and beyond what I've experienced in the past in other rezoning cases.

But the goal from the very beginning is to create a master plan community that is consistent with the goals and policies of the general plan and the Santan Character Area Plan.

And we can say, as staff has said, that we that this plan, this revised plan before you hits the mark.

It achieves the goals of the general plan.

It meets or exceeds the requirements of the Santan character area plan.

We certainly are appreciative of the thoroughness of staff's review, staff report presentation, and their recommendation for approval, and we would recommend your approval.

Tonight we're all certainly very familiar with Lenar and the communities they built in Gilbert.

Harvest Grove will be no exception to that list that they've built.

You're very familiar with the site and the surrounding area.

And so what I want to do tonight is run through a couple of things of what Harvest Grove is and will mean to the town, and then address some misperceptions that I believe are still out in the community relative to what this zoning case is.

Again, big bold letters at the top.

There is no multifamily zoning that is proposed with this development.

This is a combination of four zoning districts, five, excuse me.

Regional commercial, single family attached, single family detached, SF6 and SF eight.

There is no multifamily zoning.

What currently there is also not on the property is there is no commercial zoning.

There is no commercial designation in the general plan.

And so we are bringing 45 acres, which includes the 35 that Keith mentioned at the corner of Valvista and Germain, and 10 additional acres under separate application at the northeast corner of Valvista in Queen Creek.

That commercial does not exist.

I know there is a belief that the property is zoned for commercial.

It is not.

We know that from a Facebook post on March 4th, which was after the reconsideration, there were comments about multifamily, and residents on that kind of Facebook chain pointed out that there wasn't going to be any multifamily.

Yet I know there continues to be concerns about multifamily zoning, and I'm gonna be a broken record that there is none that is proposed for this site.

I'm gonna go into a little more detail and graphically show a lot of the changes that Keith walked to walked through.

Obviously, the plan on the left, that's the one that was presented to you in January.

Keith already talked about it.

Now I know there's a question out there about what has changed in the marketplace that allows Lenar to make these changes to go from 1,600 units down to 1,100 units.

That's a substantial change.

And what's happened is in the underwriting process, there are assumptions that are made on home prices, on build time, construction cost, among other things.

And what Lenar has seen over the last few months as we've gone back and revisited this plan is that build time has decreased.

Construction costs have decreased.

And all of this, among some other things, allow the interest carrying costs to go down, which allows them to be able to stand before you and make this request.

So now let's get into the details.

The commercial is still there as we talked about.

I'm not gonna go into detail.

These are images that you've seen before, but I wanted to show them because I think it's important to understand the character and quality of this commercial development that is ready to go yesterday.

You can see the use of materials that are reflective of Gilbert's agrarian heritage.

You can see the designs, the forms that are all consistent with the Santan character area.

You can see on this, which as Keith mentioned, is a fries grocer.

Um this is that Fry's grocer, so that when we look at from the commercial standpoint, it's good.

Now, I'm gonna get into a little more details and walk it through so that people visually can see the changes.

The first changes was in parcel three.

Previously, we were requesting that be zoned multifamily medium.

We've now changed that to single family attached town homes.

The next change that we talk about are the alley loads in parcels two and three.

Previous to that, parcel two was multifamily high, four-story apartments.

Um parcel four back then was town homes, and so now parcel four today is a combination of the alley loaded product that we talked on, and there are some 45 foot wide lots that are in there as well.

But again, both of these zoning districts will be single family detached.

Again, Keith mentioned this, but I wanted to highlight it.

Before on the left, you can see that there were 45 foot wide lots.

There was quite a number of them.

Those were all two-story homes.

We've now increased the lot size and limited them to one story to where those are 65 foot wide lots.

Again, that shows on the plan.

I'm telling it to you today, but they're also this will be part of the approval should you do it.

In the South, this is one that you guys have seen a few times.

When we started, this was initially multifamily low, and at the last hearing, it went to single family attached without any details of it.

Now we have details for you tonight, and for those that are watching and those in here tonight, that this is single family detached.

So as we look at all of this, again, no mention of multifamily zoning.

This is planned to be a platted community.

The townhomes are platted for individual ownership.

The alleys are individual platted.

All of this is individual platted, as you would expect in a single family community.

So, why this product?

Why why would I spend the time talking about this?

There have been considerable amount of discussions about the missing middle housing in Arizona Nation.

And you can see over on the left, just a list of articles from a variety of different publications.

We know that the housing report that economic development is working on talks about the need to provide homes that meet this missing middle.

These changes do that with these homes.

The townhomes, there's 188, there's alley loads that are 21, and that represents over a third of the total number of homes on here that we believe are missing middle.

Where the average square footage is from these the alleys and towns is going to be 1,300 up to over a little two thousand up to a little bit over 2,000 square feet.

Home prices for these, again, every legal disclaimer that I can make whenever I talk about home prices, but are going to be in the four and five hundred thousands, which that's a lot, but that's where it is considering the median household price in Gilbert is approaching 650,000.

And that was as of March of 2006.

As so we we think we're we're trying to meet the missing middle, trying to meet that.

And in today's marketplace, that's what this is considered.

I know there have been lots of discussions about water usage and what this development is going to how this development will strain the town's system and water.

We're all very concerned about it.

And I appreciate this snippet that's in the staff report.

Not everybody reads staff's report in detail as we do and as you all do, but this staff report, at least their analysis says that it's a this development is a 0.026 increase in Gilbert's total projected build-out demand.

So again, just to emphasize the site's zoning today, and in spite of the graphical error, there is no neighborhood commercial at Valvista and Queen Creek.

You can see it today, and you can see clearly on the one that is today, there is no multifamily zoning.

It's commercial and four different single family districts.

So why talk about housing?

Why talk about now?

Why talk about it on this site?

As we've worked with economic development to understand kind of the employment challenges and employment and what they can expect in the area.

This is provided by them, and you can see that in the two zip codes that are closest to this site, uh 297 and 295, you can see that they're anticipating a six and eight percent increase in jobs over the next five years.

Those jobs obviously want people to live and work and shop in Gilbert, and this helps to provide that.

And what's driving that growth?

The central employment area.

And you can see on there some of the key characteristics in terms of daytime workers, you know, 9 million square feet of office industrial flex and retail, and you can see that.

You can see there the major economic drivers that are driving it, and you can see the proximity of Harvest Grove to that site.

Um this is something that we've talked about before.

I know that housing is an economic development issue, and that's why economic development is looking at it.

But a question that was asked of us, because previously we had said the economic impact that this would bring to this region, and I said 65 million within a five mile radius.

I was challenged on that to look a little bit deeper and see what the true impact would be on the town of Gilbert.

Recognize that I've got Chandler to the west and Queen Creek to the east.

And so we are very grateful that economic development, Dan and Jen, would work with us to truly understand what this impact is for the town of Gilbert.

And what you will see that today, there are approximately 25,000 households that an average annual budget expense, excluding what they pay for homes, of a hundred and fifty-eight thousand.

Project that out in five years, that's a hundred and seventy-seven thousand.

So when you look at Harvest Grove, and if it were open today with a hundred, excuse me, one thousand and forty-eight households, um, you can see that economic impact of a hundred and sixty-six million that will be spent within a three-mile radius of the site.

Project that out and grow that to five years, those households will spend upwards of a hundred and eighty-five million within the town of Gilbert.

That does not include the larger five-mile radius.

This is one of the very few times I will publicly say I was wrong, and I'm glad that I was.

And you can see there, Phoenix collected 32 million, Tucson 11, Mesa 10 million.

Gilbert's population, at least as we pulled it, was about 289,000.

I think by some accounts it could be close to the 300,000 mark.

Um, but I know that this is additional monies that come in, which some people will see as good and some can see as bad.

Nevertheless, there is a mechanism by which you can get that.

So why would I share all this economic data?

Because I think it's important to understand.

We shared similarly this economic data to the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce and had them ask a variety of questions as we as we went through it.

This email which you received and the statement on the website is the chamber's full and unequivocal support for the Harvest Grove development, and we're very appreciative of their support and recognizing the need as they are on the pulse of the business community, how this housing will benefit those businesses and the future businesses to come.

Now there's a few kind of miscellaneous things that I want to kind of just touch on really quickly that were brought up in the last hearing.

One came from the mayor who talked about the need for making sure we have equestrian trails and connectivity.

We've talked about the trail along Valvista Road that is pursuant to the master plan.

And we wanted to publicly say that we are going to have a similar trail along the Queen Creek to be able to allow people to head east.

This is not Harvest Grove.

This is an existing trail condition that exists at the northeast corner of Greenfield and Queen Creek.

We are replicating it.

We are it's going to be identical with what we're proposing here.

It's going to be the same along our site to allow that connectivity to occur as we look at it.

I know there was questions about the architectural intent of the Santan character area and what we were doing from a design standpoint.

So we've further refined that.

You can see on there that the main amenity building and structures in there are kind of more equivalent to indoor roping arenas and indoor arenas that you will see.

And so that design change has been made again to better comply with it.

I think it's important to note that there's been a lot of discussions about what this site is and what the general plan would allow it for today.

Again, the general plan on the left is what exists today.

And if you were build it to the 3.5 dwelling units per acre, you will see that that could be built up to 1,088.

With our development, you can see on the right that we are proposing 1,106, plus we're bringing 45 acres of commercial that was not planned to be there.

When we look at that from a traffic standpoint, and I am very appreciative of Susanna referencing the MAG model.

I know there was a concern with the other plan that we were going to accelerate some of those necessary improvements and cause additional strain on the system, but that with these changes it takes it back to the town's original projections.

But it's interesting to note a comparison between if the general plan designation was built at three and a half to the acre, how that traffic compares to our development, again, just the 1,100 units.

Where you will see there that the biggest driver of traffic is going to be the addition of the 45 acres of commercial.

And so we can we can talk about that, but I think it's important to know as we look at it.

As we further look, again, I know Keith mentioned this, but in terms of density when we look at the surrounding area, because there have been comments that this doesn't fit the character of the area.

And with those changes, bringing it not to the 3.42 that's shown on there, that's an error.

It's 3.55 overall and 3.1 in the Santan character area.

You can see how it relates and is more compatible with the surrounding area as we look at it.

I want to talk about neighborhood outreach and what we've tried to do to get the message out.

Two weeks ago, our team went out and left approximately 675 flyers on the homes to the east and the west.

Those flyers, which you can see here, were intended to get the information that we just presented to you into the residents' hands.

These flyers also sent people to a website where they could see the information in more detail.

As of this afternoon, we had approximately 275 views on our website.

And I can't stand here with 100% certainty, but I'm not entirely certain that any of the recent emails the council have received have come from the areas that we flyered.

I could be wrong on that.

I'll be the first to admit it, but at least at initial glance, we don't believe the concerns came from the flyered areas.

Well, in addition to the flyers and website, uh, we did create a petition on change.org to support the Harvest Grove development.

At least as of this afternoon, at last check, there was about 109 signatures in support of that on that platform.

Kind of one of the last things that I want to touch on is that we know that there's been a lot of comments about Perry High School and the impact on Perry High School.

And so we went down and sat down with the people that run Perry High School.

We sat down with Chandler Unified School District, visited with them through the plans out on the table that we've shown to you tonight that we've been discussing for a while.

