All right, good evening, everyone.

I'd like to welcome you to the city council work session on Tuesday, October 21st.

Madam Clerk, please call the role.

Uh-oh.

Mayor Sarter.

Present.

I'm very hasting late.

He will be late today.

Uh Councilmember Haney.

I am here.

Councilmember Greenberg.

Here.

Councilmember Duffy?

Here.

Councilmember Melton.

Here.

Council Member Chuck.

Here.

Thank you, Mayor.

We have quorum.

All right.

Thank you.

Can you please read item one?

Item number one presentation and discussion pertaining to the FY twenty twenty-five.

Uh, Madam Kirk, one second.

Yes.

We have to do the Pledge of Allegiance.

Oh, thank you.

Would you all please join me in the pledge?

And to the Republican for which it stands for one nation under God, indivisible liberty and justice for all.

Madam Clerk, please read item one.

Item number one presentation and discussion pertaining to the FY twenty twenty-five financial status report through June 2025.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council.

Okay.

So I'm here this afternoon to discuss our financial status.

Whoa, that's loud.

Our financial status uh through June.

So that is why we're here in October.

We finished them up at the end of September, and now we're just kind of flushing them through.

So that's why we're here so late.

Um, after June 30th.

So we're gonna start with our sources.

As always, we always give this um slide to give you guys an idea of what we're discussing.

Our sources are our general fund revenue, local sales tax, intergovernmental, which is state shared sales tax, income tax, and vehicle license fees, charges for services are fees for our programs, um, and our services like permits and inspections.

Primary property tax.

Um any franchise utility companies working within the city.

And then our transfers in are our indirect cost assessments, um, enterprise payments for HR, finance, IT, etc.

And then there is one other category that's not on here that you will see, and that's our other category, which is our interest, our in loo write-offs, um, just miscellaneous.

That is not easy easily tracked, um, or budgeted because it will come in um in fluctuation.

So for our uh to end FY25.

Our local sales tax came in at 8.7% over budget.

For our intergovernmental, our state shared income tax came in 2% over budget, and then the shared sales tax came in 4% over budget, with the other items in that category for intergovernmental leveling out at a total of 2.9% over budget.

The charges for services category and the other ongoing category, we have we break those out for ongoing and one time.

So you'll see those two categories up top and then down under the one time area.

So for our charges for services.

Sorry.

No, I didn't.

Okay.

Charges for services.

I am so sorry, guys.

Uh, which is why we categorize some of the budget as one time in nature, because we consistently analyze these numbers.

We have reduced that budget going forward into FY26.

So we won't see such a swing.

Um the majority of these of that four million dollars.

Am I you bounced?

You bounced between um the one time and uh and ongoing revenue.

And I that's you at least that's where you lost me.

Yes.

So our charges for services and our other categories, we have both up up top and then down below under one time.

You'll see that up top the charges for services, they they balance out because we collected all 27.7 million and the 1.5 million in the other category, but we did not collect the 12.9 million that you see down in the one time for our charges for services.

Sorry about that.

Um the majority of that four million that we did not collect was due to our ambulance write-offs.

We were we wrote off uh more in ambulance than we anticipated than we budgeted.

Again, we're looking at that, and we uh we have analyzed that for FY26.

In our um other category, we put the 1.5 million as ongoing, but because it is a volatile category, we also bring down um 1.9 million down into uh one time, but we collected quite a bit more than that.

Um we collected a total of 7.8 over our other one time of 1.9.

Sandy, we have a question from councilman Jeff.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, you said you had a four million dollar write down from unexpected expenses from the from the amulet, which we don't have an ambulance fund anymore, but just from ambulance service.

Can you go more in depth on that?

What is that?

So our ambulance services are in our general fund now.

And in our general in the general fund revenue portion for the ambulances, we collect in, but then we also have to write off due to non-payment after so long, we have to write off.

Um we had four million dollars in unpaid.

Most of that four million was an ambulance, yes.

Unpaid, unpaid ambulance.

Unpaid.

Like we billed the customer and we didn't get paid.

Right.

Also, a part of that is um insurance discounts.

So it's write-offs and insurance discounts.

We have to book it as full, and then we have to deduct the insurance discounts off of it.

How much, and so it's four million more than we expected.

Because I mean, I'm imagine we we budgeted for the discount and and a certain number of right house we know we're not gonna give.

Yeah.

So we were able to write off, able to, but we wrote off it, it honestly was like 3.7 million, and then the remainder of that four million is in other areas of charges for services.

How much revenue is was it expected to bring in in total?

I would have that number.

I I don't have that number on the top of my head.

I'll look at that.

I mean, four four million is a big number.

It's a big number.

Um, when we had our we had a contract with the billing company, and we switched billing companies, and through that switching, a lot of um uncollected amounts came to the surface.

And and so is this over several years?

And this was this was sin.

Um I don't know.

Several years, yes, I don't know how long.

Okay, so and so I there's there's there's more to see here, I guess.

So can you give me the information on revenues charges, what this is from, so we can kind of when it was an ambulance when it was an enterprise fund, we looked at it a little more regularly.

Yes.

And then we rolled it into the general fund, and we probably really haven't looked at it much since then.

Right.

We we are finance is constantly analyzing it.

Um that we're with a new billing company, I believe we'll be better on track.

This is kind of one time in nature as we were playing catch-up from the previous billing company.

Okay, yeah, I'd love to see more details.

I can get that for you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Henny had a question.

Thank you, Mary.

Yeah, I just so just to clarify, obviously.

So if an individual in our city requests transport via the ambulance, we're gonna transport them.

And then we we use this billing company to try to collect if they're insured or not insured, but obviously in the emergency, we're not looking at that right away.

Um, and so to councilman Judd's point, just evaluating.

So this $4 million isn't necessarily just right now, it's over over time.

We're just trying to get more information.

We had to write it off in 25.

And we're we're looking at ways of trying to kind of recovering costs, but is it pretty it's pretty common, right?

To have some loss when it comes to these things, but we're just looking at to minimize that loss.

Absolutely.

And are we looking at what other municipalities that have a similar structure are doing?

Um, I believe the fire department has um their their billing team over the ambulance.

Um, I know they were in constant contact with finance, with our finance department with the county going over this year over year, and then as they switched the vendors, that's when a lot of this came up.

So to Judd's point, it was from prior years.

This wasn't all in 25 um missed payments.

Uh, but now we're playing catch up for the for the missed payments.

Gotcha.

Okay.

Yeah, thanks for clarification.

I know it's something that even the private sector is dealing with, just yes, we see it all the time is there's there's folks that we retransport, but then unfortunately, if they're not insured, then I can bring us in some challenges, but definitely worth looking at.

So I appreciate the clarification.

Thank you.

Yes, and I will I I will provide you guys with better detail on that.

Sandy, does any of that 4 million go to collections and we recoup any of it?

It does go to collections, not that 4 million.

