Payson Town Council Work Study Meeting – February 4, 2025
Payson Town Council Work Study Meeting – February 4, 2025
The Payson Town Council held a work study session on February 4, 2025, from 3:01 p.m. to 6:56 p.m. in the Town Hall Council Chambers. The meeting focused on three major agenda items: an affordable housing project update, the corporate strategic plan, and updates on capital improvement plan projects including Rumsey Park, the aquatics facility, the event center, and Green Valley Parkway. No formal votes were taken, but council provided direction to staff on several matters.
Presentation/Discussion: Affordable Housing Project Update
- Developers Ryan Zent and Ryan Francisco presented The Reserves at Mogollon Rim, a mixed-income development on 7.5 acres near Beeline Highway and Rumsey Drive.
- The project includes 72 Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) units (66% of multifamily) with rents from $566 to $1,178 per month, 48 market-rate units with rents from $1,700 to $2,200 per month, and a 13,000-square-foot Natural Grocers retail component expected to create 14–18 full-time jobs.
- The developers requested a $100,000 loan from the town at 3% interest for 20 years to secure points in ADOH scoring, noting the application deadline is April 1, 2025.
- Council members inquired about loan security (secondary lien, 50-year affordability deed restriction) and economic impact. Staff noted past practices and that a loan is more advantageous than fee waivers or land leases.
- Council reached consensus to direct staff to work with the developers on a development agreement.
Presentation/Discussion: Corporate Strategic Plan (CSP)
- Hannah Lusk reviewed the CSP covering fiscal years 2024–2028, which guides resource allocation across five goals: technology, neighborhoods and livability, public safety, economic development/tourism, and infrastructure.
- Council member Bell suggested a retreat to align priorities. Discussion revealed additional concerns: homeowner insurability and proactive fire mitigation (raised by Vice Mayor Tubbs, Council Members Bell, Haws, Ferris) and housing affordability (Mayor Otto and Ferris).
- Fire Chief Staub reported Payson is one of the few Arizona municipalities with a fuels mitigation ordinance and offered a separate presentation in March.
- Council agreed the CSP goals remain valid but requested more specific action items on fire safety and financial aspects in each category. Staff will incorporate feedback and return during the budget process.
- Deputy Town Manager Christine Smith provided an overview of CIP projects. Various department heads reported statuses: IT (camera system without facial recognition, council chamber AV replacement), Water (Hillcrest tank, PFAS treatment estimated at $20 million), Fire (ladder truck ordered, grants for wildland engine unsuccessful), Police (vehicle upfitting backlog), Community Development (wayfinding signs), Engineering (pavement preservation program, American Gulch design, roundabouts).
- Town Engineer Larry Halberstadt presented the pavement asset management program; the current average pavement condition index is 61 (national average). A steady-state budget of $3.75 million per year is needed to maintain the current index. Council member Nossek emphasized a coordinated plan and transparency on which roads are scheduled.
Presentation/Discussion: Update on FY25 CIP Projects
Green Valley Parkway Extension:
- Estimated cost $14–15 million. Design funding includes a $300,000 congressional appropriation and $2.5 million town match in the current budget. The Forest Service special use permit process is ongoing (hoped to be completed by mid-2025). The road would also serve as a wildfire evacuation route.
- Council member Ferris recommended prioritizing the permit; Mayor Otto agreed that obtaining the land is key.
Rumsey Park Working Plan and Aquatics Facility:
- Parks and Recreation Director Steve Richardson and Terracon’s Karen Snodgrass presented the working plan. The park has safety and parking challenges (408 spaces short of industry standard). Three options were presented; the Parks and Recreation Commission recommended Option 1 (least change), which adds one field, elongates a multi-use field, and improves circulation.
- Rough cost estimate for Option 1: $12.9 million construction, $4.3 million design/construction management, $3.2 million contingency (25%). Phasing is intended.
- Discussion on the pool location: Council members Bell and Ferris favored Rumsey Park due to proximity to schools and existing facilities; Council member Nossek supported Malibu as more cost-effective with fewer constraints. Mayor Otto emphasized program development before building. Vice Mayor Tubbs requested a tour of parks and recreation sites.
