Good evening, everyone.

Welcome to the Tempe City Council regular council meeting.

I don't know what is called order.

Members of the public uh actually, council meetings can be watched in real time via Cox Cable Channel 11 and at Tempe.gov slash Tempe 11.

Members of the public may also attend the meeting virtually through Microsoft Teams.

If you have signed up to speak on items later on in the agenda, please know that as the presiding officer, I have the discretion to introduce items out of the regular order as listed on the agenda.

I may change the order of items from time to time to accommodate scheduling to allow us to address items with a large number of speaker cards, so those wishing to speak on those items don't have to wait until later in the meeting or to otherwise expedite the business of the meeting.

If you wish to speak on an agenda item and you haven't filled out a speaker card yet, please make sure to fill out and submit your completed card to the city clerk prior to the item coming forward for council discussion.

For those here regarding the drink spiking education and prevention ordinance, which was item 8v4, the first public hearing has been rescheduled to the January 22nd, 2026 regular council meeting.

Therefore, no public testimony will be taken regarding that item this evening, as the hearing won't take place until January 22nd.

But before we continue to go, I want to cede this to Councilman Breeding for a second.

Thank you very much, Mr.

Mayor.

I just wanted to offer an explanation for the delay in the first read of the drink spiking ordinance.

Uh the committee has worked very hard to draft it and bring forward an ordinance that we feel will improve the public safety situation in not only downtown Tempe, but throughout the city.

However, during some recent conversations with stakeholders, there was concerns brought forward that we think that we can uh work to address and mitigate any unintended consequences of this ordinance moving forward.

So we wanted to have those meetings first to make sure that not only are we addressing the a public safety issue, but we're doing so in a way that we're being good partners to every stakeholder in the community as much as we can, right?

So I had a very productive meeting yesterday and very productive meeting today.

Guidelines for conduct at City Council meetings around the table near the entrance for those in attendance at tonight's meeting.

Disruptive behavior will not be allowed.

Continued disruptive behavior will lead to removal from the council chambers.

We need to be able to hear everyone in the room.

Behavior that disrupts, disturbs, or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of any city council meeting is not helpful and is not permitted.

This includes behavior both inside and outside of the council chambers.

Should individuals inside the council chambers become disruptive so that city business is not able to be conducted.

The mayor will first ask that the individuals allow city business to be completed.

There will be time for public comment during the call to the audience portion of the meeting.

If no cooperation, the mayor will issue a verbal warning and let them know that the continued disruptive behavior will lead to removal from the council chambers.

If there is still no cooperation, the mayor will issue a second verbal warning and let them know that the continued disruptive behavior will lead to removal from the council chambers.

If there is no cooperation after asking and two verbal warnings, then the mayor will ask security officers to remove only those individuals who were causing the disruption.

Security personnel should not engage in any way, but only escort them from the council chambers.

If individuals refuse to leave, security personnel shall warn them that they are trespassing, and that the next step will be arrest by a Tempe police officer.

Tempe officers may have to arrest if individuals refuse to leave.

Charges for trespass and disorderly conduct may apply, as well as other charges.

Should anyone be asked to be removed, the mayor will recess the meeting.

Thank you.

We're now going to play a video conveying the city of Tempe's native land acknowledgement statement.

Uh oh, is not the name of the video, Jason.

Actually, Jason, we got it.

Vice Mayor Do you want me to read it or do you look for it?

Oh, got it.

We acknowledge that Tempe lies on the ancestral land of the Native peoples who have lived here since time immemorial.

The ancestral land of the author and people stretches far beyond the boundaries of our city.

The landscape is sacred to them.

Embodying cultural values that are integral to their identity and way of life.

The autumn and continue to maintain a deep spiritual connection to this land.

We embrace the responsibility of caring for these places and bow to uphold this commitment in all our actions.

Council member.

Yes, I move to approve the city council meeting minutes in items 4A1 and 482.

Okay, it's been moved by Councilmember Amber and seconded by Councilmember Keating.

Please vote.

And that item passes seven to zero.

Next up, item four B, acceptance of board, commission, and committee meeting minutes.

Councilmember Amber.

Yes, thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

I move to accept the board, commission, and committee meeting minutes in items 4B1 through 4B 10.

Okay, it's been moved by Councilmember Amberg and seconded again by Councilmember Keating.

Please vote.

And that item passes seven to zero.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Next up, item five, reports and announcements.

I've got a few.

Just before I start with my first announcement, I just wanted to say too.

Uh there's there was a report I think a lot of you saw regarding a situation that happened at the Escalante Center a couple of days ago.

And we just wanted to make sure there were several people who are injured during the course of that incident.

Uh, I know one required hospitalization, and we just wanted to say too to all the people who were there and who were injured and had to witness that.

Uh, you know, our hearts and prayers go out to you right now, and we obviously wish everyone uh who was involved in that incident a very speedy recovery, and we hope that you recover as quickly as humanly possible.

Um, we also wanted to make sure to thank the staff and members of our security team and members of the Tempe Police Department for helping to intervene in that situation.