Um a lot goes through collection process, but that four or 3.7 million did not it was just written off.

Okay, thank you.

But we do have a collection process for it.

So uh to finish up our our revenue, we came in 5.5% um over what we anticipated, what we budgeted for the year.

Um that being said, even though the revenues came in greater than our assumptions, they're they're never greater than our needs.

So we um we we take into account where we're at with our um expenditures as well.

So for our expenditures, personnel supply services, capital, which are one-time purchases under 100,000, and our transfers out, which um fund capital and asset replacement.

So for personnel, we ended with 3.7% in personnel savings.

This uh an example of this is we budget when when departments tell us they need so many new employees, we budget for those employees for the entire year, not knowing when they're gonna onboard.

But if they onboard in May or June, then there's that whole year.

So that 3.7% is a reflection of that.

Um our services came in 17% under budget.

Those are mostly developer reimbursements.

We budget for our entire uh what we anticipate that we could pay out to developers every year.

So if we just so we have the the funding available to pay them out, if we didn't budget for it, we'd be coming to council every time we needed to uh make a developer reimbursement.

So we budget the entire amount for all the developer reimbursements, but we did come in 17.2% under budget in that area.

Um let's see.

As you can see, I skipped over supplies.

Um we hit that right on target.

It was actually like a few thousand dollars difference, but with rounding 8.3.

Our capital category, we had 200,000 in savings due to timing of vehicle purchases with lead time.

So we order them, we try to get them in, but just timing.

Um that was that was the area that stood up the most, but it is only 200,000.

And then um our transfers out, just like in our revenue, we have uh ongoing and one-time.

So we take our transfers out and we say 17.2 million of them will be ongoing.

We do these transfers every year.

Our one-time transfers out, we anticipated 24.1 million to asset replacement and general capital, all our capital projects.

Since we had a 15,000 15 million dollar um savings, we ended up transferring that additional 15 million to our general capital fund to continue to build that fund for future capital needs.

So and with that, I can entertain more questions.

Councilman Greenberg.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um I know you don't have the how many years of oh, that's uh easiest way to say it.

The $4 million.

You don't know how many years back that goes.

Right.

The billing company that you are alluding to that we previously had, how many years were they with us?

I believe they were with us from inception, but I will have to um talk to FIRE and get that answer.

Okay.

Um the franchise fees that you had at 7.2%.

Do you have a breakdown of what entities?

I do.

I do.

And APS made up most of that stuff.

That was gonna be my next question.

Yes, it was APS.

So basically electric charges to compensate for the excess of heat or hopefully.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

Um that's all I had.

Thank you.

Okay.

Any other comments or questions from council?

All right.

Thank you.

Appreciate your presentation.

Thank you, Sad.

Madam Clerk, please read item two.

Item two, presentation and discussion regarding the transportation department strategic plan.

Good evening, Eric.

How are you?

Mayor, council, how are you this evening?

Good.

So perfect.

Very excited to share my transportation strategic plan with you tonight.

I have some of the team back there, if you can see them, they're not the ones in the all-white shirts.

You know, we're we're just wearing regular clothes.

Um but I do think it's fitting that uh uh transportation is the first public safety function that is giving their presentation tonight.

Um spur along, I got you.

Don't worry.

Um with our mission statement.

Uh, that's to establish and maintain a safe and efficient transportation system that enhances the mobility of people and goods, supports responsible growth, and delivers exceptional customer service to our community.

So this is our mission statement.

We we sat in a room with the entire team for like four or five hours trying to hammer out what do we want to say to our residents and what do we want to live by?

And this is basically came from our entire team, and we put a focus on you know, making sure our transportation network is safe and efficient.

You know, they also wanted to make sure that we're serving our residents.

So I think that this really represents kind of what what our team is is looking to do moving forward and supporting uh your guys' strategic plan as well.

So a little department overview, our core services and function is streets maintenance and operation, uh, transportation systems management and operations or TISMO, if you've never heard of it, uh traffic engineering, and then our administration branch.

A few of our special programs that we do run are an adopt a street program and then our trip reduction uh that we do every year uh to support ADAQ and trying to reduce trips and and air quality.

So we're doing our strategic priorities align.

So, like I said, we're we're the first public safety one to to kind of step up.

So uh we really align with two different priorities out of your guys' strategic plan.

The one being uh first and foremost transportation, and then as well supplementing our public safety uh strategic plan uh as well.

Um so like I said, providing that safe, accessible and resilient transportation network not only ensure ensures our mobility for our community, but it does also strengthen public safety, it supports our economic development and it enhances your guys' strategic planning goals.

So let's kind of get into the meat and potatoes.

Uh so City Council Public Safety Strategy 1.2, ensure the city continues to be prepared for emergencies through planning and personnel training.

So we're gonna kind of attack this from three different ways.

First is we're uh working to uh establish a full-time incident response team.

So, much like you saw in the storms the last couple weeks, you know, we we we have we're lean and efficient now, but we don't have a dedicated team that just responds to incidents.

So we think really going that extra mile and providing a full-time incident response is gonna help the city, you know, make sure that our roadways are open in times of emergency, be able to support fire and PD and you know when accidents happen on US 60 and 163rd or you know, other areas in the city to make sure that we can get people to and from where they need to go.

Um, number two, we're gonna develop a training program to better prepare staff for incident response situations.

So as we bring on that incident response program, we're gonna train them as if that's that's their mission and that's their vision to get done, responding to incidents.

Um, it's much like if you've ever seen uh ADOT incident response operate, you know, they are they are dedicated, they have a training program that they go through to respond to those incidents.

We're gonna kind of model that as well.

And then the third one, we're gonna develop and maintain an emergency equipment staging plan that ensures critical supplies and assets are kind of pre-positioned throughout the city so that we're ready and prepared when those when those emergencies happen.

All right, let's go to uh transportation strategy 2.1.

It's pursue innovative financing for infrastructure improvements within the city.

Um I probably beat this to death, you guys.

There's never enough money to do everything that we need to do for transportation.

So we kind of took an innovative approach to say, well, how can I help supplement the general fund and how can we bring additional dollars to fund some of these roadway projects?

So uh in uh FY26, we're gonna work with uh the finance department to uh kind of develop the groundwork for maybe a future adoption of a transportation impact fee.

We've kind of done this a couple times.

You know, we've been beaten up by the development community or the home builders to try to you know keep those those home prices down, but we do think it's beneficial that development pays for itself.

So we're gonna take a run at uh trying to establish what that would look like so we can get some of those large regional improvements that uh you guys are looking for so that we can serve our residents.

Uh, number two, we're gonna work with the finance department on develop of a citywide traffic signal fee.

So, as you know, as development comes in, you know, historically speaking, the four corners pay for the traffic signal, right?

Well, with the heads as development comes in at different rates, it's very difficult to get that done.