- Staff will perform a comparative assessment of pool locations (Rumsey vs. Malibu), expected to take two months. Further discussion set for March 4 work session.
Payson Event Center:
- Interim Project Manager Rod Buchanan provided an update. The project suspension was administrative. Pre-design work is budgeted at $479,000; lifting the suspension would allow completion of conceptual design needed for a Forest Service special use permit (2-year process).
- Council member Nossek supported lifting the suspension; Mayor Otto wanted financial breakdown first. Council agreed to include the project in CIP discussion at the February 26 budget meeting and March 4 work session.
Key Outcomes
- Affordable Housing: Staff directed to develop an agreement with Overland Property Group and bring it back for council consideration.
- Corporate Strategic Plan: Staff to update CSP with additional action items on fire mitigation, insurability, and financial transparency; Fire Chief will present in March.
- CIP – Rumsey Park: Council accepted Option 1 as the preferred working plan; staff will perform a comparative assessment of pool locations (Rumsey vs. Malibu) and report back by March 4 work session.
- CIP – Event Center: Council requested more budget information before deciding to lift the suspension; discussion deferred to February 26 budget presentation and March 4 work session.
- General: Council member Bell urged the council to identify common priorities; a retreat may be scheduled. Staff noted upcoming budget work sessions on February 26 and March 4 to align funding with priorities.
Meeting Transcript
Order, common council of the town of Payson, work study meeting, February fourth, twenty twenty-five. Councilman Farrish, would you like to give us an invocation, please? Yes, I know. Dear Lord, thank you for this opportunity to gather and may all our deliberations or thoughts are conversation be pleasing to you. Lord, uh help us to move forward with wisdom and understanding as we deal with uh budget today and other items on our agenda. We just thank you that we live in a country where we have freedoms to engage in our government and be part of it and interact with others as we try to improve our communities or state or country. Anyway, just be with us and have your protection over everyone here and guide us and all your wisdom. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God and individual with liberty and justice for all. And uh during the meeting. So I guess we go to a second. I want to say something. Okay. I know this might be out of the ordinary for many of you, but um, I was looking in the policy procedure, chapter two, council norms and standards of conduct. Uh C, Councilman Action and Communication. Uh, four, demonstrate effective problem solving approaches. A council members have a public space to show how individuals with my uh East Coast brain and mouth cannot pronounce this word. Um can find common ground and seek a compromise that benefits the community as a whole. This standard, and that each one of us some way somehow identify what our community members would like done, and how we can find a common interest to move this town forward. We've all been it's all been identified through Skip CAC the last 20 years. Cool, Rumsey Park, the event center. There has to be something that we as a council can do to move the town forward. So I'm going to challenge each one of you that we can come up with some kind of communication. Sheila, I talked to you a little bit about a retreat. Maybe maybe we can get a retreat going where we can. And that's we're gonna go through all these work studies. Personally, I don't want to wait for a work study. I think we know what the town wants. I think we can agendaize things about what the town needs, and uh I think we can move forward. That's all I want to say. Thank you for your time. Appreciate everybody being here. Have a good day. And if I'm doing this, just wake me up now. Thank you, Charlie. That's it. Purpose of the meeting number A is presentation discussion regarding affordable housing project update of the overland development proposal. Uh Julie Leonard, I believe you're making this presentation. I'm gonna at least introduce the guys that are gonna make the presentation, share a little bit. So good afternoon, council mayor, staff. Um so this is about the low-income housing tax credit um funding that's that ADOH provides. And so today that application is due on April 1st, 2025. Um, as some of you might remember uh last year was our first funding of that since 2010. So we're hoping to get funded again for another project because there's still, as we talked about the housing study last meeting, um, there's still a need for additional housing. So the we have the developer here, developers here who will be sharing about their project um directly, the specifics to it. Um, there is the presentation that they're gonna be sharing has some minor changes from the one you got in your packet or on the agenda, um, very minor, but just wanted to let you know that um that there were a few little updates put in there. So I'm gonna introduce to you and then uh Ryan Francisco and Ryan Zent, who will be here to share about their project specifically and give you all the details you need to know. Okay. Well, good afternoon, everybody.
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