Payson Town Council Regular Meeting – May 28, 2025
Payson Town Council Regular Meeting – May 28, 2025
The Payson Town Council held its regular meeting on May 28, 2025, at 4:03 p.m. in the Town Hall Council Chambers. All seven council members were present. The meeting included public comments, a consent agenda, a proclamation, policy discussion, and several new business items, all of which were approved. The council also moved into executive session for four legal matters.
Consent Calendar
- B.1 Minutes of the Regular Council Meeting on April 23, 2025, and Work Session on May 6, 2025, were approved.
- B.2 Resolution No. 3448 approving a law enforcement services agreement with the Town of Star Valley was approved.
- B.3 Resolution No. 3447 designating the Chief Fiscal Officer for the Fiscal Year 2026 Expenditure Limitation Report was approved.
- B.5 Council Decision Request to approve payment for the Town’s Microsoft licensing for a new three-year agreement was approved.
- B.6 Appointment of Sergeant Michael McAnerny to the Public Safety Retirement Board (PSPRS) was approved.
- Item B.4 was pulled for separate discussion.
- Motion: to approve Consent Agenda Items B.1, B.2, B.3, B.5, and B.6 carried 7-0.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Robin Lisa Webber expressed concern about pedestrian safety at the Bonita Avenue traffic light and the four-way intersection near T-Mobile and Bashas. She noted a pedestrian was recently struck. She also requested cleanup of a property on Highway 87 near Firestone. Vice Mayor Tubbs requested staff share the incident report with the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT), which controls the lights. Acting Town Manager Sheila DeSchaaf confirmed ADOT would be contacted.
- Tom Dunning, a 21-year resident, expressed appreciation that the council was going into executive session to discuss an open meeting law complaint. He urged the council to maintain a high standard and avoid any appearance of impropriety.
- Jesse Barry, representing Keep Payson Clean, encouraged community members to help the town council by volunteering and giving back. He praised the road work on Airport Road and urged residents to ask what they can do for the town, rather than what the town can do for them.
Discussion Items
- B.4 – Library Service Agreement (Resolution No. 3449): Council Member Bell requested the item be pulled for discussion, citing reservations about the requirement that library staff comply with the Library Bill of Rights. He expressed concern about children accessing age‑inappropriate materials. Mayor Otto and Council Member Ferris joined in concerns, referencing a past incident where a sexual education book was displayed in the children’s section. Emily Linkey, Library Director, explained that children under 10 must be accompanied by an adult, parents have full access to their children’s accounts, and a formal review process exists for any concerns. She stated that the book in question was immediately moved after a complaint. Elaine Votruba, Gila County Librarian, clarified that the contract had already been approved by Gila County and would not be modified to remove the Library Bill of Rights requirement. Council Members Tubbs, Nossek, and Haws thanked Ms. Linkey for her professionalism, with Council Member Haws noting he had heard only one complaint about the library in five years and that children have far greater access to inappropriate material on social media. Motion to approve B.4 carried 4-3: Yes – Vice Mayor Tubbs, Council Members Flaherty, Haws, Nossek; No – Mayor Otto, Council Members Bell, Ferris.
- D.1 – Proclamation: The council proclaimed the second week of June 2025 as National Recreation Highline Trail Week. Angie Abel, Recreation Director for the Payson Ranger District, accepted the proclamation and invited the community to a kickoff celebration on June 7.
- D.2 – Council Policy #8 and Town Code 30.50: Acting Town Manager Sheila DeSchaaf provided an overview of how items are placed on the agenda. Council Member Bell initially moved to remove a provision allowing the Town Manager to reject agenda items, but later withdrew the motion after clarification that the procedure applies only to staff-initiated Council Decision Requests (CDRs), not to requests from council members. Council Member Nossek stated the discussion was intended to educate the public and address misconceptions that staff had delayed or denied council requests.
- H.1 – Repurpose Watershed Funding: Tanner Henry, Water Director, requested authorization to reallocate $81,600 in unspent Water Enterprise Funds from the Baker Thinning Project to the Cordelia Mastication Project. The funds were originally allocated for watershed work under a 2018 agreement with Salt River Project (SRP), but SRP obtained alternative funding from Apple for the Baker project. The Cordelia Project, a 4,300‑acre mastication project north of town, will protect infrastructure, improve watershed health, and enhance groundwater recharge (estimated 1,870 acre‑feet over 10 years). Fire Chief David Staub confirmed the project is part of a five‑phase SRP plan. Motion carried 7-0.