Uh so we're gonna look at ways that we can maybe broaden that that scope and kind of expand that who's paying for that traffic signal and then get that uh through a citywide fee rather than try to put in an impact fee or something of that nature.

I think it'll make us a little bit more nimble.

I think it'll provide an additional funding source for that.

And then I think the development community will actually like it because it'll be kind of spread out larger than just those four hard corners on a signal.

So I think it benefits us from both both ways on that.

So we've worked with a couple cities that kind of take this approach.

So we're gonna see if it's viable in our city, and we think it would be a beneficial thing.

And then number three, we're gonna establish an evaluation tool for potential grant opportunities to ensure that the department is maximizing our resources for grant uh application development, right?

There's a lot of grants out there, but which ones are right?

Where should we be spending our resources?

Because we don't have a whole lot of them to put us in the best position to uh gain additional dollars, you know, through grant opportunities.

All right, uh council uh transportation strategy 2.2, continue to aggressively make improvements to key local transportation corridors.

I think that's a given, right?

Um our goal is to expand the city's transportation network by 30 lane miles each year.

So I know that that sounds like a lot, uh, but I think historically speaking, with projects that we have in the queue and what we've done over the last five years looking at it, we think it's an attainable but yet kind of aggressive goal to push push our transportation network.

Um, you know, we got to make those connections.

We got to provide roadways for our residents.

Umber two, we're gonna develop um as new development comes into the city, we're gonna work with developers to construct some of the required on-site and off-site transportation infrastructure to support the development with a focus on those east-west corridors.

Um great example of this you'll see in uh the meeting later today is desert trails uh development coming in.

You know, how are we gonna get connections east and west to serve the development so we're not just have one way in and out?

Um so I think working with development that way will help bring more infrastructure to our residents.

And then number three, enhance the efficiency and performance of the roadway network by empowering data driven strategies such as traffic signal timing, modernization of technologies and kind of looking at what new technology is out there to support us, right?

If we can't do it with manpower, how can we do be smart and nimble and take a different approach to kind of look at it?

You know, Albert and his crew do a great job of leveraging technology so that we can make the transportation network as efficient as possible.

All right, transportation strategy 2.3, provide for greater regional interconnectivity.

Um first goal is going to be complete the final design of the Joe Max Road extension project in FY26 and then ensure that the projects maintained and on schedule for construction in FY27.

As you know, uh in Council Member Handy's district, that's going to be a vital connection that will provide alternatives to Happy Valley Road and 163rd.

So we're going to push that one forward, try to get it done as soon as possible.

Um, we're gonna work with Madden and ADOT on designing the State Route 303, 155th Avenue traffic interchange, as well as the RTO roadway connections into one project because it is a regional connection point.

Um so we're working with them to make sure that as they build that TI, those those arterial connections are made at the same time.

So it's feeding one basically giant regional uh perspective on that, right?

So we're trying to get everything done at one time, make sure that we're we're advancing it as fast as we can, but being smart about when we do that and making sure that uh those projects kind of tie together.

And then number three, we're gonna work with the city of Peoria and the National Guard on other possible connections uh to State Route 74, whether that's 167th Avenue up to State Route 74 or other avenues to where we can use our partners to the to the east to try to gain more additional access points up there.

Um we took a good stab at it and it resulted in the Jomax Road extension first, but we do think moving in the future, there's some more opportunities there.

So we're gonna try to pursue those to see where we can go with them.

And then uh transportation strategy 2.4, we're gonna foster a safe transportation experience for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists.

Um so to ensure roadway safety for our motors and pedestrians, we're gonna provide uh and maintain 200 lane miles each year.

Um, so that uh basically keeping up our pavement preservation program.

You know, we can make it as make the roads as safe as possible, but they also have to be travelable and drivable, right?

That also adds to our safety.

So we do a really good job.

Jacob and his his team maintains our roads.

We want to keep them in that good shape, not only help us from a safety standpoint, but also helps us from a financial standpoint because we're basically changing our oil every year.

You know, we're not uh we're not rebuilding a motor, right?

So it helps us from a few different aspects.

Um we're gonna establish a program to evaluate pedestrian facilities uh for ADA compliance and provide ADA upgrades to ensure pedestrian connectivity and accessibility.

I think you guys have kind of all kind of gotten you know, emails.

Why doesn't the sidewalk connect over here?

How do we make sure?

So we're actually gonna sit down and establish a program of how do we make those connections, what does that investment look like?

How do we make sure that our ADA uh compliance is up to date and our pedestrians can get across all modes of transportation?

And then finally, we're gonna create a pedestrian safety program for high schools within the city.

Um, and then as funding's available, we're gonna implement those recommended improvements around them.

You kind of see we're already stepped, you know, into the pool a little bit with that, a Shadow Ridge High School.

Um, you know, our our crossings at Reims and uh Cereval and Choya, you know.

So we want to make sure we actually establish a program that we kind of look at that that's based out of traffic engineering, you know, so Kron and his team so that we can actually take a look at, make sure we have an approach, and then let's let's figure out a way to implement those over time.

All right, so some of our key projects and initiatives, so you know, um, our transportation master plans ongoing, right?

Um we're about 30% complete.

Uh we got our first uh our first main public outreach meeting coming up here uh in late October, November.

Um that's uh estimated to be completed at the end of fall of 2026.

Our 103rd or 163rd Avenue roadway improvements, finished the first phase.

Now we're gonna move up to the second phase and we're gonna finish Happy Valley up to Joe Max.

Um so we're pretty much done.

I think final paving on that last phase is gonna happen in November, and then uh after the first year, we're gonna move north.

Uh so we can anticipate early 2027 being completion on that.

Um, and then our cotton lane and Peori Avenue intersection.

That one's got a little bit new light on it after the last rain event.

So we're uh we're moving that one forward.

We're gonna take a look at what we can do at that area.

Um, we know it's a very very congested intersection, not a lot of capacity.

Uh so we're gonna move that one forward.

And then, like I said, our Joe Max Road extension project.

We're currently 60% design.

We almost have a contractor on board, so we're moving.

Um, so we're we're pushing that one as fast as possible.

All right, what are our challenges and opportunities?

I'm gonna say it like always funding, funding, funding.

I'm not asking for any more.

I'm just telling you.

Sorry, Andrew and Sandy.

Um staffing, you know, our regulatory barriers, uh barriers, those are just things that we have.

Um, you know, we are uh uncannyly, we have a lot of um maybe fire has more, but we have a lot of long-term employees in our department.

At some point, they're all gonna retire, and we're gonna have to try to fill those.

So um that's some of our challenges that we have, but it's a good thing.

We have a lot of knowledge in our department, we just gotta figure out a way to keep it there.

Um, and then some of the opportunities we have, you know, cross-departmental efforts, uh, innovation, working on a grant, our transportation master plan is gonna help with that.

Um this last budget cycle, we you guys approved another internal seal coat pro uh crew for us that kind of expanded our scope of what we can do.