And what is before you and what was sent to you is in a letter in support signed by Superintendent Frank Narducci supporting Harvest Grove, supporting the need for that they had the need and space for additional students within not only Perry High School immediately south, but Weinberg Elementary a little bit further to the south.

So I'm gonna end where we started.

Harvest Grove, we believe, is a complete neighborhood.

There is no multifamily.

We're bringing commercial.

There's a significant and substantial positive financial impact on the town, both now and in the future.

We have almost the same number of homes as the current residential general plan designation will allow.

There are much needed improvements that will benefit the region.

Improvements that would need to be funded a different way if Lenar didn't proceed forward with this plan.

Obviously, one of the things is the much needed construction of Coronado Road, which, as I mentioned and as staff indicated, is needed as a regional reliever.

And we talked about as well the amount that of money that the residents of Harvest Grove will spend within Gilbert if it was there today, 1656 million and 185 in the future.

We are again beyond appreciative for the opportunity to be here tonight to talk about it.

We're again grateful for the town's leadership guidance and input on it.

We know that it's additional time has allowed for more neighborhood neighborhood input, both opposed and supportive.

But again, I reiterate that that input has been valuable as it has given Lenar the time to look at this with fresh eyes and come up with a plan that takes the concerns that have been expressed head on and make this a high-quality multifamily community.

Um we're grateful for staff and all that they have done.

And we would request your approval in accordance with their recommendation.

Mayor Council, I'm happy to answer answer any additional questions that you might have.

But as I said, I wanted to be a little thorough because of some of the misinformation that continues to be out there relative to what this request is.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any questions?

Thank you.

Thank you.

As they come up.

We'd like to uh invite the public now to make their comments as you come up to the podium.

You we you have three minutes, and we'll go in the order in which I have these uh requests to speak cards.

First is Amara Franklin.

Okay.

Um good evening and thank you for your time.

My name is Amara Frankel.

Um I'm the president of the adjacent Stratford community.

Um I'm here in a personal capacity, but my neighbors are also here.

There's a lot of my neighbors, and I know a lot of the local Gilbert residents are extremely upset and frustrated with this application.

I don't think Lenar goes far enough.

Um you know.

I also wanted to re-emphasize that um we should have gotten notification with the original public hearing.

We've never gotten notification at the Stratford.

There's 222 houses, nor have we received any of the flyers that the attorney just mentioned.

Um the town council denied this application as it didn't conform to the Santane character area.

There's traffic issues, a number of housing units and several other good reasons.

It's sad that some members of the town council allowed Lenore to come back for another opportunity to change their site plan without a new application, or the care and concern of the citizens of Gilbert.

Your original vote was a correct one to deny to deny this application.

Um Lenar also brings up the fact about um they're bringing in town homes.

The Stratford is right next to where the town homes are, and that's three-quarter acre zoning.

I don't know in anybody's mind why the adjacent Stratford would pay over a million dollars for a house to have houses that that are worth $300,000.

Single family.

Why would the town council allow commercial to come in when it's not zoned for commercial on two areas?

One, we don't even know what it's going to be, and in the other corner, we know that there's going to be a super fries.

When I purchased my home, I looked at the adjacent area and the zoning regulations, and germain, the area that abuts Stratford on Germain.

It's zoned for again single family three quarters of the acre.

Um I didn't hear that in Mr.

Newman's address.

It's not zoned for commercial, and again, it's not zoned for townhomes.

I'm sure the town council would agree that having townhomes built as close to that zone will be detrimental in so many ways.

Also take into consideration the adjacent Sand Tank character.

I'm I'm concerned and worried that this latest site plan by Lenar's early done deal after meeting with one of the town planners.

He so much as told me so, recommended it tonight.

How much how can a town planner speak for a town council?

Isn't that why we have public hearings so we can hear from the public?

I was also shocked to learn that Lenar has not provided any architectural plans.

If on the unfortunate chance that this application is approved, the town of Gilbert has no say in the architecture as and if it will fit in Gilbert's character.

The only thing I've seen is the commercial.

I've reached out to several town council members to discuss this latest plan.

I've spoken directly with two members.

Two others, including the mayor, have never returned my call.

One town council member is concerned that the state may come in and override zoning.

I don't think that's ever been done in Gilbert, and shame on the council members for worrying if that may happen.

If Lenar doesn't get what they want, they can take the town of Gilbert to court.

This town council should work, shouldn't work in fear of holding our regulations.

Adding a thousand units will also increase crime.

Who will pay for the added police force needed?

This is not a gated community community, but one that flows freely from the proposed fries throughout the neighborhood.

Gilbert is currently has excess amount of multifamily units.

I know there's none planned, but there's an excess amount of units.

In closing, the impact fees that this developer would provide the town of Gilbert would be used on the property to update and tie into existing infrastructure.

They're the ones that are impacting it.

No money would be put into the town treasury.

This financial burden should be borne solely by the developer.

Why bother having planning and zoning regulations or plan of development if Gilbert chooses to side with the developer or override or ignore their own regulations?

The town council should be more aligned with citizens of Gilbert who'd vote voted for them versus the town versus that of a developer.

This development will detrimentally affect property values, tremendously increased traffic patterns, and what is now heavily traveled road and already bumper to bumper traffic and adding traffic light on Rome will only affect traffic pattern even further.

This will substantially change the character of the neighborhood, which is paramount to planning and zoning in the future of Gilbert.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Jim Lapuma.

Hello, everybody.

My name is Jim Lapuma, and I am from Gilbert.

We live next to the proposed site in the Stratford community.

Haven't been to one of these meetings before.

So before we came here, my wife said to me, be nice.

And based on what I heard earlier, the beatdown that we heard from several people, this guy behind me and other people.

I think I'm going to come off like Mr.

Rogers.

So I'm going to I'm going to be blunt, but I'm not going to be brutal on all anybody here.

My wife and I are from Chicago, and back in 2021, we decided to purchase a home in Arizona.

We looked at 20 new construction homes throughout Metro Phoenix.

We saw Gilbert, we were immediately drawn to its character and its uniqueness.

As I share, we bought in Stratford, bordering the proposed development site, thinking that we would be surrounded by similar neighborhoods with similar home values.

We're not naive in thinking that this prime lot would remain a cornfield.

We knew something was going to be built there.

We just thought that the area would complement or be additive to our neighborhood in line with the types of homes we see going in on Greenfield and Germain on the other side of our community.

I have a lot of issues with how this has gone down, but I like to center on two specific areas.

The builder and this council's process.

First, the builder.

When I heard it was Lenar building the development, I decided to do a bit of research, and here's what I found on Chat GPT.

You can do it yourself.

Lenar's ratings on respected sites like Yelp, 1.8 stars, consumer affairs, 1.2 stars, and the BBB, Better Business Bureau, 1.24 stars, reflects significant dissatisfaction regarding construction quality, post-closing service, and delays.

Common complaints include poor construction quality, rushed timelines, unresponsive customer service, and the major issue with warranties.

Recent reports indicate significant legal action, such as a 2026 lawsuit regarding hundreds of defective homes.

I actually don't blame Lenar for the proposal they have put forth, jamming 10 pounds of stuff in a five-pound bag.

Their goal is to make money.

Personally, I don't respect them because they build lower end housing with little care for their communities where they build, but I don't blame them for wanting to build on the site because it's really prime spot.

I hold this council responsible for allowing these conversations to continue.

You voted against us at the last meeting, and then you open the door again on the very next day, and it's Mr.

Torgeson who opened this thing up.

How does this make any sense?

It feels like there's something going on behind the scenes, and that concerns me.

Where I come from, no means no.

You vote no and you allow one revision.

This council keeps allowing them back in the door while bending over backwards trying to accommodate their every request.

I could see you working hard to make things work for a highly respected and reputable builder, but to do so for a builder with a poor reputation with hundreds of pending lawsuits, I just don't get it.

The plan is laid out will severely harm the character of Gilbert, not to mention cause incredible congestion on the corner of Germain and Valvista, be an absolute traffic nightmare.

I ask for this council to show that you truly care about Gilbert by standing your ground and maintaining the high standards that people have come to expect from the town of Gilbert.

Last point on this new piece we just saw, nobody ever put it in our neighborhood.

We had 222 homes, or nobody put anything, so I don't know what he's talking about.

This lawyer here.

And having townhouses looking down on million dollar homes, backyards.

I don't live on that end, but boy, do I feel for those people that are there?

You don't have two-story townhouses staring down on million dollar homes.

It just doesn't make sense.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Victoria Roselli.

A bunch of good evening, Mayor and Town Council.

My name is Victoria, and I live in the Stratford community, a relatively new development adjacent to Harvest Grove.

I'm here to support others in my community who have serious concerns regarding the density, safety, and dissimilar zoning and ambience of our adjacent family-oriented residential community.

My respectful request is that you ask that you limit the density and vastness of the proposal for Harvest Grove in keeping within its original zoning plan.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Victor Roselli.

No Victor.

Amanda Crandall Hi, my name's Amanda, and I'm a resident of Gilbert.

I disagree with some of the things that have been said so far.

Um I actually think this is a really good idea.

Um I live in Gilbert with my husband and with my one-year-old son, and we have a fourth or uh sorry, fourth but forever family, but a second baby on the way.

Um, and we I feel like represent the um type of families that would be living in a lot of these um single-family homes that would be put in by Lenar Homes.

Um we haven't lived in Gilbert for long.

We've been here for about a year.

Um, and we came here upon recommendation from a family member, not knowing much about it, but since living here, we love it.

And we would like to make Gilbert our uh permanent residence.

However, um, as we're expanding our family and trying to look into becoming first-time home buyers, we're really struggling to find areas in Gilbert that um are suitable for our current circumstances due to density problems and also due to um high housing costs.

And I feel like a lot of the homes that are being proposed by Lenar would create more options for my own family and other families that are like us.

Um, and as families like myself are moving into Gilbert, that's helping not only my my personal biased circumstance, but also it's helping the future of Gilbert as we bring more young families into Gilbert.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Erica Morley.

Erica Morley.

Quinn.

Carsten.

Hello, my name is Karsten Collins.

Sorry, my handwriting's not that great.

I'm a resident of Gilbert and I'm an Arizona native, specifically Awatuki, but we uh made Gilbert home a few years ago, and it was really hard.

Um I'm also a second generation uh real estate professional, and so when we were looking to move to Gilbert, it was really difficult for us to find a home.

Um we were lucky enough to get it on an acre community, and it took a lot of grit to make it work for us.

It was at 715,000, so not quite the pricing for most first-time homebuyers today.

And it took us about 100,000 to actually renovate the home.

And so what I'm finding in today's market is it's very hard hard for first-time homebuyers to find a product like this.

I really think Lenar is doing a good job of talking with the community, at least in embracing what we want in Gilbert, the kind of architecture and the style.

And so uh I believe that this would be a good impact on the community.

Um I understand some of the other residents' frustrations and concerns, like I do have two-story homes behind me on my acre lot.

It hasn't impacted my value.

Um I know a lot of other homes in my neighborhood are still commanding the same prices, and sometimes those residents even move into our neighborhood.

Um so again, like I understand the public's opinion uh of this development and just real estate professionals in general, but we do have uh an impact in the community, and the American dream is kind of slipping away.

I'm having a lot of friends in my age group who aren't able to buy homes or they have to go rent a home.

And so I think Lenar does a good job.

