Queen Creek Town Council Regular Session - September 3, 2025
Queen Creek Town Council Regular Session - September 3, 2025
The Queen Creek Town Council held a regular session on September 3, 2025, at 6:30 PM in the Community Chambers. The meeting included proclamations, committee reports, public comments, approval of consent agendas, and presentations on transportation planning, regional data trends, and a new dog park project.
Proclamations & Awards
- Suicide Prevention Awareness Month: Recognized September as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month; highlighted the 988 hotline.
- Reconnect Queen Creek Day: Proclaimed September 30, 2025, as a phone-free day to connect with community.
- QC Neighborly Week: Recognized September 5-11, 2025, celebrating Queen Creek's 36th birthday and encouraging neighborly acts.
- Most Influential Women in Arizona 2025 Award: Presented to Economic Development Director Doreen Cott for her 19 years of service.
Committee Reports
- Mayor's Teen Advisory Committee (Aug 12, 2025): Elected new chair Gabrielle Chambers and vice chair Christopher Eneman; discussed Founders Day event volunteering and upcoming teen drive-in movie.
- Transportation Advisory Committee (Aug 14, 2025): Elected new chair Jeff Kramer and vice chair Christy Davis; received updates on the 2025 Transportation Master Plan, private development, capital improvement projects, and thanked departing members.
- Downtown Arts & Placemaking Advisory Committee (Aug 28, 2025): Thanked outgoing members Valerie Doan and Lisa Collins; reviewed traffic cabinet wrapping pilot program and art contest for “I Voted” badges.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Laurel Pauly (Sunoke Creek Ranch HOA Board): Expressed frustration over a decade-long floodwater issue on 196th Street and Riggs Road. Stated the town has not provided a timeline for the trench drainage project recommended in a 2019 drainage study; requested assistance from the town.
- Pat Aritz (Encantera resident): Thanked the council for opposing a zoning change that would have allowed a three-story apartment complex at Gansel and Algarf Place; expressed gratitude for annexation into Queen Creek.
Consent Agenda
- Approved unanimously (6-0) all items listed under Consent Agenda, including:
- August 6, 2025 meeting minutes.
- Appointment of Clifford Mattice as Town Attorney.
- Appointments/reappointments to Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee, Board of Adjustment, and Planning and Zoning Commission.
- Expenditures over $75,000 (e.g., $121,807 for asphalt surfacing at HPEC barns).
- Fund transfers and budget adjustments: $4.2M from Water Fund to Wastewater Fund; $15.02M operating budget to Wastewater Capacity Fee Fund; $2M budget adjustment for FY25-26; creation of Trails Development Impact Fee Fund.
- Construction contract with Beusing Corporation for Meridian Road pit site cleanup ($1,564,626 total).
- Donation agreement with Taylor Morrison for Ellsworth Ranch well and groundwater credits ($153,714).
- Reimbursement agreement with Power Road Development Company ($314,579.76).
- Agreement with SRP for radio frequency routers on town lighting poles.
- Ordinance 873-25 for annexation of a 4.4-acre parcel at Riggs and Signal Butte roads.
Public Hearing Consent Agenda
- Approved unanimously (6-0) three items after closing public hearing with no comments:
- Series 009 Liquor Store License for Safeway #209.
- Series 12 Restaurant Liquor License for Your Pie.
- Cases P25-0006 and P25-0046: Site plan and conditional use permit for a 65-foot wireless communication tower at Tilson Crismon Heights.
Presentation: 2025 Transportation Master Plan
- Presented by Public Works Director Mohammed Youssef and consultant Anita Jahari (Kimley-Horn).
- 96 capacity enhancement projects identified; prioritized into 37 projects for the next 10 years, costing an estimated $25-30 million per year.
- Goals include traffic congestion relief, safety, multimodal access, and pedestrian/bike enhancements.
- Plan assumes completion of State Route 24 and Barkway extensions; without them, roadway levels of service would fail by 2050.
- The plan will be formally adopted in fall 2025.
