Queen Creek Town Council Regular Session - December 17, 2025

The Queen Creek Town Council held its regular session on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, at 6:30 PM in Community Chambers. After opening with an executive session, the council reconvened, recognized community honorees, approved the consent agenda, conducted a public hearing on a funeral home rezoning, reviewed the 2025 Citizen Survey and a 2026 rate/tax/fee outlook, and unanimously approved two water-related resolutions. Mayor Julia Wheatley returned from a leave of absence and welcomed her father as a new Queen Creek resident.

Ceremonial Matters

• Recognized For Our Town Queen Creek, a partnership between the Queen Creek Chamber of Commerce and the town launched in September 2023 to connect nonprofits, faith-based organizations, businesses, and schools. Mayor Wheatley noted the initiative's first survey identified youth mental health as the top issue and highlighted support for the QC Teen Summit, Mayor's Teen Advisory Committee, teen recreation programming, Run for Resilience, Ruck for Freedom, and Praise in the Park. Chamber CEO Chris Clark and founder John McCadden attended.
• Presented the Queen Creek Citizen Award to Brian Webster. On December 5, 2025, Webster entered a burning house near Rittenhouse and Village Loop South three times and helped save two cats and three dogs. The first-alarm fire drew crews from Queen Creek, Gilbert, and Mesa; no injuries were reported. Webster said, "You don't really think it's what you should do. You try to help people."

Committee Reports

• Mayor's Teen Advisory Committee Chair Gabrielle Chambers reported on the December 16 meeting at the Queen Creek Recreation Center. MTAC reviewed volunteer assignments for QC Hometown Christmas, enjoyed helping with crafts at the December 5 tree lighting, and served as parade judges. The committee also received a final walkthrough of the free Teen Drive-In and Movie event on December 20 at Frontier Family Park, heard from parks and recreation staff about teen programs including Link QC, Late Night at the Rec, and Esports, and discussed future projects focused on mental health awareness and volunteer opportunities. A formal proposal will be brought to the council later.

Consent Calendar

The consent agenda was approved unanimously 7-0 in one motion. It included:

• Approval of the December 3, 2025 Regular Session minutes.
• Budget adjustment of $54,686 from contingency to reconfigure cubicle furniture at the Municipal Services Building second floor.
• Police and Fire-Sworn mid-year market adjustments required by town policy, with a $184,611 contingency budget adjustment.
• Authorization of a mid-year Fire Engineer-40 hour FTE for Queen Creek Fire and Medical, with $170,685 ongoing and $71,480 one-time contingency transfers.
• Downtown Arts & Placemaking Advisory Committee 2026 Work Plan.
• Ordinance 881-25, Case P24-0023, annexation of approximately 0.14 acres at the northwest corner of Ocotillo and Hawes roads.
• Intergovernmental Agreement with ADOT for the State Route 24 and Ironwood Drive interchange.
• Re-appointment of Mayor Julia Wheatley as the town's representative on the Mesa Gateway Airport Authority Board of Directors as of December 18, 2025.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Craig Ibenez of 18849 E Strawberry Drive, a Legato community resident, raised concerns about limited right-turn access into Legato from Sossman and Ocotillo, predicting accidents as traffic increases and asking the council to review the access. He also praised town staff Mike Williams, a ClickFix employee named Kevin, and Town Manager Bruce Gardner, and noted he is a retired California municipal firefighter of 35 years.

Public Hearing: Ocotillo & Hawes Funeral Home (Ordinance 882-25)

• Principal Planner Les Johnson presented the request by Sean Lake of Pew and Lake PLC, on behalf of the property owner and SCI, to rezone about 2.72 acres from R1-43 Rural Residential to PAD C-2 Commercial; approve a site plan; and grant a conditional use permit for a 7,630-square-foot funeral home with 66 parking spaces at the northwest corner of Ocotillo and Hawes roads. The PAD would lock in the funeral home use. The site has full access off Ocotillo near the west end and a right-in/right-out access on Hawes. Staff noted there would be no crematory on site, a six-foot perimeter wall, pony walls along the Ocotillo frontage, and a monument sign at the corner.
• Public participation included a June neighborhood meeting with six residents and a unanimous November 12 Planning Commission recommendation. Staff received one email of opposition about two months earlier from a resident roughly a mile west.
• Jake Ellsworth, 1993 East Ocotillo Road, opposed the commercial zoning, saying existing Ocotillo congestion already prevents him from getting in and out of his property with horse trailers or a car. He argued the corner would be a single commercial island with no commercial on other corners and said he could gather many signatures of opposition if more time were available.
• Applicant Sean Lake responded that the parcel is an isolated 2.5-acre arterial-corner site, the town recently improved Ocotillo Road, proper notices were given, and the funeral home is a low-intensity use. SCI representatives described traffic as typically off-peak, with event capacity around 100 people and 66 parking spaces.
• Councilmembers generally supported the application. Councilmember Oliphant asked about driveway turning restrictions; Councilmember Padilla discussed congestion and said nearby residents were excited to see the property improved; Councilmember Benning called it a better use than prior proposals and noted Arizona is a property-rights state; Councilmember Brown noted the voter-approved General Plan allows C-2 commercial on up to 20 acres adjacent to arterials and said she would have opposed a convenience store or fuel station.
• The public hearing was closed, and the council approved Ordinance 882-25 unanimously 7-0.