We don't have a contractor doing that now where we're doing it in house, we're saving some money.

We're trying to be as nimble and efficient as possible.

Um, and then like I said, our incident response team.

So here's the here's their motto.

I'm gonna say it right here.

We we kind of said, we're here to serve you.

So this is a picture of the team.

They're excited.

They kind of when they interact with our residents, that's what they do.

You can kind of see how how smiling and approachable all that that ragtag group of people are.

Um, but we do take pride in uh trying to serve our residents, and that's kind of the mantra that they live by.

So with that, I got uh I'll take any questions and comments from you guys.

All right.

Thank you.

Great presentation.

Councilman Greenberg.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh, a couple little guys.

Uh citywide traffic signal fee that you mentioned.

Would that be replacing the SLID on the techs uh worms that we get, or is that gonna be extra?

Uh mayor, council member greenberg, uh the the slid really goes for traffic street lights, not for traffic signals.

Okay.

Uh so it wouldn't be replacing that.

Oh, that's another it's just trying to find a way to to kind of uh expand the reach of who's paying for those signals at the at the mile intersections or half mile intersections.

I always thought they said for stop light improvement district.

Street line improvement.

Street light improvement.

Street light, there we go.

Okay, don't call them street lights.

Albert will get really nice on street lights.

It's not a stoplight, it's a traffic light.

There you go.

Okay, yeah, signal.

Okay.

Uh is there any AI for we're using for signal timing uh optimization?

Uh Mayor, Councilmember Greenberg, I'm gonna say yes.

I mean, I think it's right in the very very front of it, right?

You know, we're just diving into that.

But like if you've ever been to the TMC, like some of the software that we use is constantly evaluating, you know, how much demand we have, and then it's calculating what how to adjust signal timing.

I think I think in the future you're gonna see more and more of integration of AI into that technology, especially on the signal side.

Um, so I'll say yes, but it there's more to come.

Okay.

And then you said we wanted to do your estimate.

You're going for 30 lane miles per year.

How much does it currently cost to do a mile?

Man, you're putting me on the spot.

Oh, just to the nearest million.

Um I just say a lot.

Um, you know, um, I'll give you uh a good example.

Um, and council member uh Haney's district.

We did a quarter mile of just two-lane road.

Um it ran us close to two million, I think.

Um, so I mean it it's always changing, you know.

I've heard quotes from a lane mile cost you eight million to some 12 million.

All depends on the location, like, you know, what's the what's the the geometrics, like how much wash crossings do we have in there?

It's just it's so difficult to just kind of pinpoint that.

But um, that's uh anywhere from eight to twelve is probably a good good round number to use.

Okay, thanks.

That's all for me.

Councilman Melton.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

Uh Dr.

Boyles.

I my residents have made it very clear to me what they want is greater connectivity east to west, especially east.

And you guys are doing the best you can, constrained by budgets and geography.

And the fact that you were to dovetail on what uh councilman Greenberg says that the fact that you are willing to think outside the box, deploying fiber where we have to do it to improve traffic signal coordination to use AI, we're still yes, the trap the traffic control center uses a lot of sophisticated PLC logic that um and in time, as you noted, uh AI will improve that to become more predictive.

The fact that you guys are willing to do that, you and Albert, uh, I really appreciate that.

And my residents appreciate it.

So thank you, Eric.

And thanks for the presentation.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you, Mayor.

That's all I have.

All right, thank you.

Councilman Haney.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh, of course, I have a few things to say, and it's fitting because I remember when we were talking about what our council priorities are.

I was put in a bind because I had to pick between my public safety family and my newly adopted transportation family, and that was was hard.

Um, but I appreciate your presentation and and a lot of the stuff that you brought up, I think is key.

And one of the things you mentioned was um kind of innovative ways to fund and I think both the development community as well as our residents, and we see it especially in district one as we develop is wanting more proactive action, not reactive action.

And I think kind of looking at how do we currently fund traffic signals and different infrastructure and how can we use different funding mechanisms to be proactive.

I really like that we're pursuing that because I think it'll pay off um in the in the long run.

I really also like because we've had a couple of uh meetings already about the pedestrian safety around high schools, and obviously there's no clear cut answer, although it may seem like it is, and and I appreciate that we're looking into that because I think at the core of it, most folks just want to know that if their students are walking to school, they're gonna be safe.

Well, at the same time, maybe the the mitigation measures that they're suggesting to us may have a negative impact on response times or their overall traffic flow.

It's it's encouraging to see that you're working on it.

Um, and I did have to just give a shout on it.

And I know we all know this, but it's crazy to think a few years ago, this is not here.

This didn't exist.

And I I've got to say you, as the director and the fighting llamas and your team do an incredible job.

Um so good that we actually um my daughter's room is llama themed, and I think that there it was this kind of a four there's a premonition almost, but it's seriously, you guys do such great work, and we always email back and forth.

And if it's not you and I, it's it's Albert or Jacob, and you guys are so informative.

And my residence just and you know, transportation is a big deal over there, but my residents just appreciate the heck out of you guys and and the heart for service that you all have.

And Eric, can you kind of just touch on we've obviously had a few storms?

How much debris did you guys clear?

Rough estimate of those two storms.

Mayor and uh council member Haney.

Um, so don't quote me on this.

I think we were at like 57 to 65 trees the first storm.

Um, and then in that second storm, there wasn't a whole lot of wind, so there wasn't a lot of tree knockdown, but there's a lot of flooding.

So you know, we cleared Dove Valley Road, we cleared you know, all those roadways up north that had you know just natural washes running through it.

I mean, we worked tirelessly, you know, for for two straight days to make sure that the roads were open for our residents.

So uh, you know, I I wouldn't give you a tonnage on it, it's just it's a lot.

No, I mean, and to you guys' credit, you worked throughout the weekend, yeah.

Never complain.

I think the only response I got is we got you.

And you guys did, and and I know our residents really appreciate it, and I just appreciate, like I said, the heart for service that you and your team have, your willingness to meet with anyone, discuss any topic with anyone, and just being creative and aggressive because transportation is a big deal.

You you you call 911, the fire truck and then police police car can't get to to the emergency if the roads aren't aren't where they need to be.

And so increasing the overall connectivity, making sure that we're being proactive and having a vision for the future is key, and that doesn't happen without the right people in place, and that's you and your team.

And I know you're humble and you're not going to take credit, but we appreciate you guys a lot.

And um, I did want to give a shout out too.

I know we always joke about traffic and the challenges, and it's always in district one, but um, this council has been extremely supportive um in helping us pursue uh solutions into district one specifically.

And I know it's not always easy because we all represent our respective districts, but I I have to give a shout-out to my colleagues for always being willing to hear me out and to support your efforts and to try to increase connectivity, increase the overall safety and be proactive, especially as we talk about those regional connections.