Uh, you know, it's really through the quick action of the team at the city of Tempe, all of those folks that I mentioned that they were able to uh subdue this individual to make sure that they couldn't do any more damage or any harm uh to the people who were there.

So we just wanted to make sure to uh call out that situation and just say uh to those who were injured, we really do wish you a very quick and speedy recovery, and obviously to all of our team here at the city of Tempe, our staff, uh private security, as well as the Tempe Police Department.

So thank you.

Next up, item 5A1, National Human Trafficking Prevention Month Proclamation.

All right, so I will be joined this evening by members of our community health and human services team, care seven team, Tempe Police Department, Tempe Family Justice Commission, Maricopa County Attorney's Office, and not in our city members, and a microphone.

All right, so this proclamation reads, and I should say too, uh, for those who are going to take the proclamations, I believe I have five or six, and they're all the same proclamation.

So please, from each of your individual units, please make sure to take one back with you this evening.

As I always say, if I ever walk away after reading a proclamation with the proclamation in hand, I have not done my job as mayor.

So this proclamation reads whereas human trafficking is a global plague that impacts millions of people each year, including including tens of thousands of Americans, and whereas human trafficking is a crime involving the exploitation of someone for the purposes of forced labor or a commercial sex act using force, fraud, or coercion, denying freedom to people across all demographics and ages, including teenagers and children.

And whereas there were approximately 608 reports of human trafficking incidents in Arizona, including 192 reports from victims and survivors, according to data from the National Human Trafficking Hotline.

And whereas the City of Tempe's Family Advocacy Center, a partnership among community health and human services, Tempe Police, and Arizona State University, provides a wide range of assistance to victims and survivors and their families.

And whereas care seven victim advocates help individuals and families with safety planning and information on victims' rights, navigate the criminal justice system, connect to resources, and access long-term support through healing and recovery.

And whereas the City of Tempe is helping to raise awareness about the Maricopa County Attorney's Break the Chain Campaign, a countywide initiative focused on prevention, community awareness, and victim-centered resources.

And whereas the city recognizes the community coalition, not in our city, which works to unite elected officials, law enforcement, faith communities, and frontline organizations across Arizona to raise awareness of human trafficking and advocate for victims' rights.

And whereas the city urges our residents, businesses, schools, and faith groups to work together to address and eliminate human trafficking from our community and support the efforts of frontline organizations and law enforcement in their battle against human trafficking.

Now, therefore, I, Corey Woods, mayor of the city of Tempe, Arizona, do hereby declare January 2026 as Human Trafficking Prevention Month in Tempe, Arizona.

Let's see here.

I'm gonna actually get my paper here.

So I'll make this easy.

All right.

From the community health and human services team, who'd like to accept?

Oh, thank you.

Care 7 team.

Two?

Let's see.

Well, we'll see what happens here.

Uh Tempe Police Department.

Chief.

Take up Tempe Family Justice Commission.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Maricoma County Attorney's Office.

Thank you, sir.

And the not in our city group.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Please give them a huge round of applause.

Thank you so much.

And uh quick photo if you can all kind of squirch it together so Jason can grab a quick photo of it.

If you can't see me, I can't see you.

All right.

Big smiles, everyone.

Ready?

One, two, three.

One more like that.

One more per safety, big smiles.

Don't like one to three.

Judicial Advisory Board, Neighborhood Advisory Commission, Risk Management Trust Board, Sustainability and Resilience Commission, and Veterans Commission appointments.

So congratulations to the following members here on their new appointments.

Edith Wetter, State Bar of Arizona member on the Judicial Advisory Board.

Gavin Hamilton, Zip Code 85282 member on the neighborhood advisory commission.

Alicia Clark Bradley, joint member on the risk management trust board, and Danny Bermudez, representative of the Pat Tillman Veterans Center at ASU, or designee on the Veterans Commission.

We also acknowledge Kendan Young, who is reappointed to his third and final two year term on the Sustainability and Resilience Commission.

These new appointments and the reappointment are detailed in agenda item 7A1 on this evening's agenda.

So once again, to each and every one of you, I know I say it at every meeting because I made it at each and every meeting.

Thank you for your commitment and service.

Your contributions to the city of Tempe really do help shape our future.

And so we thank you very much for giving of your time.

Thank you.

Next up, I'm going to move to item 5B, City Manager's Reports of Announcements.

Madam City Manager.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

No announcements.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

All right.

Next up, item number six public appearances.

According to the Arizona Open Meeting Law, the City Council may only discuss, respond to, or take action on matters listed elsewhere on this agenda for discussion and legal action.

The purpose of the open call to the public is to allow individuals to address the city council on any issue within the jurisdiction of the city council.

No person shall speak more than once, and there is a limit of three minutes per speaker.

In the interest of allowing all members of the public to have an opportunity to speak, in the case that there are such a large number of persons intending to speak during the meeting that it may deprive other members of the ability to speak during that meeting.

Speakers will be taken first come first serve in the order in which the cars are received.

Speakers' visual aids and appearances by phone or recordings are not allowed.