I know they might not have the best reviews, same with other builders, but I've worked with them many times before, and my clients have been very happy with them.

They not only um have stood by their product for my clients specifically, but they offer really good interest rates and incentives to get buyers into their homes, and uh, I haven't had a dissatisfied client that's worked with Lenar, and I've worked with them many times.

Um if they really do, I thought a lot of the rendings looked great, but if they really do uphold a lot of the architecture and those things that I think will look good here in the Gilbert community, it's just a matter of time.

I mean, Gilbert's continuing to grow.

We all know Phoenix has been growing uh year over year, one of the fastest in the country, and so I think it's just a matter of time before something else might go in there.

I think this would be uh a very positive uh community uh in that area.

So I I am for the project and I appreciate your time.

Thank you.

Thank you, Autumn Sobel.

Hello, Mayor and Council members.

My name is Autum Soble, and I am resident of Gilbert, and I am also in support of the Harvest Grove project.

I know there is a lot of opposition out there.

Um, but I think the builder has done a great job of addressing some of the concerns that were raised and trying to make it um more what the public is looking for, um, specifically removing the request from multifamily zoning.

Um it's a beautiful master plan community.

Uh we have friends that live in Leighton Lakes and it's beautiful and has a great community feel.

I think Harvest Grove would complement all of the wonderful, more commercially focused projects that Gilbert has in that area.

The retail retainers at the Gilmore, Mercy Gilbert Hospital, Phoenix Children's, the two high schools, the sports fields, and the freeway, all within a half mile of that area.

Um, just like some of the the people just stated, a variety of housing types are very needed right now in a growing and thriving town.

Um, and this off offers options from townhomes all the way up to basement homes for the community.

Um I work in Gilbert Public Schools and uh high school specifically, so I do understand the the concern about the traffic and coming in and out of the high school.

Um, but having something is going to go there and having housing is much preferred to some other types of development.

Um please know that there are supporters out there uh who want this project to move forward, and we hope that you support this project as well.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Jack Bennett.

No, Jack.

Tanner Palmero.

Hi here, Council members.

Um, my name is Tanner Palmeroy.

Um, and I am a resident of Gilbert.

Speaking in support of Harvest Grove project.

Um my wife and I we were both raised in Gilbert, um, and we both went to Highland High School.

And we both went to Highland High School.

Our parents live here.

Our families live here.

And our this community has always been our home.

We want to start and raise our own family here as well.

We've been saving for our first home for the past two years, living with my in-laws.

And as much as I love my in-laws, my wife and I would want our home, want to own a home and our own space.

After seeing the presentation earlier of the changes.

I mean, I would I wasn't necessarily a fan of the apartments earlier in the prior plans.

Just because I want that single family home, I want that home to build equity in.

And I appreciate that there's no apartments in this plan.

And it's focused on a specific need in Gilbert, and that's affordable housing.

Um giving couples like my wife and I the opportunity to own a home.

Growing up here, I've watched more and more families choose Gilbert as a place to raise their kids.

Now for my family, it's more than just that.

Gilbert is a place where grandparents, cousins, nieces, and nephews can all grow up together in the same community.

Um before coming here tonight, I was at my niece's birthday party at Joe's Farm Grill.

Um and my wife and I love being uh near our family.

Um but the problem is is now couples like my wife and I are unable to stay close to family and raise our own family here in Gilbert.

Um we just want a house where we can you know start having kids in a place where our children can grow up close to their grandparents and cousins.

Um let's see, young families are what drives the economy of this town.

My wife and I invest in this community every single day.

My wife shops here.

Um I sometimes shop here.

Um we dine here and we poured money back in the local economy.

Just last weekend, my wife and I spent our evening um in downtown Gilbert.

Um we love trying new restaurants and dessert shops.

Gilbert, um, young families bring that kind of energy and revenue that supports local businesses and creates funding for our town.

Um, all of our friends have been forced to rent, move in with family, or move out of Gilbert entirely.

If young families cannot afford to stay, we risk losing the thing that makes this town so special.

Uh Harvest Grove gives families like mine a chance to stay and grow in the town that that my wife and I grew up in.

I asked the council to approve the current proposal of this project.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ron McCook.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

Uh, my name's Ron McCook.

I'm a Gilbert resident, and um I live near Valvista in Germain, and I'm here to express my support for the Harvest Grove project.

I know some of you have taken heat for reconsidering this project, and uh I just want to say directly to you that I believe that the reconsideration was the right call.

And the I've looked at the plan, the revised plan, and it is different from what was originally proposed.

And the most important change that I believe was that uh the multifamily zoning is gone.

That single change is what uh moved me from kind of questioning the project to being a supporter, and as someone who lives close to the site, I am looking forward to having quality retail and dining and options nearby.

And um that's good for our neighborhood.

I do I believe it's good for Gilbert, and that it adds uh critical revenue to our town.

Um the council, I believe, listened to the community's concerns, and I believe that now we have a better project being presented here because of it.

And so I guess I would ask please vote yes on the Harvest Grove uh project.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Eric I'm sorry, Eric, I can't read your last name.

Our camp, our Eric.

I appreciate you hearing the comments on this.

You have all the technical analysis, but I drive out onto Germain Road every day to work.

And during rush hour, it's intense down at those intersections.

It's multiple changes of the light to get up to the freeway.

And you're going to add 21,000 more traffic transactions there.

It's too tent, it's too dense.

You need to stick with the original plan and go back to a lower density housing that's going to work for the area.

It works with the lower density, will work with the adjacent projects, the adjacent housing.

People have spent a fortune on their houses here.

Not to have townhouses built next to it.

They're going to lower values.

That's also going to be an area of urban decay in the future.

It's going to tax the resources of the city or the town as you go forward.

It's just economics, it's what happens.

So I'm asking to vote no on this project.

They heard it once, you voted the right way.

It's not the right project.

People say they'd like the houses at this price.

I have children that would love to move into Gilbert and they can't afford it.

But that doesn't mean you build that kind of housing in this location.

You need to build houses there or do a project that's lower density the way it was originally set up.

Thank you.

Thank you.

David Rigby.

But I appreciate each of you, mayor, council members, for all that you do.

I'm grateful for the opportunity I've had over the past year to meet with some of the town planners, Keith, Newman, and to correspond with several council members regarding this project.

I was even had uh time to meet with the attorney for Lenar, Brennan Ray, and I'm grateful for that insightful time.

I'm grateful to everybody that's here voicing their opinions, whether they're for or against.

I'm grateful for this process.

This is an effort on my part and those I know to take part in a process to be more than just someone who says I don't like everything that's going on, but to try and be here to share our voice.

Hopefully uh we can convey that in a way that's courteous and respectful.

Um but there are different viewpoints for certain on this.

For me, I feel this is an improved plan, but is it the right plan?

Um that's what remains is a question.

In many areas of Gilbert, higher density is gone in because that was the right of zoning attached to that property.

Council has stated in the past that there's little they can do when zoning allows it.

This area is zoned as SF-15 and SF30 with an additional protection of the Santan area designation.

An agricultural low density character that was designed early on in the planning of this town and renewed recently in 2020 with a voter-approved general plan.

Trails, small-scale agriculture, and land you can put a horse on.

Just look at the map of this project and tell me does this look like an agricultural feel?

It's dense, it's urban.

I walked through the Haas crossing development, which is very similar, made by Lenar, and it feels urban, it feels congested, it doesn't feel agricultural, it doesn't feel like it's trails and open.

That's that's what the planners of this town laid out this area to be.

And yes, it buffers a very congested area.

The medical center on Val Vista is being built up with hotels, and that's why it's even more important to protect a less dense area, something that's reminiscent of what most of us move to Gilbert for.

Character matters.

Zoning matters.

It's why we're here.

It's what people love about Gilbert.

Lots that are 1,650 to 10,800 square feet are very different in nature than 15,000 and 30,000 square foot lots.

For the general plan, it's designed as an area that celebrates Gilbert's Sonoran and rural agricultural routes with a combination of rural and suburban neighborhoods that enjoy the natural environment, including wildlife and small-scale agricultural activities.

This description doesn't fit with what we see here.

The three main things I want to end with are that this plan doesn't represent that agricultural feel.

It's more than just design elements that were laid out.

It is a zoning and character area that this simply does not meet.

This is a zoning case switching from 1,650 to 10,800 from SF 15 and SF 30 is a massive departure.

Finally, system development fees for this project.

Finally, system development fees for this project, if not the latest fees recommended by LRB public finance advisor advisors, means that citizens will be subsidizing this project.

If what LRB came up with is the true cost when we develop and build houses in Gilbert, if we are paying old prices or if they are paying old prices, then again, citizens are funding a project that is higher density than what the citizens actually want.

I invite the council to comment on whether or not you feel comfortable with this project, which has been resurrected and brought back in a way that protects our ability to pay those grandfathered fees if they're comfortable with the citizens of Gilbert, paying the fees for a project that they don't want.

In final conclusion, there are over 3,684 apartments in the vicinity of this project.

Anyone who wants to live in Gilbert can live in one of those.

It's probably going to be cheaper than a $600,000 small lot house that most people that are young and developing families or in school are probably not going to be able to afford and won't be done until 2030, 2032, anyways.

So to say that they need this project so that their family can move in is disingenuous and categorically false.

This is a project that doesn't fit, even if we've moved it from a D or an F to a C minus, this is not good for Gilbert.

Thank you, Andrew Burgesson.

Good evening, Mayor and Council members.

My name is Andrew Burgessen.

I'm a resident of Gilbert and live in uh a neighborhood adjacent to where this proposed project is.

I'm a father of five and work in uh the emergency room close around there as well.

It's my family and neighbors that are gonna feel the effects of this neighborhood the most.

Uh the other day, after finishing an overnight shift, I dropped my kids off at school and went for a bike ride down the Santan character area.

As I was riding along the canal, I met lots of my neighbors that were riding along that I didn't know.

They smiled and waved.

It was nice and cool down by the water there.

I was able to see coyotes.

I came up to a um a horse stable where there was people unloading horses, children playing in the dirt there, and I had this overwhelming sense of how great our community and city is.

That's why I chose to move to Arizona with my family and Gilbert specifically, and make our forever house here.

The open space, the quiet, the sense of community.

It's the kind of place where families put down roots, and is exactly why I chose to live here.

I want to acknowledge that growth is coming, but the question isn't whether we are going to grow, but how we choose to grow.

From my perspective in the emergency department, I see what happened when growth outpaces infrastructure and services.

Increased demand, longer wait times, more strain on a system that directly impacts public and specifically public safety.

These are real quant consequences that happen.

As a parent, I think about what we're leaving behind for our kids.

Gilbert didn't become this amazing area to raise a family by accident.

It came because of the planning, the plan that we put down, the zoning that we have.

Specifically, Councilmember Torgeson, that you are going to hold these developers and builders, these Scottsdale attorneys, to the highest of standards.

High density projects like this should not move forward unless they truly meet that standard, not just in design, but how they impact traffic, schools, water emergency services, and the character of the surrounding community.

Because once these decisions are made and changed, they cannot be undone.

This project will forever change the feel of our community.

This high density development does not reflect the values and the expectations of our community.

Don't give in to large corporate developers and Scottsdale's attorneys who care about profits and not about our communities.

Town council meeting after town council meeting after town council meeting until it barely passes the minimum standard.

We don't want C grade projects.

We want A projects.