Presentation: Data Trends Shaping Our Future – MAG
- Presented by Ed Zirker (MAG Executive Director) and Peter Burnett (Data Manager).
- Population in Queen Creek has grown exponentially since 2013; projected to nearly double by 2050.
- Median home sales price in Queen Creek is $641,500; median household income $135,000; income needed to afford median home is $172,000.
- Rents stabilizing but still above $2,000/month; 29% of new construction since 2022 is multifamily.
- Workforce earnings grew slower; median worker earnings declined 6% since 2017 while household income rose 45%.
- Councilmember Benning expressed concern about inability of young adults, police, firefighters, teachers to afford homes; advocated for more diverse housing types including multifamily to fill the demographic gap.
Presentation: Dog Park Project (Relocation to Founders Park)
- Presented by Parks & Recreation Director Adam Robinson.
- Current dog park will be replaced by new police headquarters; new dog park will be built at Founders Park (across the street).
- Features: double the size, two separate cells (large/active and small/timid) that can be rotated weekly to allow turf maintenance; two 40x40 shade canopies; separate parking options (paved and gravel); dog drinking fountains; innovative gate system to share shade structure.
- Construction fences to go up in two weeks; completion expected mid-February 2026.
- Founders Day and Battle of the Badge events will relocate to Frontier Family Park.
- Councilmember Benning requested outreach to adjacent homes.
Key Outcomes & Next Steps
- Consent agendas approved unanimously (6-0).
- New Town Attorney Clifford Mattice appointed.
- Transportation Master Plan to be brought back for formal adoption in fall 2025.
- Dog park construction to begin shortly; outreach to neighboring residents planned.
- No formal actions taken on presentations; council discussion only.
Meeting Transcript
Brian. Left side, thank you. Always over your heart, buddy. Left side, Travis. Okay, we're ready. Okay. Maria, can you please take the roll? Councilmember for the air. Here. Council Benning. Here. Martinell. Here. Councilmember McClure. Here. Councilmember Olifant? Here. Councilmember Brown. I'm here. I'm sorry, did I say Councilmember Martinell? Yeah. Or Vice Mayor Martin. Okay, thank you. We do have a full quorum. Wonderful. Thank you so much. The executive session will be handled as the first item on today's agenda. We will adjourn from the executive session at six thirty and reconvene for the regular session at that time. Thank you again for coming here tonight and letting us be a part of that beautiful remembrance. Also, as we uh remember uh nine eleven and that time, uh, we also know that it's also the national day of service. So I love that we've taken something that was so tragic and horrific, and we've turned it into something that we can remember and um and come together as a as a nation again. So I'd like to just um ask Councilmember McClurda for a few thoughts. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Yeah, I want to, of course, express my gratitude as well for the honor guard. That was beautiful. And I as I think of Patriot Day and the nine eleven National Day of Service. I just don't think there's a better way to honor the fallen than to serve others. And I know of at least ten projects happening around our community in the next couple of weeks as part of that national day of service. And we have so we have schools and faith groups and and the community as a whole, with you know, business involved and the town, our public safety, all doing their part to give back and to pay it forward. And I just want to thank this incredible community for their commitment to look beyond themselves and to give back and do uh their part to lift one another. And it's just a beautiful thing to be a part of, and I just would, you know, encourage uh everyone to look for those projects and participate any way that you can and help us to continue to grow that national day of service each and every year. It's such a beautiful thing that we have happen every September in the town of Queen Creek. Thank you. Appreciate those remarks. All right, we're also so grateful tonight to have Cliff Daly from Flat Iron Church joining us, or one of our hometown heroes, actually, as well. Uh, Pastor Daly, I would like to welcome you up to provide our invocation for this evening. Council members and guests, thank you for this time. I'd like to pray for the evening as you guys embark on the rest of the meeting. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we lift up every soul in our city before you, from the unborn in the womb to the infants that are taking their first breaths, the children who are discovering the world that you've created for them, and the teenagers that are navigating uncertainty.
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