Payson Town Council Regular Meeting – December 10, 2025
Payson Town Council Regular Meeting – December 10, 2025
The Payson Town Council met on December 10, 2025 at 4:00 p.m. in the Town Hall Council Chambers. Major actions included approving a new town engineer, forming a stakeholder committee for Taylor Pool, approving a liquor license for Payson Roll N Bowl, and allocating the 0.88% sales tax increase toward emergency services retirement, facilities, and roads. The meeting adjourned at approximately 6:29 p.m.
Consent Calendar
- Approved meeting minutes for November 12, 2025 (work session and regular) and November 20, 2025 special meeting (6-0).
- Approved Resolution No. 3468 designating authorized representatives for the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs (6-0).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Pool and Event Center: Multiple residents urged the council to prioritize rebuilding Taylor Pool. Speakers included Lori Thompson (emphasized swim lessons, cited drowning risks), James and Jasper Vandruff (children who enjoy swimming), Rachel Pfoutz (reading son's letter about scouting), Dolores Finley (98-year-old resident who learned to swim later in life, stressed safety), Tom Dunning (urged full cost analysis), Brooke Myers (called for immediate action), and Cyn Stratton (supported bringing pool back). Others advocated for the event center: Mike Voden proposed using event center revenue to fund a pool later. Mike Quinn called for a public vote on any new pool and criticized the council for delaying the Malibu project. Jeff Robbins thanked staff for blight remediation and criticized the council for not respecting first responders. Tom West and Mike White raised concerns about hangar leases at the airport.
Discussion Items
- Introduction of Kyle Christiansen: Town Manager Darren Coldwell introduced Kyle Christiansen as the new Director of Capital Improvements. Christiansen outlined his 25+ years of project management and public works experience.
- Appointment of Town Engineer (H.2): Coldwell presented Nathan Larson as the new Town Engineer, effective January 12, 2026. Larson expressed excitement to work for the town. Council confirmed the appointment unanimously (7-0).
- Community Pool and Event Center (H.3): Coldwell presented cost estimates for Taylor Pool refurbishment (ranging from $6.7M to $9.6M depending on options) and a proposed multi-purpose indoor center at the Rodeo Grounds (estimated $782,500 for a covered arena shell, with larger building for ~3,000 people also discussed). Council debated priorities: Council Member Bell challenged the community to raise funds and proposed forming a stakeholder committee. Council Member Ferris supported focusing on the pool first and using local contractors. Council Member Flaherty advocated waiting until budget discussions to decide. Council Member Haws supported exploring a lower-cost Taylor Pool option. Council Member Nossek suggested a second cost assessment. Council Member Tubbs requested information on floodplain maps, parking, sewer credits, and staffing before voting. After public comments, a motion was made to form a stakeholder committee to gather information about Taylor Pool. The motion passed 6-0 (Council Member Haws absent).
- Public Hearing – Liquor License (E.1): Town Clerk Tracie Bailey presented a Bar Series 006 liquor license application for Payson Roll N Bowl. No public comments. The owner, Debby Cutsinger, answered council questions about the license (full liquor) and anticipated opening (spring/summer 2025). Motion to approve passed 6-0.
- Resolution No. 3464 – Allocation of 0.88% Sales Tax (F.1): Coldwell proposed dedicating 60% of the 0.88% tax increase to debt service for emergency services retirement (PSPRS), 20% to maintenance facilities, and 20% to road improvements. Council discussion included a proposal by Council Member Bell to allocate 100% to PSPRS with a sunset in 2030. Other council members supported the manager's proposal. The motion to approve the resolution as presented passed 5-1 (Council Member Nossek opposed; minutes say 6-0 but transcript recorded 5-1). Note: Minutes and transcript disagree on the vote tally.
- Finance Department Update (H.1): Finance Director Dana Ohanesian presented an overview of the department's structure, core functions, accounts, and current projects, including implementation of a new accounting system (NetSuite) and preparation for a banking RFP.
Key Outcomes
- Confirmed Nathan Larson as Town Engineer effective January 12, 2026 (vote 7-0).
- Formed a stakeholder committee to gather information about Taylor Pool (vote 6-0). Council members may recommend additional members.
- Approved Payson Roll N Bowl Bar Series 006 liquor license (vote 6-0).
- Approved Resolution 3464 allocating the 0.88% sales tax: 60% to PSPRS debt service, 20% to maintenance facilities, 20% to road improvements (vote 5-1 per transcript; minutes record 6-0).
- Approved Consent Agenda including minutes and Resolution 3468 (vote 6-0).
- No decisions made on the event center; further direction to be discussed during budget planning.
Meeting Transcript
Pastor Rory Gruders. Good afternoon, everybody, and Merry Christmas, by the way. A bunch of scrooges, Merry Christmas, everybody. Wow. Lord Jesus, Father. As we are in this Advent season of celebrating your incarnation and of your birth, we thank you for the blessing in coming to Earth. And we ask you to help us today, Father, to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you and with one another. We ask that you would help us to have dignity and decency and respect in our conversations and our discussions. And then Hree. And then F. Some people have to leave early, and they would like to be able to vote on those items. And then our new town engineer is here and needs to be back in the valley by six. Got it. Okay. Well, we have 40 minutes of call to the public here. I'm gonna say we're gonna have to do our engineer. Uh is that C1? Yep, that's C. Um, no, actually that's Kyle. So I'll introduce Kyle and he can cut out two. If that's C and then H2. H2 as the engineer. Is Nathan. Yep. So this is actually the town manager's report. I'm just gonna zip through it uh real quick. And what I'd like to do is I'd like to introduce to you Kyle Christians. Um he's the director of capital improvements. He basically took the place of IPM that we've been playing paying, I think about $750,000 last year, too. He comes with us with 20 plus years of experience. Um I want to make it clear that we we've been shifting a lot of people around and people at left and people have go. I think we're still one FTE, one full-time employee below from when I started. Wow. So we still have one position that um is kind of a floater that we haven't decided where we're gonna put them or or replace it all. So um so I'll Kyle, you want to talk a little bit about yourself? Uh sure. So Mayor Aldo, it's a pleasure to be with you and with the council. My name is Kyle Christiansen. As uh manager Caldwell mentioned. I uh I have actually 11 years of uh public sector experience and over 25 years in in uh public or project management experience, my previous experience experiences with the town of Page, City of Page, where I was the public works director uh leading several projects up there, also as the airport director leading several multi-million dollar projects for airport improvements and town improvements. Uh it's a pleasure to be down here in Payson. It's a great community so far. Pleasure to meet a lot of uh community members, been very welcoming. There's a great opportunities here. Um come with my wife, she'll be down here in another month or two. She's an educator up there in uh Page Unified School District, and also bringing my youngest son with me as well in a couple of months. So pleasure to be with you. Welcome. Welcome to the Scott. Do you want to introduce introduce Nathan H2?
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