Thank you.

Mike Larson.

I'm uh Mike Larson, also Gilbert resident, and I I want to just start by saying that thank you for everybody here.

Most people here are here because they uh care.

They care deeply about Gilbert and our and our roots.

And uh and I'm I'm one of those as well.

And I I love the town of Gilbert.

You know, I I think about Gilbert and the um the, you know, why why is uh Gilbert the way that it is?

You know, why why does it command such a premium to live in Gilbert?

I don't think it's because of the uh the beachfront property or it's not because of uh we're close to the the ski slopes, uh but to me it's because it's it's a place that's safe, it's a place where you can uh set your roots deep and you can raise a family.

And and to me, that's a high standard.

It is it is an extremely high standard uh to be fortunate enough to be uh a Gilbert resident.

And I um I I hear both uh both sides of the argument, and uh my feeling is that we know what Gilbert is about, and so my my question is is is does this project and this is uh it's of 311 acres, there's not that many projects of this scale left in Gilbert.

And so my my question is with such a large-scale project.

Does this move us closer to what we love about Gilbert or or further?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Noah Markham.

Aloha Mayor and to the rest of the city council.

I've been waiting to come up here.

Um A plus plus plus up here.

Um go, Camp Alberti Coyotes.

That's my school.

I love that high school.

Um yeah, yeah, yeah.

So this is great.

I, you know, I graduated in 2016 from Camp Alberti High School.

And you know, I always would go down that way too, and I'd be like, what's gonna go over there?

You know, just been playing with nothing there, you know, and we would love something to be there.

And now here we are.

Here comes Gilbert.

We we can even invite the Mormons to come, even though I don't agree with them.

Yeah.

This is great for Gilbert.

This is a good thing for Gilbert.

Um, and yeah, so let's get this rolling.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Deborah Smith.

Good evening, council and mayor.

My name is Deborah Smith.

I'm actually a resident of Chandler.

I am in the one corner of Leighton Lakes that is not Gilbert.

I'm about one mile from the project site.

Um, I'm here to suggest that we might not have explored all of the options for what this land could become.

This parcel, 300 acres at the end of the Santan character area, is one of the last sites of its kind in South Gilbert.

What gets built here will shape Gilbert for generations.

This community is clear of what they do and don't want in that area.

And frankly, we need something that brings in outside tax dollars, not more rooftops.

I'd like to offer a perspective of what it could be, an opportunity for a different type of project, one that includes destination-oriented uses like sports, entertainment, or community-centered elements combined with walkable development and meaningful open space that honors the area's agricultural agricultural heritage.

Critically, I want to be clear.

What I'm describing does not ask the town to fund it.

Private capital can lead this effort.

Gilbert's role is to partner in something that generates long-term sales tax, hotel tax, and economic value, well beyond what a residential development produces that increases property values in the surrounding area rather than decrease.

All I'm asking for tonight is an openness to a brief exploration of a private sector alternative.

Community opposition is clear, and we must exhaust all other avenues before committing to a path that we cannot undo.

A no vote would be ideal, but I would at a minimum ask you to table this to explore other uses that benefit the community for years to come.

Thank you.

Thank you.

James Leswir.

Hello, my name is James Leswir, and I'm here in support of Harvest Grove.

Although I've never owned a Lenar home, I wanted to speak about Lenar in a different level.

I'm the board president of Leighton Lakes Community Association, which is a master plan community.

Um with two thousand one hundred forty-one homes that's in town of Gilbert and the city of Chandler.

It was developed by Lenar.

Um was two hundred and twenty-two apartment style townhomes built by a different builder in two thousand twenty-two.

When the rezoning signs went up on the land for this project, there were Gilbert residents who were attending the meetings just like this one that were upset about the high density.

Also, if I'm understanding the presentation correctly, this uh developmental unit is zoned for I think it's a difference of eighteen homes from what it is currently zoned for to what they're cutting back their numbers to.

So it doesn't seem like a a big jump.

Um back to what I originally planned on saying.

Um I've seen on social media some of the negative comments about Lenar as a company, so I wanted to come tonight and express some of my genuine dealings with them.

My experience began with Lenar about nine years ago when they turned the HOA over to the homeowners of Leighton Lakes.

Lenar had the power to see the majority board, but instead they gave the majority board to the homeowners, with four of the members being homeowners and three being Lenar employees.

During this time I got to meet some very intelligent and well thought out representatives of Lenar.

Every interact every interaction with them represented with their representatives showed the desire to help maintain as well as make Leighton Lakes even better.

Most importantly, over the last nine years, whenever we've had a question that Lenar would know or would be able to get the answer to, they would work on it immediately and help us out to this day, roughly 18 years after they built their first home in Leighton Lakes.

With that said, I know that Harvest Grove would be a welcome addition to the area simply because Lenar and its people are planning the community.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I have one last card, which is Michelle Rice, who's does not wish to speak but has indicated she is for the project.

That concludes the public comment cards before I ask the applicant to come back up if you'd like to respond to any of the points.

We're gonna take about a five or six minute break.

Uh oh, about ten minutes.

You need okay.

About ten minute break.

We'll come back then at uh ten twenty.

Thank you, sir.

Okay, if everyone could have a seat, we'll get started again.

Brennan?

If I could get my presentation back up.

Perfect, thank you.

Mayors, uh mayors, mayor, members of council, um appreciate the opportunity.

I I I know we've been here a long time, and there's only a few things that I want to touch on just to make sure that it's abundantly clear.

Um first and foremost, I am not a Scottsdale attorney.

Um I've been very I I take that as a compliment that someone we consider me a Scottsdale attorney, but nevertheless, I'm a lowly Gilbert attorney, having purchased a home within the past month in the town of Gilbert.

Uh and so um again, appreciate the compliment, but I'm a I'm now a Gilbert attorney.

Uh I do have an office address in Phoenix, um, but nevertheless, I am that.

There's a few things that I wanted to clarify.

One was a a a discussion about impact fees and development costs, and I just want it to be clear to the the public, as you can kind of see on this as well, those impact fees uh do not go uh as the as you are all were aware, the the the impact fees don't go to us.

They go into the town's um system development fees that are used uh as the town sees fit on programs that are identified in the IIP um plan that is part of your capital improvement plan.

Um we will be paying for all of the improvements, all of the roadway improvements, all of the connections to the sewer, any sewer line extensions.

We are paying for a force main that will benefit uh the system as well.

All of that is is kind of encapsulated a little bit in the resident in the regional sewer improvements, traffic improvements, and coronado road half street improvements that you see there.

There's also um unquantified costs for purposes of this presentation that the developer will pay um for uh off-site improvements that are adjacent to us, as staff indicated, D cell lanes, traffic signals, all of that.

Those do not come from the thirty-eight million in impact fees.

We we we we pay that as we go along.

So I really wanted to clear that up.

The other thing that I wanted to clear up is I think there's maybe a little bit of misunderstanding relative to timing of improvements.

It's not as if the residents come first and then the improvements come second.

Um as you see in your staff report, there are a number of stipulations that are very specific as to when those off-site improvements must take place, when the dedications must take place.

So the public gets the benefit of the infrastructure improvements that we're making around the site before the residents actually living on the site.

That's just the nature and timing of development as you are all aware.

I know we've spent a lot of time talking about density, and I want to touch on on one thing.

With respect to Stratford, as you can see on this, we did not flyer all of Stratford, we flyed the western portion.

And as I I'm not sure where the people who spoke lived there, but I've added on my person that was out walking those streets to tell me they did flyer those again, the western the western portion adjacent to us.

When we talk about density, though, again, you can see Stratford, which is separated from us by a collector road.

They are also have a well site that's adjacent to us.

That collector road is 80 feet wide.

There's considerable amount of separation.

But when we talk about density, again, we're not even hitting the mark in the Santan character anymore.

The mark was three and a half.

We are now at 3.1, which is below the Santan character area mark for density.

And so we're well below that.

And again, overall is 3.5, which you can see is is consistent with the surrounding area.

One of the things that I want to state kind of clear up relative to probably this exhibit.

We talk about the general plan and we talk about the number of dwelling units.

We talk about the proposed, the number of dwelling units.

That while the site may be zoned SF 17, SF-15 and SF 35, that law that was passed by the state, it's part of your town's code, would allow someone to come in and develop one-acre lots on the call it 300 acres of the site.

Those one-acre lots could have up to four dwelling units.

When we do the math on this, it's actually about 3.71, meaning that by right, under that state law, someone could come and build upwards of 1,200 units on this site.

You would not be able to see it.

That's just the reality of the law, and you're well aware of what that is.

We are not proposing that.

I do not represent the landowner.

I represent Lenar.

And that's why tonight what we're talking about in density in terms of that is we think a better plan than what could be afforded someone should they choose pursuant to state law.

That results in all of the things that we've talked about in terms of the improvements in terms of the infrastructure, the benefits that will come to the town, all of the people living in this area.

And so there's probably some more things that I could touch on, but at the end of the day, um we are grateful again for the opportunity that you afforded us to come back.

We know that there have been very direct comments tonight pointed at one councilman in particular, and we certainly respect the leadership of this collective group to allow us to stand here tonight and to take as much time as we have to talk and address head-on the concerns that we've heard.

The first and primary one being no multifamily zoning.

We have no multifamily zoning.

If anyone wanted to come in and develop multi-family uh multi-family development with multi-family zoning, they would need to start the process all over again and come before you.

We are not proposing that.

That's why there's the regional commercial and the single family attached, detached, six and eight developments with seven different product lines.

Gilbert is a wonderful place.

That's why I chose to move my family to Gilbert.

We want this to be a place where families of all different shapes, sizes, and varieties can live, and we believe this accomplishes that.

And so we would request your approval.

Happy to answer any additional questions that you all might have.

Any additional questions?

Council.

Thank you.

Thank you.

At this point, I'll uh close the public hearing and bring it back to the council for discussion andor action.

I'd like to council member Torres.

What started this process for me was simple, and it was fairness and transparency.

Because the number one complaint of the neighborhood was apartments.

It wasn't townhomes, it wasn't the commercial, it was apartments.

I brought back Harvest Grove for consideration because the applicant agreed to remove all of that.

I believe that commitment deserved to be evaluated in good faith.

If someone comes back to the table and makes a meaningful change, we owe it to them and to our residents to take another look.

That's not backroom.

That's not Chicago style politics.

That is as clear and transparent and under sunlight as I could have possibly made it.

I felt it was important to consider.

To be clear, changes were made.

Apartments were removed from the sand hand character, and north of that, they were replaced with townhomes.

That is not insignificant.

But somewhere along the way, the message didn't land.

Dozens of neighbors have reached out, and it's clear that for many, these changes are still not enough.

It wasn't apartments, it's something else.

They weren't contacted or they simply don't want to understand that there is a change to this.

And I'm gonna be candid.

The process has been rough.

And trying to create a space for transparent open conversation about what fits Gilbert and what respects the people closest to this project.

I've been accused of just about everything.

Corruption, being in a developer's pockets, skimming funds, things are just flat out wrong and personal.

It's disappointing.

It's extremely disappointing, but that's not what's going to drive my decision.

My vote is not based on pressure noise or social media narratives.

It's based on what I believe is right for the long-term health of our community.

It will be not be based on internet mob mentality.

And part of that consideration is bigger than just this project.