And so uh just shout out to you guys and the work that you do, and one last story.

We had a community meeting.

I took it from Judd and Duffy and Hastings and the traffic control center and Albert.

I think Albert could have talked all night about all the traffic.

We actually had to shoot him out with the rest of the residents staying there.

But it's it's nice to know that there's passionate folks in in this line of work that really do just want to make our city better.

And so I can't sing enough praises to you guys in the work that you do.

So we're very appreciative.

Mayor, councilmember Haney, you know, thank you.

But like as you know, it's it's all them.

You know, it's it's I I'm just I'm just there just just steering the rudder, and they're the ones that are that are doing everything.

But I thank you guys for your support to us.

I mean, it our guys know that you know, when when they go out to do something, you guys, you guys got their back, and it it's what makes them you know ready to come to work every day.

So kudos to you guys as well.

Thank you, Councilman John.

Thank you, Mayor.

Well, thank you, Eric.

You're doing it, you're doing a fantastic job.

Um, I love everything you're doing.

You're doing a great job of communicating with us, letting us know what's going on.

And one of the things that that I remember from when I first got on council, we went through our first um capital improvement plan, and we had a plan on there to do something for roads, and it got blown up.

And uh it got sent back to the to the drawing board.

And so I'm I'm glad that you're picking it up again and trying to find some creative way to make it work.

Because as we know, we make development do their own road improvements, so it's hard to balance those two things when you've got when they're already taking care of their side street or the the streets around them.

Um so thank you very much.

And then also you were talking about uh your emergency management plan or preparing for for big storms coming.

What kind of assets would you deploy and where would you deploy them?

Uh Mayor, uh Councilmember Jed, so we have you know, probably, you know, uh uh an inventory of 10 to 12, you know, heavy machinery, you know, that we stage throughout the city.

We got tractors, loaders, graders, dump trucks, you know.

So um, you know, Jake even his team, you know, before every monsoon season, they go through and say, you know, where are their areas?

And we try to do it from a strategic standpoint because we want our response to be as fast as possible.

So if you're ever driven by Fire Station 303, there's uh there's uh there's a Gannon tractor sitting up there, or if you go by fire station 303 and on Greenway, there's another one sitting there, so that we strategically place those things, and then we try to place people as well in those areas so that uh, you know, we're we're ready to respond when the call comes.

Um so we we're looking at that.

And I think what we'll do from there is as you know, our inventory and our fleet grows, we'll we'll continue to look at those others because in the last storm event, you know, it was we're expecting everything up north and and pure and and cottons underwater, you know.

So how do we make sure that we look at those things and and place those things where we need to be?

So uh we're we're working to get there, and I think it'll you'll see a lot more of uh of that to come as as we create that incident response program.

Well, it looks everything looks good.

Thank you very much.

Councilman Duffy.

Thank you, Mayor.

Eric, I'm gonna say thank you to you too, even though you started today with I have bad news for you, which he gets a we'll we're on it, or whatever he said he gets, but I always get it's bad news.

Personality difference, I'm guessing I guess that's gotta be what it is.

But anyway, so I uh I appreciate the presentation and what you guys are doing.

But what you're not seeing on there, what nobody ever sees is how much we really bug you.

And I call a lot.

Yeah, and one thing I never say to you is hey, we need to stop by it, or this and that, if funding allows.

I don't think I've ever said that.

I just say, hey, find a way to make it work.

Yep.

And you always find a way to make it work.

And I guess getting us off your back is the best thing you do.

So I wouldn't say that.

I'm just you know, we we're we're innovative when we need it.

I bother you a lot, I can't imagine.

Well, I know he does every day.

We all call you with who knows what crosswalks, lights, all that, but you always find a way to do it.

And then you always tell me if we can or not do it.

You always keep it straight and I appreciate it.

You never beat around the bush with it.

Yep.

So I appreciate it.

And uh we'll just keep going.

Thanks.

Yeah, how's it going, Eric?

Thank you so much for presenting.

I enjoyed every single bit of it.

I know you're for it.

Um I did go the speed limit, like at the maximum level that's allowed on to get here on time to be here for a part of this presentation to give you a few shout-outs.

Um, you know, obviously the first shout-out has to go to Bob for creating the transportation department.

I remember getting on the city council uh a few years ago now.

And the the biggest I think hurdle I focused on is like obviously there's certain things, you know, police is police, fire is fire, but you know, hey, you get a call about a road or about a water, you know, stuff that's not as you know, it doesn't get talked about as much in like maybe the political realms of stuff.

And going through the list of directors, like, you know, who do I call pub public works?

You're like, what's what's that?

You know, who who am I calling?

So having like a dedicated transportation department, because I felt like you know, I was calling you know the time, um, Mike Jen or Kristen for it was like I just assume public works was just roads.

It's like, no, it's actually a lot of other things.

And so having a dedicated transportation department, um, also having you know, Councilman Haney, um, you know, here in in District 12.

I think the reality is that North Surprise and District One makes out over half of Surprises Landmass, but obviously is you know, one sixth of the population, and he's done a good job, you know, I think advocating for his district.

Um, I know for me, working at Cimeron this year, I've ridden the bus a few times because you know, we have a couple of rowdy kids.

And so for the like sitting on a bus, a public school bus, you know, in the traffic going up to a Sante, that that is an experience.

So, you know, let me tell you.

Um, you know, so but being able to experience it firsthand, because I think a lot of people just don't understand, like most of us southerners, you know, down here.

Um, you know, there's not a lot of, I mean, you can go to the the fries, it's pretty cool up there.

And you get, you know, we're getting some stuff, but um, just appreciate you.

But even in District Five, um, you know, with the wall, the wall incident and the rail incident, and obviously it, you know, being something that um just the way we handled it this time, so much better.

Um, the rails going in, um, working with police to, you know, focus on speeding in the area, partnering with public safety.

I was thinking of an analogy, and I struggle with these, but I'm a big football fan.

And in football, like the most thankless position is probably like the offensive linemen because whenever.

No, I'm just like, you know, because in the reason for that is like when you do your when you do your job, like everybody just kind of expects you to do your job.

And on people only really notice, like when you mess up, like, what are you doing?

Like, why aren't you you know, blocking the guy?

And I apologize and everybody understands that reference, but you know, we don't really realize how important roads are until they're flooded or until they're rough.

And it's like, ah, who do we, you know, who do we call?

And of course they call us and we call you and stuff.

So um, Eric actually had a resident reach out um regarding you know the rails going in Northwest Ranch, which backs up to Mountain Vista because that wall is unfortunately getting uh driven into.

And there was an issue kind of with the cones, there's some confusion.

Um, and so I just kind of text him on Saturday, unfortunately.

We do that sometimes, and we understand that it's the weekend and things to be picked up on Monday.

But Eric just told me he had just spoken with the resident and went out there himself.