- H.2 – Boulders Trailhead Construction Document Funding: Steve Richardson, Parks and Recreation Director, presented a request for $296,670 to fund design and engineering documents for two proposed trailheads (Cyprus and Granite Dells) within the Payson Area Trail System. The funds are already allocated in the current budget. The project aims to alleviate congestion at the Phoenix Street trailhead and boost tourism. Rebecca Davidson of the National Forest Foundation explained that the foundation would manage the contract and oversee the work. Public comments from Joel Mona, Anna Van Zile (Rim Country Trail Fund), and Zachary Wilson expressed strong support. Motion to approve Option One – entering into an agreement with the National Forest Foundation – carried 7-0.
- H.3 – Lead and Copper Rule Revision: Tanner Henry presented a request for debt authorization up to $500,000 to apply for a forgivable loan through the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority (WIFA). The town must inventory 1,330 service lines of unknown material by November 2027 to comply with EPA regulations. WIFA would provide a forgivable principal loan of $250,000 plus 70% of costs above $250,000. The town currently has no confirmed lead service lines. Motion carried 7-0.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Agenda (items B.1, B.2, B.3, B.5, B.6) approved 7-0.
- B.4 – Library Service Agreement approved 4-3.
- H.1 – Reallocation of $81,600 approved 7-0.
- H.2 – Boulders Trailhead funding ($296,670) and agreement with National Forest Foundation approved 7-0.
- H.3 – Debt authorization up to $500,000 approved 7-0.
- The council voted 7-0 to move into executive session for items H.4 (Payson Golf Course Development Agreement), H.5 (open meeting law complaint), H.6 (Town Manager interview process), and H.7 (PFAS litigation). No action was taken after executive session.
- The meeting recessed at approximately 6:13 p.m. for executive session and reconvened at 8:33 p.m., then adjourned.
Meeting Transcript
Was it the one for the previous meeting? Call this meeting to order, the common council, the town of Payson. This is the regular meeting, May 28th, 2025. Thanks. I asked Pastor Richard Contrato give the invocation. Heavenly Father, God, we give you thanks for today, God, and for the many blessings that you poured out on each of us here today and on our town Payson, God. And Lord, as we look at the uh spring and summer months coming ahead, God, we ask for your provision, God, for rain, for the rain that we need for our forest, God, and for your protection over us too, God, from the fires, the lightning strikes, God, and God, we also pray for a spirit of calmness over our little town as uh we get a lot of visitors this time of year, God help us to be patient with them, Father. And God, we also ask today, God, in this meeting that you would just pour out your spirit here today, God. And pray uh just for an overall sense of unity in our community, God. And we give you thanks for all of these things today in the name of your son Jesus. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. Now's the time that we let the residents of Payson uh the opportunity, let them have the opportunity to speak on any issue within the legal authority and jurisdiction of the town of Payson. We ask that the comments be based on policy, not personalities, and uh keep them to, like I said, two topics that Payson has jurisdiction over. So a second. We've got H two's Joel, are you an H two or are you a general? Robin? Yes, I think all that family, I'm Robin. Um, Robin Weber from the town of Payson. I don't even know why God wants me to be here, but I am here. Um, first of all, I want to say thank you very much for everybody gathering together. For me, this is a Holy Spirit pour out in my heart because I think our council needs to get together without having too much conflict with each other and start um coming to some solid solid um meeting ground. Um, I like what Fred had to say. Dallin, I really appreciate the things that you have to say. Charlie, Stephen, Susie, Jim, and Scott. God bless you for being in our town council. Um the most important thing I have to talk about today is the light down at Benita Avenue. I was sitting in an AA meeting at eight o'clock in the morning a few weeks ago when somebody got hit by a vehicle. That light right there. When you turn green or red, the the person walking across, they have not there. The light is green, and there's a walk sign. Up here at Walmart, it's not that way. The light turns green, but but it doesn't turn green until after the person gets a chance to walk. We have several lights like that. One on Panita Avenue and the one right there at in the circle where T-Mobile is going across to Bashes. People don't even have a chance to walk. And you got a green light, people driving. I almost hit somebody. Okay. That is totally inappropriate, and those lights need to be repaired. Okay, need to be fixed so that people walking across the street don't have cars coming at them. That's important. Um the property down by Firestone, uh, it's a mess. I mean, that needs cleaned up. It's ridiculous. It's on the corner by Firestone. I mean, come on, just just it just needs cleaned up because people are coming through our town all the time and they're looking at that nasty little piece of area there. I don't know who's supposed to clean it up, but let's let's could we please look at getting that done? Because we represent our town repres is represented on night 87 north and south 260.
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