I'm concerned about the direction of the state and the increasing pressure on local control, especially when it comes to zoning and the push towards more multifamily housing.

We've already seen the impact of state decisions like the removal of rental taxes, shifting the burden onto homeowners.

The ADU laws, which uh Mr.

Ray just spoke about, middle housing and more.

In fact, there's a something up for no design review, so we'll not be able to take care of a character for an area.

Uh they don't want us to have that.

So, yes, every decision we make here matters because if we don't get it right, others make that may make those decisions for us in the future.

But this brings me back to this project.

What started with nearly 1,676 units is down 34% to 1,106.

I don't care who puts pencil to paper with costs of building, that doesn't make sense to me.

It doesn't make sense how shaving 1,600, 16 apartment or houses off something to try and ensure a road would be safe, was catastrophic and almost didn't make a pencil out, but now it does.

And I find myself self-asking what's changed.

And more importantly, that what are we not seeing clearly.

I've watched staff work hard, really hard to make this puzzle come together.

And I've seen the iterations, the pressure, and the constant adjustments.

The longer I've sat with it, the more I've questioned whether something got lost along the way.

Because at some point, if a project requires this much force to make it fit, you have to ask whether it fits at all.

I also have to look at the bigger responsibility we carry as a council to strengthen Gilbert's tax base to reduce the need to go back to residence, to fill gaps, and I'm not convinced this project as it stands meaningfully moves us in that direction.

So after all of this, after the reconsideration, after the revisions, the conversations, I've reached a point of clarity.

I don't believe continuing this process serves the town.

I believe it's time to make a decision here and now, not to drag it out, not to revisit it again, make the call, close the chapter, and move forward with a clear focus on preserving what makes Gilbert Gilbert.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Comments.

Vice Mayor.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um to me, this is government and its finest.

Um, our community agrees and disagrees with each other, but they're still listening to each other.

Um, we don't get that much.

You know, when people come up here and talk with us or or disagree with each other, it gets pretty intense, and I respect everyone in here for keeping it very, very professional.

And um despite what you might have heard about me tonight, I I love when people disagree with me.

I learn, I gain information and become a better person from it.

I also respect every council member up here tonight and respect their differing opinions because uh we're not gonna agree.

I'll agree on this tonight.

So I respect you all for doing that.

But I want to address property rights first for a moment.

The property owner has the right to sell this property.

He could sell it to another farmer today, and we would never need to approve it.

But the landowner and developer are asking for a zoning change, and that's where our residents depend on us to make right decisions, not for today, but for decades after we leave office.

One of my best friends is in town from high school, so I took him and his wife to HD South today, our museum.

And I I I tell you, it was a uh it was an eye-opening experience for me today to go back and take a look at when Gilbert was formed and what it looks like now compared to then.

And in 1920, the first town council met in an office of Helsted's Stoner Lumber Company.

They made decisions that lasted until they they made decisions that lasted that that are currently um happening right now.

You know, we don't make decisions for today, we make them for decades ahead.

And what I saw in those old pictures was land, a lot of land.

Every um one second here, I'm sorry.

Um I want to take a step back from the emotion and urgency that surrounds projects like this and begin to bring it back to something more fundamental.

And that's the word stewardship.

Because that's really what this decision is about tonight.

Residents made made us stewards of land and development.

We are no longer a town with unlimited land.

Gilbert is for the most part built out.

What we have left, especially parcels of this size, are not just pieces of land, they are strategic assets.

And how we zone them will define our financial stability and quality of life for the next 20 to 30 years.

So the question before us tonight simply isn't should we put housing here?

The question the better question is is housing the highest and best long-term use of one of the last major parcels of land in Gilbert.

And I'm gonna argue that it is not.

We all know the financial reality we're operating in today in Gilbert.

Um Gilbert does not rely on a primary property tax, nor do I believe anyone up here wants that to happen.

We rely heavily on sales tax and economically and economic driven revenue.

At some time, at the same time, we're seeing raising infrastructure costs, increased service demands, and ongoing pressure on our systems, from water to wastewater to public uh public safety staffing.

Every new residential residential unit brings ongoing permanent costs.

Roads, police, fire, parks, utilities, and long-term maintenance.

That's not speculation, that's how cities and towns operate.

And when you add 1100 units, you're not just adding rooftops, you're adding long-term obligation.

Now, contrast with that, what this land could be.

This is one of the last opportunities we have to create something that generates ongoing revenue, jobs, daylight daytime population, economic activity and sales tax, commercial, employment, or mixed-use development that doesn't just occupy land, it produces for the town year after year.

And right now, Gilbert needs producers.

We already acknowledge that we've lost revenue streams.

We've already had a difficult decision to make to keep our inf keep up with our infrastructure demands.

We've already increased taxes in certain areas to stabilize funding.

So why would we take one of the last remaining large parcels and use it in a way that adds cost today that adds cost faster than it adds revenue?

So there's something we have to be honest about.

Once land becomes uh dense residential, that decision is permanent.

We don't get a second chance.

Uh we can't come back in 10 years and say, we wish we would have saved this land for an employment court court or destination or a commercial hub.

The opportunity is gone at that time.

Gilbert has done an incredible job building a community people want to live in, and that's not the issue.

The issue now is balance.

We need rooftops, but we also need revenue.

We need residents, but we also need employers.

We need growth, but we also need sustainable growth.

And when land becomes scarce, balance is important because balance must become strategy.

So it's not that I'm anti-housing or anti-property rights, but it's more about being having responsible development.

It's about recognizing the last pieces of land must work harder for the town than the first ones did.

And when I looked at those pictures today, I realized something, and that was when when land is abundant, you can afford to make an average decision.

But when land is scarce, every decision has to be strategic.

And this parcel, this is not an average land.

And um this is one of our last chances to get it right.

That's why I can't support this tonight.

Councilmember Bucklin.

Thank you, Mayor.

So respectfully, I hear what you guys say, and there's a lot I agree with.

Um we need commercial badly.

We also keep saying things like stick to the plan, the plan, the plan.

The plan is not commercial, the plan is residential and has been for years.

You know, when when I took over the Santan, well, I didn't take over.

I was the commander who um was from the PD side in charge of building the Santan substation down there.

I spent a ton of time near that property.

I mean, I spent hours and hours and hours working out of that building and and managing control operations down there, and it was an empty field.

That was in 2007.

It's still an empty field, and it's still zoned residential, and nobody has changed that.

So I'm listening to all these arguments.

Um, and I appreciate the group tonight.

I actually had something prepared because I'm so sick and tired of the hatefulness that I've witnessed, and tonight you guys really made me happy that I'm so proud to call Gilbert home.

Because what I witnessed was people on arguing two sides of a coin and doing it respectfully and doing it civilly, and I thank you for that because what I see online is not happening, and I will tell you residents that are um for this development um told me they were not going to speak based on concerns for the temperature in this room and what they've seen online.

So I think that you guys showed what Gilbert really is, right?

Um very professional, very respectful, very civil to work through a dialogue, and I just I can't think enough.

So I'm listening to all sides.

I'm trying to do my due diligence and look at the totality of circumstances.

I'm listening to our, you know, Gilbert is and has always been at the very core family, and I'm listening to people say, go somewhere else.

Someday you can afford to come here, and then maybe you can live here.

And what I fear is we're running off our young people who are raising families that want to stay here, that grew up here, or grew up somewhere else that wasn't so nice and want to be here.

And there's an opportunity, and you know, in the 400s is not cheap, but it's a heck of a lot better than the than the median home price right now.

And if it gives them an opportunity to stay here and build a family and invest in our community, I want our young people to have that.

I want the diversity of young, middle, and and old.

And um I I'm just confused that I'm hearing things that we don't want that anymore.

And um, because they want that, and it's important.

And at some point, you know, we're gonna all retire and go on fixed income, and we're gonna stop spending, and they're gonna be spending.

And we talk about the need for revenue, they're gonna be the ones that are gonna drive that.

Um the people that will live in those homes are going to spend locally.

We literally live like we're playing the stock market.

67% of our revenue comes from sales tax, and our sales tax is low.

It's only one lower is Chandler, and the revenue we generate from it doesn't compare to Chandler.

Um, we don't have a primary property tax, we don't want that, right?

We pull on four of the eight possible levers to generate revenue.

The other cities around us are pulling on six and seven.

Okay, they're gonna spend here, and that generates sales tax.

They're that generation is all about online ordering, Amazon.

We now have a use tax to be able to collect that and drive revenue.

I've been looking at a piece of empty land for years, and we're running out of affordable homes, and we're running our young out of this community, and I'm gonna stand and fight for you guys.

I am in support.

Councilmember Kaprowski.

When this project came back for reconsideration, um I didn't think that it would move the needle, but when we saw the new plan with no multifamily with umerous changes that I thought took into consideration all the comments that everyone on this dias has made in previous meetings.

I was um quite impressed with the applicant and staff for working on this project to the point that it is today, and I can see why we've gotten support from staff.

We've received numerous um support letters from the Chamber of Commerce, for example, and in that letter, I echo what it says, which essentially you know states that having the commercial in this area is a positive for Gilbert, as was stated with sales tax and we're normally taking out commercial, and this is adding it in a place that it wasn't before.

The mix of housing types, having seven different housing types that can really cater towards the demographic of Gilbert, as was mentioned, our what was once children are now growing into young adults, and having that opportunity is amazing.

I moved to Gilbert and I bought my first home at 22, and that has led me to all the goals and things that I've achieved today.

I mean, being a homeowner is an amazing accomplishment, and I would hope that our young people can do that themselves as well.

Um this project, if it doesn't get passed today, and it does move forward with how it is currently in the general plan.

We don't own this land, so it makes it very difficult to say what we can turn it into.

Um if it by right gets built into one acre lots, and then by right, because of the state statue has three accessory dwelling units added to each.

By the way, those accessory dwelling units could be shipping containers because they don't have any design review, and we cannot um implement any design review on those accessory dwelling units at five foot offsets from their backyard walls.

So because of those things, and because in this project we actually get additional infrastructure, additional elements paid for that would not normally be required.

Um I am in support Councilmember Buckley.

Um I I don't have a whole lot to add to anything.

Uh I said a lot when this project was here before.

And um I agree with Councilmember Buckland and Council Member Koprowski.

We need homes here for our our youth and our our young kids that are graduating.

Well, they're probably not kids by then, but when they're graduating from college and they need a place to live.

So I am um going to continue to be in support of this project.

I'll just add a couple of things.

I um I too, like councilmember Buckland was impressed with um how civil everybody was with each other here tonight.

We we it's kind of like the clash of uh generations.

Um everybody had a specific viewpoint, and and uh that to me that's the spirit of Gilbert, where we're able to come together and reason together.

Um I have to say that I was probably the one that pushed the hardest on this project to do something different.

My vote originally was no.

And that was because as the author of the Santan character, I knew what was intended in that area, and it wasn't that first plan.

I knew that.

But very seldom in my career have I seen a plan change that much to get into compliance with something like the Santan character area.

But as they mentioned, the applicant went through tonight, they listed uh and and I know those staff listed a series of things that would bring this project into better compliance with the per the uh the intent of the Santan character area, which is lower density, and some people may not believe that 3.15 is low density, but it is pretty low density.

And uh that's in the character area, the overall plan was three five, I think you said and I for those of you that have not seen and are worried about uh elevations, design concepts, please contact the applicant.