So I don't know how close you lived out of the area, but just took it upon himself to drive out there, and I told him I was gonna embarrass him and give him give him props.

But I mean, you you work hard.

We have a great you know team here in surprise.

I can't say enough about all the good stuff you do.

So thank you.

Uh mayor, Vicemor, appreciate it so much.

But like I said, it's it's a whole team effort from Kristen to Mike to all of us.

Like we we do it all together.

So we're we we we love it.

We love it here.

You know, Eric, I don't know if there's much more I can say after all my colleagues have gone, but I just want to say thanks to you and your entire uh department.

You guys are there day in, day out, Rainershire and you know, you're uh uh innovative, agile, which is kind of rare in government when I appreciate that, and you're committed to the city.

So uh you're doing a great job leading that department.

I appreciate your tie-in to the strategic plan, and um yeah, I'm very thankful.

So thank you.

Well, thank you.

Item three presentation and discussion regarding the surprise fire medical department strategic plan.

Yeah, I know it's thanks for the soft landing here.

I got you.

Public safety first.

That's perfect.

Thank you, sir.

Well, that's gonna be tough to follow up.

Good luck.

It is a collaborative team effort.

Oh, it's not a sabotage already.

No, I just want to say thank you to Eric because I think the connection and the relationship with your team has probably never been better.

And the communication with our radios, the Evertell messaging, even with uh all of y'all, if that's the right way to say that, and then the understanding of where those problems are happening.

Uh, it seems like we're figuring that out in real time.

So it's been really wonderful.

So and then thank you, Virginia, and thank you, um, Janine for helping me get my thing on here.

It was like three minutes before we're about to start.

And they took the the time to help me get there.

So all right, good evening, mayor, vice mayor, city council members.

I had the distinct honor of being the interim fire chief for the surprise fire medical department.

This afternoon, I'll be providing an overview of our organization.

Identify where we are headed, how our efforts align with City of Surprise strategic strategic initiatives.

Before we begin, I'd like to introduce some of my members from our team.

So, Deputy Chief Randy Forsetto.

Raise your hand.

Raise your hand.

So he's uh he's our operations uh in charge of operations.

Uh Deputy Chief Jesus Rivera, who leads our EMS division, and then Deputy Chief Cody Warrell, who manages fire administration.

Battalion Chief Forrest Coontz, who's got a new division, which is our safety and member services.

So more to come on that.

And then last but definitely not least, uh fire and life safety education specialist Jamie Mickler.

So together with interim deputy city manager Brendan Espy, this team and the men and women of the Surprise Fire Medical Department represent the backbone of our organization and everything that we do.

So our mission statement is to protect and preserve life and property with the highest level of safety, customer service, pride and professionalism.

Always there, always ready.

The Surprise Fire Medical Department is an all hazards response organization.

When someone calls 911, we respond and mitigate the incident no matter what the incident type.

Our core work includes fire suppression, emergency medical services, and transport, hazardous materials response, all supported by strong logistics and careful planning to ensure that we're ready for the city's continued growth.

Fire Station 310 is currently in the design phase, located at Deer Valley Road and 185th Avenue.

It is scheduled to open in about two years.

And the apparatus for that station is already on order, a process that now takes nearly three years to complete.

Our training division provides year-round training and supports the annual recruitment and development of our newest firefighter recruits, ensuring they're fully prepared to serve our community.

Battalion Chief Forrest Kuntz behind me leads our newest division, safety and member services, which focuses on the overall well-being of our firefighters.

This division oversees exposure tracking, annual firefighter physicals, cancer screenings, and wellness programs designed to keep our members healthy, strong, and ready for the job.

Our department's work directly supports the City of Surprise strategic priorities, beginning with public safety.

We're strategically hiring each year and provide continuous training to maintain operational readiness.

Transportation, Chief Cody Warell has partnered with Albert Garcia and Transportation Director, Eric Boyles to enhance traffic signals, preemption technology, improving intersection safety.

Community experience, fire preventions.

Jamie Mickler leads our community risk reduction, safety education, and public engagement programs, strengthening our connection with residents.

Some examples of those community risk reduction would be smoke alarm programs, fall prevention, car seat programs, uh wildland urban interface for district one.

Safety education examples would be fire and burn prevention for vulnerable populations.

Public engagement would be like game night, uh, fire station tours, block parties.

Fiscal responsibility is central to what we do.

Through automatic aid and grant funding, we share resources, enhance services, and stretch taxpayer dollars.

Economic development, the surprise fire prevention division supports business growth and safety by conducting inspections of commercial businesses, ensuring fire code compliance and protecting both employees and the residents who work, shop, and visit at these establishments.

Government transparency, the Surprise Fire Medical Department earned international accreditation from the Center for Public Safety Excellence in March of 2025.

It was our second time reaching that uh goal.

And actually, thank you, Mayor Sartor, for traveling to Florida with us and being there as we sat before the commission.

That was really wonderful.

Thank you for your support.

It was with uh pride and honor.

Yes.

Oh, pride and honor.

Okay, well done, sir.

So we have published our community risk assessment and standards of cover online, reinforcing our commitment to accountability and using this resource to make informed data-driven decisions.

Water conservation is our top priority.

We only use what is needed to control fires.

We limit water use during training scenarios, partnering with Director Mike Boole's city water conservation efforts.

So council strategic 1.1, some of the things that we're doing, we're maintaining emergency response readiness by tracking performance through our records management system and conducting workforce planning as part of our 2025 Public Safety Master Plan.

Working with Joseph Young and the city's CIA GIS team, we've developed new performance zones across Surprise, giving us a clearer picture of how we're performing and meeting community needs as the city grows.

We've also identified ways to strengthen community engagement, particularly through community paramedicine program, which we plan to expand greatly next year.

So Council Strategy 1.2, here's how we're handling that.

We're partnering with Surprise Police Department on the 2025 Public Safety Master Plan.

Our consultant, CityGate has reviewed our data, assessed operations, enter interviewed personnel, and they are developing a long-term roadmap that helps both departments grow within the city.

We're also expanding training with multiple fire academies plan.

We currently have 14 paramedic students in the training pipeline.

And we continue to collaborate with our emergency manager Kim Campbell on annual exercises that strengthen and readiness our large for large-scale or complex incidents.

We strengthen member health and safety through training, wellness and accountability.

Programs include peer support, EAP, personal protective equipment so PPE care and maintenance and decontamination and cleaning.

Exposure tracking for smoke inhalation, toxic exposure, and emotional stress exposures.

That's for uh complying with the Craig Tiger Act.

We track injuries closely and we meet with human resources and risk monthly to review significant injuries that have longer downtimes.

Chief Kunts with the Chief Kunts with the surprise police department, procurement and finance is adding red light therapy, cryotherapy, and infrared sauna therapy through a third-party vendor to support recovery and well-being of all first responders.

So that's both police and fire.

Okay, so slide nine key projections and initiatives.

