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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Mesa City Council Study Session – March 24, 2026

Council Study Sessions — Tuesday, March 24, 2026

BodyMesa, Arizona

SessionCouncil Study Sessions

DateTuesday, March 24, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 44:16

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:00

Welcome everyone to our Mesa City Council study session for March 23rd.

0:06

All of our council members are present.

0:08

We thank you for filling up the room this evening.

0:11

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

0:15

So council, let's go through that.

0:16

If you have any other questions, uh we have staff here to answer.

0:24

Yeah, Mayor, thank you.

0:25

I just want to say I know many of you took advantage of that opportunity to meet with staff with some of your questions leading into this.

0:31

So that's great, but it staff is available if there are any outstanding questions that folks have for this evening.

0:43

I do have one.

0:44

I'll see if council has anything that they want to weigh in.

0:54

Okay, I have a question on 5A that's authorizing city manager entry and option to lease option to purchase agreement, ground lease, and the sale agreement between the city of Mesa and Helix apartments for uh 0.92 acres and Candace.

1:12

Yes.

1:13

It's over to you.

1:13

You want to just give us a review.

1:15

I know it's been some time since we talked about that.

1:24

I just want to make sure council, you're on board for the uh this agreement for a senior housing project.

1:33

And I I have my not concerns but questions about that.

1:39

So I know that there was this uh public-private partnership.

1:45

Yes, thank you.

1:46

So mayor and council, uh, yeah, thank you for letting me come in and kind of highlight this.

1:50

This is a great opportunity, and it's been a long time coming since the council last gave direction on this particular parcel.

1:57

Um this is a senior affordable housing private public partnership.

2:02

A little background on this.

2:04

Uh, we've talked about this before with our balanced housing master plan.

2:07

The seniors are one of our fastest growing populations to enter into homelessness due to a lack of affordable units for them.

2:15

Um with that, um, staff came to council back in uh November 4th of 2024 with a proposal to buy this particular city.

2:25

Uh this particular parcel was at 1731 and 37 West University Drive.

2:31

You can see here on this map, it is basically center and university on the southwest corner, and is also directly across from it's a residential road that separates this parcel and our senior center.

2:45

Uh senior center also has Aster Aging there as well that operates services out of that particular location.

2:52

Um we closed on the property in 2025.

2:55

The purchase of this property was with federal funds.

2:57

That was neighborhood uh stabilization funds that we use for this so can just explain what that all means, you know.

3:07

Since we use those funds, are these restricted funds specifically for the purchase and then the dollars being used to build the project in the future?

3:17

How does that all weigh in together tired?

3:19

Sure.

3:19

Thank you, Mayor.

3:20

Um, yeah, so neighborhood stabilization funds are um for that purpose is for low-income housing.

3:26

Um those were the funds that we used originally.

3:29

We received these funds for um back in the day.

3:33

It was part of going into neighborhoods during the recession where we had vacant properties.

3:37

The uh city could go in, purchase a property, rehabilitate that property, and then sell it to a low um low-income household.

3:45

Um over that time, that program has disbanded, has gone away, and then we had some funds that were left over, some of the original funds, plus some of the interest that was earned or program income.

3:57

So when we sell a home, it goes back into the program so you can buy another home and kind of keep doing that.

4:02

So we had some stale funds, if you will, that were held over from this particular program.

4:07

Uh council approved us to go ahead and use these funds for the purchase of this particular parcel.

4:12

Um that does uh create an obligation for the parcel to be used for um affordable housing of some sort based on the funding that was used.

4:22

It did take us a little while to close on the property because of the environmental requirements due to federal funding.

4:28

Um we did close last year.

4:30

Um, and then once doing that, the the point of this is then to bring in a private developer, so the city would not be funding any of the construction of anything happening on this particular parcel.

4:42

Um when we look at low-income housing tax credits, also called LITEC.

4:47

That particular application is done on an annual basis with the state.

4:51

There are different point values when developers um apply for those.

4:56

One of them is having a partnership with a municipality for a ground lease that gives them additional points.

5:03

This particular developer that we are partnering with did apply for that in the first year when they had rights to this rights to own this particular parcel.

5:15

And they were literally the next project to be funded when the state ran out of the Litech credits for that one.

5:24

So they're just shy of that.

5:26

So that's when we started working with them on how could we get this housing, which is very much needed in this particular very prime area next to our senior center.

5:35

And that's when we came to council with that.

5:40

Let me go back.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Affordable Housing███████████████████████████████████████████43%

Technology and Innovation███████████████████19%

Procedural██████████████14%

Engineering And Infrastructure████████████12%

Parks and Recreation███████7%

Public Engagement███3%

Homelessness██2%

Summary of Proceedings

Mesa City Council Study Session – March 24, 2026

The Mesa City Council held a study session on March 24, 2026, to review and discuss several agenda items scheduled for the upcoming regular council meeting. All council members were present. The session focused on a senior affordable housing project, a construction manager at risk contract, public safety technology upgrades, and a facility asset management software investment. No formal votes were taken; the discussions were intended to inform council decisions at the subsequent meeting.