Talk to Lenar.

Look at the the plans that they have.

Um I've seen the the the total shift towards designing to look as an agrarian community.

And it is possible to do.

You may think that's not possible unless you're on an acre lot, and that's not true.

You you can get the the design, sorry, that you desire.

So I'd encourage you to, especially those of you who are worried about the elevations.

Uh take a look at some of the elevations that they will be putting in there.

So I feel much better.

Um, and I I'm more comfortable with the plan as as proposed.

And um I would like to uh to commend all of you again for being here and taking the time to express your opinions about it.

Thank you.

I'll entertain a motion at this point.

I'll make a motion to approve item 43, the general plan adopting the resolution approving the minor general plan amendment for harvest grove.

It's been moved.

Is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved and seconded that we approve the general plan.

GP 2503 Harvest Grove.

Please vote.

Motion carries 43 with Vice Mayor Bon Giovanni, Councilmember Torgeson, and Councilmember Lyons dissenting.

I'll move to approve item 43B, the rezone through ordinance number 2981.

Um for the rezone to regional commercial and all of the single family items with uh planned area development and no multifamily and with the conditions that were noted in the packet.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded that we approve item B.

Findings of the adoption of the ordinance 2981.

Please vote.

Motion carries 4-3 with the Vice Mayor, Councilmember Torrison and Councilmember Lyons dissenting.

Thank you.

Thank you all for being here.

Now those of you that are here to give input on the on item 44.

Um the question to you is uh do you want to be up all night?

If you're gonna vote on it, yeah.

That's why I'm asking.

Um we can go on.

Yeah, yeah.

Um we're prepared to uh go forward with the uh the item.

I it's very difficult for us, and I know how difficult it is for you to sit out there and listen to this.

Uh but as it gets later, the decision making will be difficult.

But we can go forward.

Uh we can ask the applicant if we can postpone it or table it, postpone it more likely.

Good evening, Mayor, members of the council, Reese Anderson, uh push your button.

Thank you.

Good evening, Reese Anderson here on behalf of Simon CRE and um Mayor, I know it's late.

We defer to the the council on what you want to do.

We're we're prepared.

I know there's folks for that are here, but I just want to state clearly we defer to the direction of the council on whether you want to continue this for two weeks or not.

Council.

Vice Mayor.

Thank you, Mayor.

I I think we have to respect the people that have been here for hours.

Um that we should just move forward with this.

Mayor, I agree.

They're still sitting here.

I think they'd tell us if they were tired and want to want to delay it.

We trying to be courteous and put it to them.

And if you're here, we're here.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

We'll go then to item 44, zoning Z 2513, Higgly and Octo Retail Center.

I'll open the public hearing and ask for a staff presentation.

Good evening, Mayor and Council members.

Sal DeSanto Planner 2.

I appreciate you all hearing the item tonight as we get into the wee hours.

But the case we'll be taking a look at is rezoning case Z25-13, the southeast corner of Higley and Acateo Retail Center.

The subject site outlined in blue is a roughly 16.14 acre site gross, roughly 13.16 for the net acres.

Just wanted to clear that up for some of the neighbors in attendance tonight.

To the south, to the west, just beyond Higley Road, we have some additional single family residential as well as a place of worship.

And just to the north beyond Aquateo Road, we have a Town of Gilbert recharging facility.

Before diving into some of the zoning materials, I thought it would be beneficial beneficial to showcase a snippet from our general plan, which does currently designate the site for the general commercial land designation, which classifies an area for larger to medium scale development, typically located along arterial streets, developed single or as a single development or within a master plan community.

And with that, the with the site being a general commercial land use designation, the application doesn't require an associated general plan application.

Just that rezoning application.

Taking a look at the zoning map, the subject site currently has the shopping center zoning designation.

You can see the single family just to the east there, to the south, uh additional single family to the west with that uh commercial designation, which does have that place of worship, and the PFI recharge facility just to the north.

Again, uh here is that proposed general commercial zoning exhibit.

Uh, you can see that the zoning category does expand or I'm sorry, carry to the center of the streets there.

And again, just wanted to share that information as there was some some comments and questions from the neighbors regarding the 13 uh acres compared to the 16 acres, and that's because in the town of Gilbert, the zoning category does expand to the center of the street, showcasing those different um numbers for the acreage.

Also on this plan, too, you can see that main parcel in that central location, which is supposed to hold that anticipated anchor, which is that target, and then we can see those two outer pads in the northeast corner and the northwest corner for those smaller um pad sites for the master site plan.

Again, I think it would have uh just be beneficial to showcase some of the differences between the shopping center and the general commercial uh zoning categories.

And those sections that are highlighted in yellow are going to be the differences between the zoning categories.

Uh first being, as I mentioned previously, the cap on square footage for an independent user or building.

Uh the next would be the maximum building height.

Shopping center requires, or I'm sorry, is allowed up to 35 feet at two stories, and the general commercial allows the availability to go up to 45 feet.

Uh the other difference is the minimum building setback adjacent to non-residential, shopping center 15 general commercial 20 feet.

The other difference there in building setback is in the rear adjacent to non-residential categories, again being at 15 feet for the shopping center category and 20 feet for general commercial.

As we move down into the landscape section, that's where we start to see some other changes there.

So in the general commercial category, that landscape setback adjacent to residential on the side does increase to 40.

It does increase to 20 for the non-residential sides, and again for the rare residential, we are at 40, and the rare non-residential, we are at 20.

So it goes up just about five feet and landscape setback for that jump in zoning designation.

Taking a look at the development plan, it helps you know paint some of the items to you know one image here.

We can see those two additional pads up in the northeast and northwest corner.

Pad one in that northeast corner is anticipated to be a multi-tenant user, uh sit-down restaurant and a future retailer or commercial user.

And pad two in the northwest corner is anticipated to be a financial institution.

And lastly, pad or I'm sorry, the anchor tenant there centrally located on site is anticipated to be that target and just over 128,000 square feet.

Parking on site has also been provided along the roadways centrally located on site, as well as a little strip there down to the south side of the building.

The first one is in regards to the parking rows on the north side of the building.

I don't know if this has a there we go.

So on the north side of the building there, this row of parking is going to be used for online order and pickup.

And our code does have a standard that no more than eight parking spaces should be developed without the installation of a landscape island.

Uh but the applicant has requested that we update that code language to be an island for every 12 spaces.

And that is only proposed in that online order area just to promote better circulation and safety with the movement of all those carts, employees, and customers on site.

Everywhere else on the site, they will still be following that one to eight landscape island ratio in all the parking areas.

We're at that 20 foot, 25 foot mark.

But as we continue to work west, we actually far exceed that 40 foot requirement from the general commercial uh zoning district.

So while it is being cut, it or the landscape setback is being reduced.

Uh we are still maintaining that 40 foot or more than 40 feet as we move west along that southern property line.

Uh for phasing for the project, the anticipated first phase is going to be the horizontal improvements, uh, grading and drainage, uh, grading and drainage, uh, off-site and onsite improvements, parking areas, landscaping.

Uh following phase one would be phase two for the major tenant, uh, which would be the target project.

Phase three would be the northeast corner for pad one, which is uh that multi-tenant commercial building, and then that last phase would be that northwest corner for the financial institution.

Uh as for public participation, a neighborhood meeting was held back on May 15th of 2025.

And at that neighborhood meeting, uh, roughly 150 to over 200 residents did attend that neighborhood meeting.

Excuse me.

Um, from that point, uh staff has also received roughly 54 emails from the public in opposition of the project, and roughly 14 emails in support in that correspondence has been attached in your in your packet.

Uh some of the feedback we did receive from the neighborhood meeting in various emails are presented on the screen for you, uh, but they generally tend to revolve around the preference of retaining the existing zoning category of shopping center, uh, the desire for smaller scale commercial opportunities, uh, the preference for a traditional grocery store in conventional shopping center design.

Another comment was that the use doesn't necessarily fit in with the surrounding neighborhood character.

There were comments regarding visual impacts on nearby neighborhoods due to size, scale, and massing of the proposed building.

Just a couple more for you here.

Another concern was just the fact there are similar uses within the immediate vicinity, and the requests in the in the design scope to include an eight-foot screen wall along the southern property line as well as that eastern property line, just to provide some better uh visual mitigation efforts.

With any rezone, it's also just helpful to showcase the finding of findings of fact when we're going through these reviews.

Um again, wanted to showcase these.

Uh one being that the proposed zoning amendment is conforming to the general plan, that all required public notices have been conducted in accordance with applicable state laws and local laws, that all required public meetings and hearings have been held in accordance with applicable state and local laws, and that the proposed rezoning does support the town strategic initiative of community livability.

We did bring this item to the planning commission on March 4th, where they did recommend um approval to the town council.

And with that recommendation from the planning commission, uh planning also requests a recommendation of approval subject to the conditions for case Z25-13.

And I am happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you.

Questions for staff.

Thank you.

With the uh change from S C to G C I saw that there were changes.

GC may be taller, things like that.

But overall, the this building, what is it?

Is it staying in more in conformance with the SC, you know, what part of GC besides the size of the building, is it taking advantage of?

Uh Mayor Anderson, Councilmember Torgeson.

The site itself is being developed in conformance with the shopping center zoning district more than it is with the general commercial zoning uh district.

Looking at the design package, the height of the structure they are proposing carries a roof line between 26 feet and 28 feet.

So although they are requesting a more intense zoning designation, they are still sticking to many of those less intensive requirements of the shopping center zoning district.

Um again, the only change in regards to the zoning district development standards being that southern landscape adjustment.

Um but again that would only impact just a portion of those parking spaces and promote a um better circulation to to the southern side of the property.

So the uh basically where the setback they could go as far as 20, they're still at the 15, let's say, of SC.

So instead of having 50 and 75,000 feet connected by uh a walkway, they're going 128, but they're ostensibly complying with the same zoning.

Uh Mayor Anderson uh Councilmember Torgeson, uh that is correct.

They are choosing to develop to the more intensive setbacks for general commercial.

Uh they are maintaining that 75-foot building setback and the 40-foot landscape setback.

Um so they are playing a little bit of both, but just ensuring that the most intensive setbacks, you know, meaning more separation from those residences are being maintained, and they're not um you know abusing any of the height requirements from general commercial.

Right.

So instead of trying to take advantage of being closer, they're subjecting themselves to being further.

That's correct.

Okay, thank you.

Councilmember Lyons.

Um in its current zoning state right now, they could build um two 75,000 square foot buildings.

Is that correct?

Uh Mayor Anderson, Councilmember Lyons.

Yes and no.

So the shopping center zoning district allows up to 75,000 square feet for one structure or one user.

So while there technically could be two different commercial users occupying 75,000 square foot footprints, um, target or another user could not occupy two 75,000 square foot structures with the same title in the shopping center zone in the district.

But we could have two different businesses there.

Correct.

Each building would be 75,000 square feet, correct?

That's correct.

All right.

So and this design has one building at 125,000 square feet, correct?

Uh just over one hundred and twenty-eight thousand.

Okay.

All right, thank you.

Questions.

Councilmember Buckley.

Uh I have a question on that on the 75,000 square feet, and they're wanting 125,000 for one building.

And is this the reason for the zoning change?

Um Mayor Anderson, Councilmember Buckley, uh, that is correct.

That is the the reason for the the zoning changes.