So the public safety master plan, I kind of mentioned that that will come before this council in March of 26.

Fire station locations and staffing.

That's really ongoing.

We're working with our vendor city gate.

We have a really great idea of where the next few fire stations need to go.

And that's based off of projections, population projections that were provided by uh Lloyd and his team.

So Lloyd, if you're around, thank you, sir.

And then health and wellness, we kind of touched on this earlier, but providing multiple options for our members is is key moving forward.

So challenges and opportunities, like Eric said, funding is always going to be challenges.

It's always gonna be challenged.

Station apparatus staffing are all costly.

But with council support, we have the tools to keep moving forward, all continue open communication on our needs as we expand service delivery.

We're addressing staffing needs through aggressive firefighter hiring with job offers to top candidates being made soon for the next two fire academies.

We value collaboration across all partners and continue seeking new opportunities to innovate.

One of the ones that I'm most excited about is going to be partnering with the surprise police department for a DFR program.

So it stands for uh drone as a first responder.

That's an innovative program that's going to enhance safety for both police and fire.

And with that, uh myself and my team would take any questions if you guys have any.

Councilwoman Melton.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thanks, Chief.

Uh one thing I want the public to know is not only do you support obviously our residents, but you provide regional support as well.

And I just thought I just remembered um you we are city supported Glendale during the Charlie Kirk funeral.

And that we have that uh ability to you know project to support the rest of West Valley.

Um, I think is incredible.

I just wanted to publicly say that.

Um, because I don't think a lot of people know that.

So uh thank you.

And again, you you uh PD and Fire Medical did a great job last week during the during the during the protest.

You guys you guys have that down to a science.

I really appreciate and there was no no no no problems with this minor minor vehicle collision.

So uh thank you for your uh thank you, all your talented staff and everything you do to support our community and the West Valley region.

Thanks.

Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Councilman Melton, thank you so much for the kind words.

Uh yes, as far as opening the EOC, whether it's a a storm or a protest or a planned event.

We've we've really kind of gotten really good with all of the collaboration with all of the cities.

So it's really a group effort.

As far as the Charlie Kirk event on uh September 21st, that that was a heavy lift for everybody.

And uh I'm also very proud of that because we had a lot of people in forward locations.

I think Chief Koontz was out there as West Sector.

We had our uh threat liaison officer that was actually in Trump's motorcade or President Trump's motorcade.

Uh, we had people in walking team, bike team.

We we literally had rescue 307 in President Trump's motorcade.

We got some really great pictures with uh Air Force One, but but thank you for the kind words.

Yes, sir.

Okay.

Not seeing any other comments or questions from council.

All right.

Jack can go first because it's gonna be seven minutes.

Vice Mayor.

No.

Okay.

Appreciate all you guys do.

And I I think for the record, there's there's been a few interims around here.

I think all of our interims are doing awesome for the record.

Um, I think I think you guys are rocking it.

Um, I just want to say thanks for all you guys do.

Um, you know, I'll just say without getting into too much detail.

I I think like a lot of us, like I think a lot of people don't think about the work that goes into these types of things.

They just kind of assume it gets taken care of.

And one of the first people I met with when I was running for city council was fire captain Mike Payne, who is the previous um association president, and he you know said early on, he's like, you know, our all of our trucks say always they're always ready.

You know, and it's our job to do that regardless of what we're provided with, you know, and we you know love any support we can have as far as like the funding piece.

And you know, I'm 31, my wife's 30, and so we're generally healthy people, but you know, there's a situation towards the beginning of the year where we had to make a nine-one call.

And it's it's not a situation that anybody who ever wants to be in.

Um, but the level of service, I mean, from that experience from other experiences that I've heard.

I mean, everybody has just always had positive, you know, experiences with you guys.

You don't necessarily get to see, and it's similar to police, people on their best day, right?

And so we appreciate everything you do.

Um as far as, you know, obviously we know in today's day and age, there's been a change as far as you know, dangers to I think I don't know.

I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think like, you know, firefighter, you would think like, oh, the biggest is you know, concern is is you know, catching on fire.

Obviously, you're dealing with fires.

Um, but talk about like, you know, cancer and kind of not the elephant in the room, but there's there's been increased awareness of you know, firefighters getting cancer, you know, kind of what are we doing to protect, you know, our guys.

You know, we I think we did do some some extra set of turnouts.

Obviously, our newer fire stations have.

Can you can you expand on that a little bit?

Absolutely.

So very much uh mayor, vice mayor, city council.

Great question.

So cancer does happen.

There's a much greater likelihood for people that are in the fire service to get cancer throughout their life.

We have been very proactive, and I think that we have literally flipped the script and we do everything different from when myself and my colleagues behind me first started.

Um, we now have through your support, we have two sets of turnouts, which was extremely expensive.

But we take decontamination and getting that second set of turnouts very seriously.

So after a fire in the old days, you just throw your stuff on the truck and then you go home and then you clean the truck.

Now we have policies we have decontamination.

We're on the scene, they are taking off all of those equipment, they're bagging it up and they're keeping it separate from them.

It's not even going into the cab of the truck.

Then as soon as they get back to the station, the first thing they do before anything else is they take a shower.

That's unheard of in the past.

But you take a shower, you get those contaminants off you, you get your second set of turnouts, you put the truck back in service.

That's how important this is.

So basically the the smoke goes all over your body, goes all over your skin, largest organ in your body.

And then as you sweat, it goes down into your swimsuit region.

And there's been a large prevalence of um, you know, rectal cancer is really what it comes down to.

So it seems kind of counterintuitive because you're like, oh my gosh, we're protecting our lungs.

But then there's a high, you know, likelihood of that type of cancer.

So through the decontamination processes, through your support, through the second set of turnouts, I feel like we are really at the tip of the spear as far as being progressive in the fire service.

Yeah.

I think it's always something, you know, we can work to do better at.

I mean, it's like how much stuff do we not know that's out there too?

I have one more question for you, too.

And so, you know, typically, I'm not super familiar with how retirement works, whether it's regular retirement or you know, in PSPRS, which I believe is your guys' policy.

But when when people retire, typically, you know, they're like, you know, 5060s, you get like Medicare, Medicaid.

Typically, firefighters work how many years?

I know there's different kind of, I think it's tiers and stuff, but typically if a firefighter gets on, you know, the last 10 years or so, is it 25 years they're on, or how long typically sure.

Um, so mayor, vice mayor, counsel, that's a great question.

And it's a little bit complex.

So if you've been hired prior to, I believe 2011, they call you a tier one give or take.

And so um, those men and women could retire after 20 years of service, no age requirement.

Uh, those people are actually kind of phasing out.

And it's interesting that you asked this question because uh as we prepared for some mandatory captains meetings um back in August, I did some analysis of who our people were because I thought everybody was like me, everybody was tier one, everybody's been here a long time.

But there could have been nothing further from the truth.

