Surprise City Council Work Session - January 6, 2026: Fighter Country Partnership, High Water User Ordinance, Flashing Yellow Arrow Safety Campaign
Surprise City Council Work Session - January 6, 2026
The Surprise City Council held a work session on January 6, 2026, to receive presentations on support for Luke Air Force Base, a proposed high water user ordinance, and a flashing yellow arrow safety campaign. No votes were taken.
Discussion Items
Presentation by Fighter Country Partnership
- Ron Seitz, President and CEO of Fighter Country Foundation, thanked the council for 20 years of support. He described programs supporting airmen and families at Luke AFB and the 161st Air Refueling Wing, including over 70 programs annually (e.g., dorm dweller holiday party, marriage retreats, deployed family functions). He highlighted a $2.9 million, 7,000-square-foot honor guard training facility being built on the base, which could become a regional training headquarters. Seitz noted that Surprise has more airmen living in it than any other city. Councilmember Greenberg expressed support and presented a coin to Seitz.
Proposed High Water User Ordinance (Chapter 58)
- Staff (Mr. Bouley and Amy) presented a new article defining a high water user as any commercial or industrial customer using more than 100,000 gallons per day. The ordinance would require an application and a Sustainable Water Service Agreement with a 15-year term, including a water conservation plan, water allocation (base 100,000 gal/day; council may allocate an additional 100,000 gal/day; beyond that, user must purchase water credits or surface water rights), off-site infrastructure cost responsibility, and penalties for overuse. The ordinance applies only to city-served water, not Epcor. Examples included a microbrewery (75,000 gal/day – not a high user), a bottling plant (150,000 gal/day – allocation with council discretion), and a data center (250,000 gal/day – requires purchasing 50,000 gal/day). Council discussed property rights, council discretion, and annual average calculation. No vote; staff plans to bring the ordinance for adoption later in January.
Flashing Yellow Arrow Safety Campaign
- Councilmember Greenberg initiated a campaign to improve driver awareness of flashing yellow arrow left-turn signals. Staff presented background: flashing yellow arrows implemented since 2018; a 2024 left-turn phasing study that tested fully protected turns at three Waddell Road intersections; and a 2025 Bell & Lichfield safety study recommending fully protected left turns during peak times (Monday–Friday, 5 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.) starting January 12, 2026, with dual left-turn lanes recommended by 2030 pending grant funding. A new informational sign (36" x 36") will be placed in medians at 10 high-crash intersections (eight on Bell Road). A public service announcement video, produced with city staff, will be released. Councilmembers discussed crash statistics: Bell & Lichfield had one fatal accident (2024), about 30 possible injuries (2020-2024), and is among the city's most crash-prone intersections. Councilmember Greenberg described a near-miss at Bell & Sunrise. The campaign includes outreach to schools via the superintendent.
Key Outcomes
- No votes taken.
- Staff will incorporate feedback and bring the Chapter 58 utility code amendments for a vote later in January.
- The flashing yellow arrow safety campaign launches on January 6 (PSA video and social media) and January 12 (fully protected left-turn signal change at Bell & Lichfield).
- Staff will provide council with detailed crash statistics for the city's top intersections.
Meeting Transcript
All right, good afternoon, everyone. I'd like to call this regular city council work session on Tuesday, January 6th to order. Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Mayor Sarter. Present. Vice Mayor Hastings. Here. Councilmember Haney. Here. Councilmember Greenberg. Here. Councilmember Duffy. Here. Councilmember Melton. Present. Good news. Councilmember Judd. Uh, Councilmember Member Judd will be a few minutes late. Thank you. We have quorum. Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I have Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands. Good afternoon, Mayor and City Council. Good afternoon, Jody. Um, today we have Ron Seitz with us, who's president and executive director of Fighter Country Partnership, which is a five oh one C four um that raises money to help the airmen and their families that are affiliated with Luke Air Force Base. So without any further ado, because Ron will explain this in his presentation. Uh, we have Ryan Seitz. Evening, Ron. Thank you, Jody. Thank you very much. Mayor, members of council. My name is Ron Seitz. I'm the president and CEO of Fighter Country Foundation. And I'm simply here to first and foremost just say thank you. Um the level of support that you guys have provided, Fighter Country Foundation and Fighter Country Partnership over the course of twenty years. I think it's about twenty years now, you guys have been supporting this organization. Um it's been an example. Um, and first for those of you who I have not met, um, it's just always exciting to be able to share what we do because good, bad, or indifferent, we're a little bit of a unicorn, um, which is a different discussion for a different day. But uh, we get the chance through our unique access to provide programs and services to support the military members and families at Luke Air Force Base and the Hundred and Sixty First Air Refueling Wing. We've added them under our umbrella because of 91% of all air refueling missions out of Luke Air Force Base are supported by the 161st. So they're supporting their mission. We've could we've we've garnered their support as well, too. We support the military members through programs and services. Um geared towards morale and well-being, culture and tradition, and mission sustainability. Our core purpose was mission sustainability decades ago, protecting the base, ensuring we got the F 35, working closely with our municipal partners to make sure the base is protected. It's maybe about 10% of our business operations now. We're about 90% on the morale and well-being and taking care of those military members and families. We started 17 years ago with direct impact programs with a dorm dweller holiday party because there was a suicide in the dorms during the holidays. So we created an event for positive distraction.
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