Shopping center limits the user in size, um, and with targets traditionally carrying that larger footprint, they wanted to move to a zoning district that could um allow their their product to work on the site.

Okay, okay.

I I've I've given a lot of thought to this project, and uh I I really hesitate that this project fits the area out there, and there's tremendous residential um opposition to this.

So um I do I did want to clarify that, and and that's what I thought as far as the larger building.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Applicant?

Thank you, Sang.

Good evening, Mayor, members of the council, Reese Anderson, Pew and Lake, 1744 South Al Vista.

It's a pleasure to be with you this evening.

I'm gonna go as quick as I can out of respect for your time and everyone that's here.

I would just appreciate the opportunity that if I miss something, it's just because I'm trying to go fast and I would appreciate you asking me a question.

But I think I could tell you everything you need to know about this project in very quick, quick terms.

And I'm gonna skip over a lot of these slides because Sal and his team did a great job of just giving you the basics of it.

But as you know, uh Higley Octo, next to the new regional park, traffic is changing tremendously in that area with the great CIP project that's happening in the area.

I just want to point out that in 2002, this is a copy of the ordinance where this property was zoned, sh uh C2, which then became shopping center.

That's the map that was attached to it.

So for 23 and a half years, this is sat vacant and it's been zoned shopping center.

The staff showed you these pictures earlier were consistent with the general plan.

I'm skip over that, those are our requests.

I just want to add a little bit more detail to the northern canopy request.

That's number one on the plan you're seeing there.

Again, that's a shaded area for the comfort of customers that are picking it up.

It doesn't make sense to put a landscaping island underneath a shaded canopy.

There's it shouldn't be a controversial item, full support of staff and of the planning commission.

To the south, I just want to add to the fact that if you remember one of the concerns raised by residents was an eight-foot wall.

There is an eight-foot wall there.

And so when you add 25 feet of landscaping, and then 80 feet of additional landscaping on the HOA side, those are not homes that back up to the site, it's a drainage track with trees.

And then a 50-foot street, what we're talking about is a parking space a hundred and thirty feet away from a residential property behind an eight-foot wall.

Again, this was a square parking area in a rounded shape, and that's why you see support from staff and again the planning commission on that requested deviation.

Mayor, I think Councilmember Torrickson, you asked the question, and it's as simple as this.

Wherever there is a shorter, wider setback development standard, whatever that happens to be, we're complying with that.

So we are developing to the SC standards.

It's shorter.

So along the East side, we're 35 feet's allowed, we're at 28.8.

Other places we're much broader.

So what we we tried to do was say, look, what do you have now?

You have SC, let us develop to that, and we're even better than what is is allowed in the SC.

The building height, the top is at 35, that's on the west side, that's the front, that's the tower element to the entry to the store.

And it's at 35.

And so what you're seeing is compliance with the SC standards, but we're going for GC.

Why for that GC?

And that's because we we put together just a conceptual site plan which goes to directly to some of the questions that you all were asking.

Could you put two different stores, one at 75, one at 65, or whatever the configuration is?

I asked the architecture team, could you just show me what that might look like?

And this is what they did.

And to to council member Lyons' question, could you have two users there and both be targeted?

Yes, we could we could play that game and say, I'm gonna create target retail and target groceries two separate entities.

It just doesn't that we didn't want to play that game.

We just wanted to be straight with everyone and say this is a better approach, more consistent with the overall SC standards and what's expected again for 20 some years.

This is a phasing plan, and I won't spend time on that one.

Circulation plan, I'll I can go back to any of these.

I just want to point out in the open space.

Look in the lower right corner.

The code requires 15%, the project's providing 29.

So roughly twice the amount of required open space.

There's the landscaping plan.

Here's the renderings, which by the way, last week the planning commission sitting as the DRB looked at this and gave their unanimous vote of approval, contingent, of course, upon the zoning being approved.

So they've looked, they've looked carefully at this.

This is the wall details.

I wanted to note here that the Chamber of Commerce has given a position statement.

They're in full support.

This is a copy of that, and you can also find it on their website.

Lastly, um we we asked the economic development department of your town to take a look at just some of the numbers to look at it.

This is the summary that they put together based on numbers that we gave.

Let me just hit some of the highlights.

So when economic development looks at it, they do a 10-year window, and I'm gonna go really quick here.

190 new jobs, payroll of about 6 million per year.

When you take into account all the supplier consumer impacts, the project is projected to support a total of 235 new jobs and generate 73 plus million over the 10-year period.

Overall economic impact, the project produces an estimated 198.2 million in total economic impact over the 10-year period.

Right now, you're bleeding tax dollars to Queen Creek.

This is a great way to get and capture some of those tax dollars back.

Now, someone's gonna accuse me and maybe you of saying you value money over design, you value money over opinions.

I don't think that's the case.

So while I respect everyone's concerns and uh worries about the project, I would ask the simple question, which is what concern might a resident have that isn't the same concern for if it was developed as an SC district.

If you're concerned about parking, that's the same concern.

And we've mitigated that keeping it all on site.

If you're concerned about traffic, same concern.

If you're worried about light shining in your town code addresses all of these things.

If you're worried about noise behind the center, I would suggest that having one user who cares what it is, is better than having 10 users back there with 10 loading docks and 10 dumpsters.

So when you talk about compatibility with the neighborhood, we are compatible with the original SC standards that everyone's known is there for 20 plus years.

We've only got a single user that's keeping things quiet, and uh deliveries are mitigated, etc.

So to me, when I look at it overall, and I weigh things overall, I think this is uh the best use.

Let me add one last thing, which is under the SC standard today, let's say you did not make this change.

You could have second-hand stores, gas stations, car washes, uses that just are not desirable for this this, and ask yourself how come this hasn't happened for 20 years, but now we've got the chance to land a quality retailer that will really help on all avenues and all aspects.

So I've also asked myself this simple question.

If not this, what could it be?

And if and I've heard in my conversations with many of the residents, their preference is more single family detached homes.

And that might be a good idea, except that I know the planning staff, the economic development staff, and you would skewer me.

Another idea that I know there's probably a dozen developers lining up to do it would be a multifamily project right here.

Everyone would skewer me.

And so we're left saying, what is the right use?

It's shopping, it's a commercial use.

And the only difference between this project and a shopping center project is that single user with more than 75,000.

And again, could it be split apart?

You bet.

But we're not about that.

We're not trying to do the games.

We're just coming straight forward, transparent, and saying this is a good use, it fits the site, and we're meeting all those harder, lower, higher, whatever.

We're meeting those SC standards.

So Mayor, I'll stop there.

I don't want to repeat myself.

I want to be respectful of time.

Let me answer any questions, and then if if you have any questions, let me come up, come back up.

Thank you.

Questions?

Councilmember Buckland.

Thank you, Mayor.

Mr.

Anderson, isn't um the owner now?

A grocery store, uh like Basher or somebody that owns it now.

Mayor Anderson and Councilmember Buckley.

My understanding is the Basha family owns that.

And so as you know, Bashes is forever, but I know they've sold all their stores to uh was it roll rallies?

No.

So they're not in that business anymore, and they've just held on to it and also remember I thought there was a discussion um something about because they owned it with intent of putting a store there, and that's what the residents want.

However, the owner of the land determined based on two other shopping centers found it it's not going to compete.

That's what I recall from the briefings we had.

Mayor Anderson.

But they're selling it.

I I don't have knowledge of that, and so I don't want to misrepresent anything.

I just know that today they've said we don't want the property anymore, and our client Simon CRE is buying it, and we've got a great user there.

And they had it for 20 years and never put a grocery store on it.

No, sir.

And and and I and I I you know when I started on this, I thought my to myself, there had to have been several cases filed on it, and I could not even find a pre-app filed on this property.

And I I don't have an explanation, but that's just the history.

Vice Mayor.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh Mr.

Anderson, um it's getting late.

How many 18-wheeler um bays do you have right now with Target?

So I'm gonna stop here on the landscaping plan because it just it works for us.

And I count I count three.

Okay.

That are at strategically placed as far north as possible.

Let's say you had two stores on there, and let's say one wasn't a target first.

They would probably have at least one and possibly two.

Okay.

Um if you had two targets there, you likely like you discussed.

Same amount of bays, more bays, less bays.

Well, there would definitely be more.

Every store is gonna have its own, they're not gonna share.

Okay.

Okay, thanks.

Councilmember Lyons.

Um, when you when we had this before the planning commission, Commissioner Simon talked about the compact or trash compactor.

Did you look into that to see if that had been addressed?

Yeah, so Mayor Anderson, Councilmember Lyons.

The answer to that is I did look at it.

There is a compactor, it's accessed only from the inside.

Okay, and as you know, that stipulation was added to make sure that it's fully screened.

Okay, and that that would be done, correct?

Oh, yeah, of course.

All right, second thing, truck traffic's gonna come in on Wilson, is that correct?

I think it I think it'll come in on both ways.

Yeah, I mean, so you there's three options, right?

Higley Ocateo, it could also come in on Wilson.

How much uh traffic is coming from the neighborhood and the residents of Wilson?

I don't know the answer directly to that question, but I would assume that it's it's quite a bit.

Okay.

And then yeah, and I have a thought on that too, Councilmember.

Go ahead, elaborate, please.

So I I've always and I've and I've lived this long enough to see it.

I think, in my opinion, connected communities are better communities.

And so I believe that there are a lot of folks that will visit this site and use it, that live immediately adjacent to it.

And so having that connection point there is better because it does not add traffic to arterial roadways, and it doesn't significantly add to our trucks are not going to go circulate through the neighborhood.

They're just not.

They're gonna go right back out and they're gonna get right back onto arterial roads and head back to where they came from.

But as you know, there's a fire station right across the street, etc.

I just think it's an overall better plan.

And if we weren't here tonight, that that wouldn't be that would be an issue at all because it's just part of the SC plan.

Thank you.

Anything else?

Councilmember Buckley?

Um I have one question.

Where is the eight-foot fence that you had mentioned that the residents wanted?

Yes, ma'am.

I'm happy to share.

May Anderson point at the screen.

See, I think I did it right.

So here all along the southern boundary, and then all the way up Wilson till you get to this point.

This is all an eight-foot screen wall.

Okay.

Does that make sense, Councilmember Buckley?

Right.

And so I'm I'm assuming that abuts homes there.

No, ma'am.

No, ma'am.

There are no homes that abut this project.

This area here that I'm moving the green on is a open space retention basin.

And this is a road.

And this is your fire station.

Oh, okay.

For some reason I thought that so the uh I I know there's there's people talking from that.

This is this is Wilson Way, and then there's houses right here.

But when somebody says adjacent, I'm using that word precisely to say touching.

So there is this is a landscape retention basin here, and then Ironside Lane, and then houses.

Wilson Way, and then houses.

Okay, so there's quite there's quite a large buffer there, it appears between that area and the homes.

So Mayor Anderson, Councilman Buckley.

Again, when I uh measure that landscaping area immediately to the south, it it undulates and changes, but on its east side, about at the skinniest point, it's 80 plus feet.

At its widest point, it's over 100.

It tapers again as it goes to the west, but it's all landscaping, and again, let me show you just the site plan here.

So this will show you exactly where the homes are.

Again, this is open space landscaping for drainage and trees.

There's a house, but remember we have a very large landscaping area there.

Again, this is Wilson Way, then you have a landscaping strip and then homes, and this is your fire station.