Discussion Items

Item 5A – Helix Apartments Senior Affordable Housing Project
- Staff presented a proposed ground lease and option-to-purchase agreement with Commonwealth Development Company for a 0.92-acre parcel at 1731 and 37 West University Drive, adjacent to the city’s senior center and Aster Aging.
- The project would create 62 units of senior (age 55+) affordable housing, with affordability guaranteed for 50 years (extendable to 75 years).
- The city used federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds to purchase the land. No local general fund dollars are required for construction or ongoing maintenance.
- The developer will apply for Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LITEC) in the 2026 or 2027 cycle; the ground lease option provides the developer with additional points. The project is expected to score 180 out of 185 possible points.
- Council members expressed support for the project, noting the high demand for senior affordable housing, though one member raised concerns about concentrating senior housing in the downtown area.
Item 4D – Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) Contract
- Lance (staff) explained the rationale for using a CMAR delivery method for a project near Higley and the 202, involving work with ADOT, Longbow development, and other entities.
- Reasons included complexity of terrain (caliche, rock, deep trenching up to 40 feet), need for flexibility in design, and coordination with multiple adjacent owners.
- The CMAR approach allows for collaboration during design, potential cost savings, and a guaranteed maximum price to limit city exposure to unknown conditions.
- Council members agreed that the CMAR method was appropriate for this project.
Item 4A – 911 Technology Software Upgrade
- Staff recommended replacing the current Variant system with a new Eventide platform, sourced through a cooperative purchasing agreement at a cost of $647,000.
- The current system is approaching end-of-life and has been experiencing quality issues. The new system will be used by police, fire, and fire medical dispatch, and will be cloud-based with an annual maintenance cost of approximately $84,000.
- The new software includes automated quality assurance, data analytics, and will improve training feedback for call takers and dispatchers.
- Council members asked about ongoing costs, comparison to other bids, and the transition timeline. Staff confirmed the new system is a proven, better product at a significantly lower cost than alternatives.
Item 4C – Asset Management and Capital Planning Software
- A proposal for a comprehensive asset management system for the city’s 300+ buildings (nearly 5 million square feet) and parks facilities, at a cost of $1.2 million.
- The software will replace current spreadsheet-based tracking, enabling real-time condition assessments, deferred maintenance planning, and lifecycle cost analysis.
- Council member Taylor questioned the high price tag; staff explained the scope includes on-site assessments of thousands of assets and the software itself, which will ultimately save money by moving from reactive to proactive maintenance.
- Staff noted that the tool is critical to addressing the city’s backlog of deferred maintenance, a priority identified by the city manager.

Key Outcomes

No formal votes were taken during the study session. Council members expressed general support for all discussed items, with the understanding that formal action would occur at the regular council meeting.
The council agreed to move item 5C (Falcon Field) to the front of the consent agenda, but it was not discussed further.
The council deferred the “current events and conferences” item to the next study session.
The study session adjourned, and the council proceeded to the regular meeting.

Meeting Transcript

Welcome everyone to our Mesa City Council study session for March 23rd. All of our council members are present. We thank you for filling up the room this evening. Item one is to review the agenda for tonight's council meeting. So council, let's go through that. If you have any other questions, uh we have staff here to answer. Yeah, Mayor, thank you. I just want to say I know many of you took advantage of that opportunity to meet with staff with some of your questions leading into this. So that's great, but it staff is available if there are any outstanding questions that folks have for this evening. I do have one. I'll see if council has anything that they want to weigh in. Okay, I have a question on 5A that's authorizing city manager entry and option to lease option to purchase agreement, ground lease, and the sale agreement between the city of Mesa and Helix apartments for uh 0.92 acres and Candace. Yes. It's over to you. You want to just give us a review. I know it's been some time since we talked about that. I just want to make sure council, you're on board for the uh this agreement for a senior housing project. And I I have my not concerns but questions about that. So I know that there was this uh public-private partnership. Yes, thank you. So mayor and council, uh, yeah, thank you for letting me come in and kind of highlight this. This is a great opportunity, and it's been a long time coming since the council last gave direction on this particular parcel. Um this is a senior affordable housing private public partnership. A little background on this. Uh, we've talked about this before with our balanced housing master plan. The seniors are one of our fastest growing populations to enter into homelessness due to a lack of affordable units for them. Um with that, um, staff came to council back in uh November 4th of 2024 with a proposal to buy this particular city. Uh this particular parcel was at 1731 and 37 West University Drive. You can see here on this map, it is basically center and university on the southwest corner, and is also directly across from it's a residential road that separates this parcel and our senior center. Uh senior center also has Aster Aging there as well that operates services out of that particular location. Um we closed on the property in 2025. The purchase of this property was with federal funds. That was neighborhood uh stabilization funds that we use for this so can just explain what that all means, you know. Since we use those funds, are these restricted funds specifically for the purchase and then the dollars being used to build the project in the future? How does that all weigh in together tired? Sure. Thank you, Mayor. Um, yeah, so neighborhood stabilization funds are um for that purpose is for low-income housing. Um those were the funds that we used originally. We received these funds for um back in the day. It was part of going into neighborhoods during the recession where we had vacant properties. The uh city could go in, purchase a property, rehabilitate that property, and then sell it to a low um low-income household. Um over that time, that program has disbanded, has gone away, and then we had some funds that were left over, some of the original funds, plus some of the interest that was earned or program income. So when we sell a home, it goes back into the program so you can buy another home and kind of keep doing that. So we had some stale funds, if you will, that were held over from this particular program. Uh council approved us to go ahead and use these funds for the purchase of this particular parcel. Um that does uh create an obligation for the parcel to be used for um affordable housing of some sort based on the funding that was used. It did take us a little while to close on the property because of the environmental requirements due to federal funding. Um we did close last year. Um, and then once doing that, the the point of this is then to bring in a private developer, so the city would not be funding any of the construction of anything happening on this particular parcel.

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