Discussion Items

2025 Queen Creek Citizen Survey Results

• Communications manager Constance Wilson introduced the biennial survey. Dr. Sarah Strickhauser of Summit Survey Research reported that 8,500 letters were mailed to randomly selected households, with a margin of error of plus or minus four points and demographics matching census data.
• Quality-of-life ratings: 88% excellent/good for overall quality of life; 90% for neighborhood; 91% as a place to raise children; 89% as a place to live; 76% as a place to recreate, retire, and work, up from 73% in 2023. Public safety was rated excellent/good by 84%; parks, paths, and trails by 82%; traffic received the lowest rating at 13%.
• Crime victimization in the past 12 months was 4%; Mayor Wheatley later described the result as down 11% to 4%. Among those who interacted with police, 64% rated the experience excellent/good.
• Residents' top liked themes were small-town community feel, safety/family-friendliness, and convenience of shopping/parks/services. Top disliked themes were traffic/congestion, pace and pattern of growth, and growth's impact on town character. Hopes for the future included road/safety improvements, growth/infrastructure/water/open-space planning, and more unique local dining and shopping.
• Engagement and services: 86% visited a town park; 45% used the library; about 40% attended a town event; about one in five participated in recreation programs, sports leagues, outreach, or volunteering. Excellent/good ratings for town employee interactions were 94%, 92%, and 91%. Queen Creek Fire and Medical rated 94% for services, while streets/sidewalks rated 76%.
• Communication preferences favored social media and the website; 90% used the town website and about one in five used ClickFix. Governance ratings: citizen involvement 75%; value of services for taxes paid 70%; overall direction 66%; listening/responding in the 60s. A majority supported hypothetical tax increases for roads, public safety, and trails; general government support was 50.2%.
• Council comments: Benning questioned the 66% rating on educational opportunities given the number of local schools and noted long-term residents may feel disgruntled; Brown noted the town lacks post-secondary institutions; Padilla focused on traffic signal coordination and water messaging; Martinell highlighted the "family and community" word bubbles; McClure praised public safety and the 88% quality-of-life rating. The full report was said to be posted online the next day.

2026 Rate, Tax, and Fee Evaluation

• Deputy Town Manager/CFO Scott McCarty presented an introductory framework for 2026 work on utility rates, fees, and taxes, saying no decisions were requested. The town is about 60% built out, with buildout expected in 15-25 years, making it a good time to review who pays and whether policies align.
• Recent actions include a 15% water rate increase in October, a new wastewater capacity fee effective January 5, 2026, the third year of a five-year property tax freeze, and elimination of the town center sales tax. Projected operating revenues were about $174 million and expenditures about $166 million, with three major future public safety costs: police headquarters debt service, a new fire station at about $4 million per year, and a future 911 dispatch center, totaling roughly $15 million more per year by the end of the third year.
• Utilities under review: solid waste (about 28,000 addresses and 56,000 carts), wastewater, water capacity fees, the future water resource fee, and the remaining water rate study. Staff said the water capacity fee will likely be one of the first items brought to the council in 2026. The water resource fee is intended to replace CAGRD customer charges and is targeted for January 2027.
• Tax review focus: the primary property tax and the grocery/food-for-home-consumption sales tax. Councilmembers expressed support for further property tax reduction, with Vice Mayor Martinell and Councilmember Padilla open to eliminating or reducing it, and Councilmember Padilla supporting elimination of the food sales tax. Councilmember Brown cautioned that reductions must not harm public safety or transportation. McCarty said comprehensive decisions would come late summer/early fall 2026.

Key Outcomes

• The consent agenda was approved unanimously 7-0.
• Ordinance 882-25 was approved unanimously 7-0, approving the Ocotillo & Hawes PAD rezone, site plan, and conditional use permit for the funeral home.
• Resolution 1654-25 was approved unanimously 7-0, affirming the November 19, 2025 council actions related to water self-sufficiency, including Harqua Hala water acquisition financing through certificates of participation and a WIFA loan application, and direction to develop a future water resource fee.
• Resolution 1652-25 was approved unanimously 7-0, directing staff to buy down CAGRD replenishment assessments for consumption year 2025. Full implementation will save customers $11.6 million in the next billing cycle, reduce their total CAGRD bill to $4.8 million versus $16.4 million without the policy, and brings cumulative savings to about $60 million since 2018.
• Water staff noted the Harqua Hala purchase is a 1.2 million acre-foot, 100-year allocation for $244.4 million, with payments split between February and July. The goal is to move customers away from CAGRD and reduce the town's groundwater portfolio share from about 90% to roughly 6-8%.
• Discussion items required no vote. Staff will continue rate, tax, and fee analysis through 2026 and present further details at the strategic planning session and budget process.