Okay, and the landscaping strip, how big is that?

Is that the hundred feet or the so here?

This landscaping strip here, I I'm gonna guess that this is 120.

I can't see oh, there.

Oh, yeah.

I'm sorry, you're being blocked by a yeah, I I can see it now.

You're you're pointing toward Wilson Way.

No, this is this right here is Higley Road over here, over here on this side, we comply with the landscaping and building setbacks.

Here we comply with the landscaping and building setbacks, except for this small area, which is behind an eight-foot wall.

And I would just politely challenge anyone to say, can you tell me the difference between a hundred and thirty and a hundred and forty-five feet behind an eight-foot wall?

Yeah, yeah.

So I know it's a rhetorical question, but does that help answer the question?

I well, it does.

It does.

I just um do we know how many homes that affects back there, regardless of what the buffer is.

So I I I count one, two, three, four.

I'm gonna guess there's eight right there, and then I'm gonna say that there's I can see three right there.

If again, I'm just giving you the first layer, the first row.

Okay.

All right.

I th I think that answers my question a bit.

My my thought was I thought the eight-foot fence wall was you know blocking like the project from the homes.

And then my suggestion would be well, let's maybe we can raise that another two feet or another foot to give them even more privacy.

But um it appears that it doesn't really abut any homes close enough to make that matter.

I agree.

So Councilmember Lyons.

Okay.

Can you go back to financial sheets on this?

You bet and Mayor Anderson, Councilmember Lyons.

If I didn't do a good enough job, let me let me try again.

I think yeah, you're fine.

So the household spending supported would be 74 million dollars, is that right?

I think yes, yes, sir.

Is that annually?

No, Mayor Anderson, uh Councilmember Lyons and Buckley.

The study that the economic development department did was a 10-year tenure horizon, so 10-year window.

So we're looking at about seven and some change per year.

Correct.

7 million per year.

Okay.

And these numbers came out of our economic development team, correct?

Mayor Anderson, Councilmember Lyons?

Correct.

We we gave them the project input on construction costs, typical number of employees, and then they generated the output.

Okay.

Okay, thank you.

Councilmember Torgerson?

Household spending, they just point out 74 million over 10 years.

Correct.

Correct?

7.4 million a year.

Right.

Approximately.

Correct.

But the actual tax on it is 8% of that.

I wish I was that smart to be able to explain it.

600,000.

Well, I I believe that the tax, the taxes generated per year to the benefit of Gilbert out of this site, are closer to 1.1 million a year.

And when I when I look at that, I re I'm from uh this is again the project is projected to generate direct revenues to the town, totaling 12.1 million.

And when including the impacts tied to employees' revenues rise to 12.8 again over a 10-year period.

So you divide that, you're about 1.2 in direct revenue per year.

I'm sharing the summary that was given uh produced by the economic development tournament that should be in your packet.

Vice Mayor.

Thank you, Mayor.

Saying that slide there, my guess is if you had two buildings 10 feet apart, you'd probably be looking at the same numbers, right?

I I would I would presume so because you would be making similar similar sales.

However, if you went to a bunch of smaller buildings, not the same revenue.

Okay.

Thank you.

Anything else?

Thank you.

Thank you.

We'll go to our request to speak cards.

We have a target question.

Wait till we finish this.

Um we'll start with Shelley Fagel.

Three minutes.

Thank you.

My name is Shelley Fagel.

I'm a resident of Gilbert, and I live in Marbella Vineyards right next door.

And I'm not going to take up a lot of your time and talk about whether we need another target close by to us, because I know other other the speakers are going to do that.

But I do want to indicate that there's been one area that I think was overlooked.

And I've been to both the meeting that was held last May, and then to the Planning Commission meeting that was in March.

And in May, as the gentleman just spoke, and uh your planner indicated, there were opposition to this because of the concern over the entrance off of Wilson.

And there that is one of the four entrances to our residential area, and a fair number of people come in and out of that.

And while the trucks may or may not choose that go to Target to use that, as you know, with the with the bridge opening up later this year, and the roadway from Greenfield to Higley, they're on Acateo.

That traffic is going to greatly increase.

And what I think is going to happen is the patrons that go into Target are going to determine they can't make a left-hand turn out of Wilson onto Acateo, and that they're going to want to then make a right-hand turnoff of Wilson and go through our residential area onto Murderbell back on to Higley.

The other thing that Target I think has done, or the design has done that they didn't speak to tonight, is that they reduced the parking spaces by something like 77 parking spaces.

And it was our belief as residents that that would have been addressed in the design work, and it did not.

So I I would just ask that you consider that along with the other things that you've been talking about tonight, looking at the character of what we're looking for in the neighborhood as far as commercial establishments.

Thank you.

Dwayne Sledge.

I live in Gilbert off Tiffany Court, original owner within a quarter mile of Higley and Ocateel, and that isn't that far away that they're telling you I'd ask you to go drive it.

I'm a fourth generation Arizona.

My grandchildren are sixth generation Arizonans.

I care about the state deeply.

My concern is whether this rezoning at this intersection aligns with Gilbert's planning standards.

Higgly and Aqua Teal are already functioning as high stress arterial intersections, especially during peak hours and weekends.

I respectfully disagree, it's not local traffic that's going to be in there.

And from daily experience, this are area is already near capacity.

I don't believe the current mitigation plans adequately address real world congestion or safety, particularly at the nearby at the neighborhood access points.

Wilson being the main one.

With no new stoplights planned and additional traffic coming from the bridge, conditions will worsen.

The rezoning also represents a clear increase in intensity compared to surrounding uses.

Once that intensity is approved, it's very difficult to reverse it.

This decision sets a precedence for future upzoning along major arterial near residential areas.

Council has consistently emphasized that development should align with the intended character of the area, not just the parcel boundaries.

Ton, how many times have we heard Gilbert Regional Park?

How is this and how it's a cornerstone of the Gilbert lifestyle?

This project is adjacent to the park.

How does this project fit the spirit of the park and what the town envisions for that park?

Those of us who live in this community are united in opposition.

We are the ones who will be live with the long-term impacts of this decision.

For these reasons, I respectfully ask you to deny or continue the request until traffic impacts, infrastructure capacity, and long-term compatibility are fully addressed.

Thank you for your time and your service.

Thank you.

Bonnie Bonnie Compton.

I was going to I was going to count the steps that it took me to come down here to show you exactly what 80 feet are or 120 feet.

Because literally, if you had driven this before you had to make the decision, these houses almost are kissing the wall.

Anyway, I'd like to remind all of you.

I live in Marbella also.

I'd like to remind you that about 500 people signed a petition in opposition to this earlier, and that there was a meeting at the school at the bridges that about 200 people attended, most all of them opposed.

Um I attended the planning commission meeting, and there were a couple uh really concerning things that were discussed by uh the uh members of the commission.

One when people one of the gentlemen kept twice or three times said to us that he was all for capitalism.

Well, most of us are for capitalism also, but does that make you just make decisions because of money and not because of what the people in the community want.

Um a second comment that was made when people were talking about the fact that there were five or six other targets that were within a 10 or 11 mile um circumference of this one.

The council member said it's not up to us to determine if Target wants to make another build another building, but it is up to you to decide if it's worth a whole community, three communities.

It seems like Marbella, the bridges, and um Shamrock estates across the street is concerned about this.

Um I was really hoping that you would have taken the time to drive the the circumference of what they were talking about because it is close in proximity to the houses.

Um the one positive about any building that goes into that plot of land will be that they will have more clout than we the residents of Gilbert have concerning the water um the water whatever reservoir across the street from us that has created a midge fly problem.

We have to live with midge flies constantly.

You can't take your dog for a walk, you can't play with your grandkids in the backyard, you can't do anything because of the midge flies, and if you folks aren't aware of the problem, you need to get on board because it's horrible.

So maybe any kind of commercial property will help us have clout to get rid of that because they won't succeed.

People won't go in their stores and see dead flies, although even as small as they are.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ken Brosman.

Can we bring the slide back up?

The can we bring the slides back up?

Yeah, I think they're working on it.

Is there a particular one you wanted to bring up?

Uh you go to the site plan, but I'll touch on a couple of them.

I'll try to be as quick as I can.

I realize it is late.

I appreciate you all being here.

Uh my name is Chad Brosman.

I'm native of Arizona.

I uh have lived in the town of Gilbert in this area for at least 21 years now.

I'm also a registered architect, certified interior designer, sustainability expert, um, and have done similar projects to this before.

I've stood on the other side of this table, so I can appreciate all the work that's gone into this.

I could also tell you that it's completely wrong.

The massing and scale of this is inappropriate and does not fit.

Um out of your own commercial design guide.

Put my glass on here so I can actually read it.

Provisions B site planning, number one, a commercial development adjacent to existing and future residential should be of an appropriate scale.

Now I understand the developers saying that that yeah, we've got the setbacks, we've got the height requirements, but he's not meeting the scale.

This thing is massive, a hundred and thirty thousand square feet, nearly twice what the SC is allotted for.

And he says, 'Oh, yeah, well, we can put two buildings next to each other.' No, you can't.

And you can't because you're short, almost 80 parking spaces.

Now, to give you a picture of what that is, that's over 26,000 square feet that they are short.

And to top that off, if you go back, if we can go to the site plan.

If not, it's in your packets.

But I I can spend an hour going through all the things that are that are against your own design guide in that plan that don't work because they cannot fit this, including the trash enclosure next to the that's 15 feet from the entrance to the restaurant.

A semi-truck traffic coming off a Higley that's forced to do a 90 left and a 90 right, that will never happen.

A screen wall that the residents are stuck with with little tiny bushes on the other side of it.

That's what was in that view that you saw that's in your packets.

There is he talks, and no offense to the developer.

I I appreciate that.

But he talks about connectivity to the community.

There is zero connection points from the community.

If you go from Wilson Way, you have to cross that semi-truck traffic through the parking lot to get to the building.

Why?

Because the sidewalk ends in the utility screen wall at the end of those additional parking canopies that they have.

There's no entry from Wilson to the restaurants.

You'd have to go all the way to Octaio and walk halfway down around the restaurant to get back to it.

There's no sidewalk behind it for any of those employees to take trash or anything else out of those restaurants to get to the dumpsters that are in the front of the building at the entry there.

It just goes on and on and on because it can't make this work.

Oh, and so to my point.

I wanted to prove my point more so than just my 20 somewhat almost 30 years of experience.

So I pulled the charts, and I can make this available to you with screenshots of all 36 targets in the valley and 48 in the state.

There is not a single ground up target that is on a site less than 20 acres.

Not one.

There is one 10-acre one on baseline road that was an existing Gracie's or Gemco that they took over.

That is it.

So if not a single municipality in the entire state in the last 30 plus years or developer has said this is a good idea to put a target on a site less than 20 acres, why are we doing it?

We don't need it.

As others have mentioned, there's a ton within the catchment area.

There's two within five miles.

So you can see this economic impact statement, but what it doesn't mention is that people are gonna stop shopping at the one at Gilbert and Germain, which is in your tax base, and they're gonna start shopping at this one, or vice versa.

Not to mention I don't like taking revenues away from another municipality.

There's one four and a half miles down the road.

Well, I get it, it's Gilbert.

We want to generate revenues in Gilbert.

I'm not gonna take money out of one pocket and put it in another.