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Record of Proceedings

Mesa City Council Study Session - January 26, 2026

Council Study Sessions — Tuesday, January 27, 2026
BodyMesa, Arizona
SessionCouncil Study Sessions
DateTuesday, January 27, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 14:50

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0:04

Well, good evening, everyone.

0:05

Welcome to the Mesa City Council study session for January 26, 2026.

0:11

That could be a mouthful.

0:13

All members of a uh council are present.

0:15

Uh is Mr.

0:16

Adams uh joining by Zoom.

0:18

Do I know?

0:20

He's here.

0:21

He's here somewhere.

0:22

Yeah.

0:22

He's literally here or virtually here.

0:25

He's literally here.

0:26

Okay.

0:26

Physically.

0:27

Well, he'll he'll be there shortly then.

0:29

Ecumenically.

0:31

Present.

0:33

All right.

0:39

So item one is to review the agenda for tonight's council meeting.

0:43

I know we went over this agenda previously, but are there any other questions on the agenda tonight?

0:52

Yes.

0:53

Mayor, I'd like to take um item 7A off consent.

0:58

Okay, 7A.

1:06

7A is the resolution declaring proposed titles and schedules, terms, rates, and fees and charges for non-residential water utilities services to be a public record.

1:14

It's an introduction.

1:18

This says take action and introducing the following ordinance.

1:23

I think it was wasn't it introduced in December?

1:26

I thought it was introduced.

1:31

Is it introduction?

1:32

Okay, introduction.

1:33

Okay.

1:34

All right, thank you.

1:37

So we'll take action on the introduction.

1:41

Mayor, Mr.

1:43

You're fine.

1:44

I would like to take 5D off to discuss upstairs.

1:48

Okay.

1:49

5D.

1:53

Uh approving and authorized city managers to enter a funding agreement valley metro rail uh for the current light rail operations in the city of Mesa.

2:02

Okay.

2:03

5D.

2:06

Council.

2:07

Mayor, could we clarify with Councilmember Duff since it is introduction tonight?

2:11

Do you still want it off of consent or do you want to no?

2:14

We can just leave it on consent.

2:15

Okay.

2:16

Thank you.

2:16

Great.

2:17

Thank you.

2:17

Thank you for the clarification.

2:30

There's a presentation if you want on 9B, that's the Department of Child Safety of Arizona.

2:37

That's at uh University Drive and 80th Street.

2:40

Whose district is that?

2:41

That's a either two or five.

2:47

It's district five.

2:48

There it is.

2:50

Which one?

2:52

9B.

2:53

That's the Department of Child Safety, three acres.

2:58

A zoning request there to change.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████45%
Zoning And Land Use████████████████████████24%
Public Engagement█████████████████████21%
Water And Wastewater Management██████████10%
Summary of Proceedings

Mesa City Council Study Session - January 26, 2026

The Mesa City Council held a study session on January 26, 2026, to review the upcoming council meeting agenda, receive board minutes, and hear a presentation on a zoning case. Councilmembers also shared updates on community events and recent activities.

Consent Calendar

  • Items discussed for placement on the consent agenda included: Resolution 7A (declaring proposed titles, schedules, terms, rates, and fees for non-residential water utility services as a public record), Item 5D (approving and authorizing the city manager to enter a funding agreement with Valley Metro Rail for current light rail operations in Mesa), and the ACFA fiscal year report. Councilmember Duff initially requested 7A removed from consent but later left it on consent after clarification. Councilmember Go Forth requested 5D removed to discuss upstairs.

Discussion Items

  • The primary discussion centered on case ZON24525, presented by staff member Evan. The request seeks to rezone a parcel (a city island surrounded by county land) at Main Street and 80th Street from general commercial with a planned area development (PAD) overlay to a new PAD overlay to expand an existing boat and RV storage facility (Phase 3). The parcel is adjacent to the freeway and county property. A development agreement addresses septic use because no city sewer is proximate. The PAD includes deviations carried over from 2017, including zero additional landscaping inside the fenced perimeter (landscaping is provided on the public-facing Main Street side). Staff and the Planning and Zoning Board (6-0 vote) recommend approval with conditions. Councilmember Go Forth asked clarifying questions about the landscaping deviation and expressed a general preference against expanding storage in Mesa but noted this was an expansion of an existing use. He also requested that future staff reports include explicit reasoning for how criteria for conditional use permits are satisfied, rather than restating the criteria.
  • Councilmember Go Forth also mentioned he would like to see Item 9B (a presentation on the Department of Child Safety of Arizona at University Drive and 80th Street) addressed during the meeting.

Key Outcomes

  • The council acknowledged receipt of board minutes by unanimous voice vote (motion by Vice Mayor Duff). Councilmember Taylor expressed excitement about the St. Vincent DePaul Medical Office and Sprouse projects in District 3.
  • No formal action was taken on consent items or the zoning case, as this was a study session. The meeting adjourned after scheduling updates: the next study session is Thursday, February 5, 2026, at 7:30 a.m., and the next council meeting is Monday, February 9, 2026. The study session originally planned for January 29, 2026, was canceled.
  • Councilmembers shared current events: Councilmember Taylor noted over 8,000 volunteer hours (specific figure 8,875) at the Arizona Museum of Natural History volunteer luncheon and participation in the unity walk at Tempe Town Lake. Councilmember Go Forth attended the Mesa Fire Department paramedic program graduation and mentioned a recent fire on Dobson/Pennington. Councilmember Adams joined the SRP watershed tour, seeing Bartlett Lake, Horseshoe Lake, and other reservoirs.

Meeting Transcript

Well, good evening, everyone. Welcome to the Mesa City Council study session for January 26, 2026. That could be a mouthful. All members of a uh council are present. Uh is Mr. Adams uh joining by Zoom. Do I know? He's here. He's here somewhere. Yeah. He's literally here or virtually here. He's literally here. Okay. Physically. Well, he'll he'll be there shortly then. Ecumenically. Present. All right. So item one is to review the agenda for tonight's council meeting. I know we went over this agenda previously, but are there any other questions on the agenda tonight? Yes. Mayor, I'd like to take um item 7A off consent. Okay, 7A. 7A is the resolution declaring proposed titles and schedules, terms, rates, and fees and charges for non-residential water utilities services to be a public record. It's an introduction. This says take action and introducing the following ordinance. I think it was wasn't it introduced in December? I thought it was introduced. Is it introduction? Okay, introduction. Okay. All right, thank you. So we'll take action on the introduction. Mayor, Mr. You're fine. I would like to take 5D off to discuss upstairs. Okay. 5D. Uh approving and authorized city managers to enter a funding agreement valley metro rail uh for the current light rail operations in the city of Mesa. Okay. 5D. Council. Mayor, could we clarify with Councilmember Duff since it is introduction tonight? Do you still want it off of consent or do you want to no? We can just leave it on consent. Okay. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Thank you for the clarification.

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