We actually have 42% of our organization have less than five years on the job, which is staggering.

The the next thing was that 50% of our people were this tier three.

So that's really the root of your question.

The tier two and then the tier three.

Tier three, um, there's an age requirement.

So you have to be a certain age.

I believe it's 54 or 55.

And you also have a minimum year of service that is 25, 25 years.

So it's a little bit longer than the the 20 years that some of the tier ones can do.

And then there's also some different uh benefits and accoutrements that they're not prevy to, but it is definitely different.

And I think that that is one of many things that factor into less and less people wanting to do this job.

It blows my mind, but we have less applicants.

We just do.

So we're we've we've got a great list of firefighters.

We're gonna be um really aggressive and we're gonna swing for the fences to keep up with the hiring so that we can be at the forefront of our needs.

But it is uh it is interesting.

Yeah, and I think for sure, too.

I mean, it's you guys keep us safe and and you deserve to be kept safe as a minimum in return.

And so my question was, and I honestly don't know, but you know, say you retire at 54, maybe your tier, maybe tier one, you retire earlier.

You're not qualifying for like Medicare Medicaid till what, like, you know, 60s or something.

So what happens?

Yeah, 65.

So say you have you know, 20 years of the fire service and you contract something that is most likely, you know, work related and you're really healthy, you get, you know, cancer something at 58.

I generally am asking, like, I don't know how it all works.

Are you covered?

Are you on your own?

How does that work?

Um yeah, mayor, uh, vice mayor, counsel.

And that's a very different conversation, but I just I wanted to.

I'll probably have to get back to you on that, but I do believe that there is state statute that has presumptive cancer laws that have been passed now, and I do believe that there's a a metric a year.

And I do believe that there's a metric a year.

I think it's within either five or 15 years after you break service.

If you um come down with cancer, you you are still covered.

So there are some technicalities, but I'd have to look into that to get you the specifications.

That's okay.

I just I think in general, obviously, I mean, take something like a back injury or something that obviously might not have happened, you know, without you know, 20 years of intense labor and and stuff.

I know I spoke with, and again, this is a different conversation, but Vice Mayor Brent Hampton from the City of Goodyear.

Um, and this is no by no means uh easy haul, but it was uh it was kind of a post-employment health care to help kind of bridge the gap.

You know, most people don't really have much of a gap to bridge, but you know, when you retire at 54 and you have 11 years where really anything could happen, you know.

So, anyways, just something to think about.

But appreciate you coming out.

Thanks for thanks for you guys.

Thank you, everybody.

Shout out to Randy.

He does like this awesome metal work.

This is true.

Um, which is which is awesome.

Ryan, you do have a Facebook page?

No, I'm just kidding.

All right.

Um, you guys, thank you for all you do, and thanks.

Thanks for being here on a Tuesday evening.

Councilman Haney.

I regretted not going first, mayor.

Are you a firefighter?

I need to get one of those timers.

Uh Chief, I just want to thank you.

Um and I appreciate you being proactive.

Obviously in district one, and I've had conversations with my residents of you know, the time to talk about response times is not when they're increasing, it's to try to be proactive.

And obviously, we've taken great strides, thanks to your guys' vision on acquiring land for fire station through 10, um, talking about future public safety facilities.

Um, all of that is really great.

And and I I really hope, and obviously I'm biased because I would love for my city also to be the tip of the spear, but I um in this role for sure want City of Surprise to be the tip of the spear and looking at ways where we can be proactive.

Um, but you you mentioned something, which not a lot of folks realize is we as a council can ask you to hire 15 firefighters, put 10 guys through medic school, but it's not so easy to do that.

We've got to train them in these academies that uh increasingly are finding that other cities are having the same staffing challenges that we are, including on the paramedic side.

And so I know you guys have taken steps to to look at that to make sure we can get our folks trained and ready to go because the residents don't realize all of these challenges that we I think not only in surprise, but just in the public safety arena are facing on um what they expect is when they call 911, they're going to get the best of the best, whether it's 2 p.m.

or 2 a.m.

And you guys, I know uh Chief SB has talked about protecting the brand.

Um, and you guys do an incredible job with that.

I believe our job is to protect you all.

And I think Vice Mayor Hastings kind of brought it up.

And and I look forward to future conversations of of really making sure that we're taking care of our folks, uh, not just on duty but off duty.

You you mentioned the Craig Tiger Act, obviously, cancer is something that's just ravaging um our folks in the fire service, and it's affecting folks that have 10, 20 years on them, and as early as just a few years on, and it's it's absolutely devastating.

And so looking at ways on on how we can not only take care of our members but also be proactive in preventing that, increase screenings.

Um, those are all conversations that I think need to need to happen.

Um, and then also just making sure we're taking care of the overall mental health.

And I I think the culture has shifted.

Um, but obviously there's a lot of folks um within our city, they know the work that you guys do is incredible, but they have no idea um the calls that you and your members have to respond to um after hours, and and the it's these calls where uh most I think people would try to go as far away as possible from and we drive faster to get to them.

And so um I like the strategic plan.

I like the the fact that there's already measures being taken, uh, member services-wise to really kind of protect and make sure our members are doing well because before their firefighters or dads, their husbands or their wives, and and so I think we need to continue that, and I look forward to kind of those discussions progressing.

So, but thank you guys for the work that you do.

Um, obviously in district one, there's some response challenges just with um not only the landscape, but also just you know, have Grand Avenue, and then also you have there's not a lot of stations too close, and so we have to rely on um, you know, fire station 304 really doing some incredible work until some help can arrive.

And so I'm very appreciative of the work that you guys do and and look forward to supporting in any way I can up here in the future.

Thanks.

Mayor, Vice Mayor, Councilman Haney.

Uh, we we genuinely thank you for your support because uh I've talked to my colleagues at length.

We we got to pinch ourselves sometimes that we get to work here, and we've got such a progressive, you know, leadership attitude, support, um, just the the forecasting of purchasing land, stations.

You know, there's a lot of surrounding agencies that don't really have a station on the horizon.

And I can literally tell you in two years we're gonna have station 10.

I can tell you where 11, I can tell you where 12 goes.

I can tell you we've got multiple trucks on order.

I can tell you we have 14 people in the pipeline right now for paramedic training, which we have more behind that.

And then again, swinging for the fences and being progressive, we're we're going to we're going to start our own paramedic program so that we're not handicapped by anybody else, any municipality.

So the same thing eventually goes with the mega site in the future.

And I think that uh you know the future is really bright here, and we just appreciate all the support that you guys give.

Thank you.

Any other council members?

Seeing none, Chief, I appreciate your buy-in on the strategic plan.

I appreciate your presentation.

Uh I think your vision for your department is spot on.

I look forward to seeing you put that into action.

So thank you.

Thank you.

With that, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn.

It's been moved and seconded.

All in favor, first vote.

All opposed.

We're adjourned.