The city council is prohibited by state law from discussing, responding to, or taking action on matters during the call to the public, even if asked to do so by a member of the public, so long as the subject discussed by the speaker is not as listed as a specific agenda item for council's consideration for discussion and legal action.

Individual members of the council may respond to criticism made by speakers, ask staff to review a matter, or request a matter to be placed on a future agenda.

Once again, uh, I'm gonna call these in the order in which I receive them.

Mr.

Martinez.

Okay.

The next speaker I have is James Mooney.

Is James Mooney here?

All right.

The next speaker I have is Kathleen Mooney.

Is Kathleen Mooney here.

Okay, the next speaker I have is Walt Dubois.

I'm here, so I might well respond.

Come on up, sir.

Please state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Okay, Walt Dubois.

I live closer to the microphone before you speak.

This one?

Uh good evening.

Uh Walt Dubois, live in Tempe, uh, since 2012.

And um maybe retired, maybe I'll still work.

I don't know.

It may happen.

Uh thank you for uh allowing me to uh have this opportunity and uh uh I want to bring up a special concern that I have with the potential of having a high density housing project taking course uh in my neighborhood.

Uh my neighbors asked me to participate in letting the council know why I do not favor such a development.

Uh I'm gonna go to a backup sheet.

City of Tempe, clear fission requirements.

You may have heard about it, you may not be aware of it.

But it is related to intersections and driveway entrances where walls, buildings, landscape must not exceed two feet within a clear fission triangle.

I'm okay.

Go dig any deeper deeper into that.

Uh we have where I live, a seven feet wall parallel to my driveway.

So the two feet that is allowed.

I beat that up to seven feet, and it has been like that since 1969, when Chantel Toumash was created.

Where we have the uh walled fillage with seven feet walls around the property.

I love the place.

I love the area.

So uh that takes care of my first paragraph.

Anyway, uh I'm very much aware of a limitation, and that has to do with getting out of the driveway.

As you back up, you have no view of the walkway, you have barely a view of oncoming traffic on either side, and I have additional uh reality that when I do that, that I do it very carefully.

Uh this design was mostly in the late 60s, and uh I don't think that based on the current requirements of uh uh feasibility that they would allow that kind of a design anymore.

You may have a comment on that one.

At any rate, uh the uh you basically have an obstructed exit, and that is both for the driver leaving the driveway and for the vehicles in the street, and for people walking.

It's very often that I don't hear see uh walkers coming, and at the very last moment I have to step on my bike.

Um I do not believe that people traveling these streets have the same alertness that I have.

And uh I find people driving the streets of uh Cairo, for instance, uh they are trying to make it to their exits to the freeway, whatever else, and they do have significant speed going.

So that's about 15 more seconds.

The clock malfunctioned, we got about 15 more seconds or two.

Okay, I'll do it.

Um high density uh housings will add for traffic, and I can tell you that there is going to be a significant percentage of vehicles going through Balboa, Alameda, Clark Drive, and Aspen, all street in Santo Tomas that have the same design, and that is just trying to reach the price freeway and Broadway.

So I see something happening at one time.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Um, Madam Clerk, quick question.

Um, are you able to keep time for me if the things work as well?

Yeah, okay, yes.

Well, I can make myself, whichever is easy.

Program button was um pressed differently.

Oh, okay.

Got it, thank you.

No worries, just trying to just try to make sure that we're good.

So all right.

The next speaker I have is Nathan Beer.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Good evening.

My name, as she said, is Nathan Beaver.

I have lived in Tempe since 1986, with the exception of a decade while I worked in Prescott.

My family first came to Arizona in 1915, and I have lived in the Shalomar neighborhood, currently live on Gulf Avenue.

First, I want to thank all of you for this opportunity to express my position as a registered voter and citizen and to participate in this process.

I am a retired registered nurse with the bulk of my experience working in end of life as a hospice home care caregiver.

In that role, I learned a valuable lesson from my patients over the years that a life of service is a life well and greatly lived.

In your capacity as Tempe Council members, you have a unique opportunity to contribute to this community and your own legacy as it relates to the rezoning of Shalomar.

Shalomar is a community of homeowners where the vast majority share pride in ownership, and this is reflected in the homes, the yards, and even in the alleys.

I had some city workers recently comment to me how much they appreciated working in our alleys because they were such good shape.

A small detail, but telling just the same.

I do have enjoyed many days and evenings at the Shawmark Golf and Community Gathering Place, and I regret that it may not be the same that it once was.

But this proposal, as requested by developers to rezone, will eviscerate my community.

It will increase traffic flow on an already very busy street and leave many of us with little recourse but to seek our future somewhere else.

Those seeking this rezoning will not have to live with their proposal.

At the turn of the last century, land developers, without thought to the future, nearly destroyed our Midwest.

So let us learn from their lack of foresight.

Let us plant trees in whose shade we shall never sit.

You represent us, and we have spoken clearly without ambiguity.

Please, no rezoning.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Really quickly before I go to the remainder of the speakers.

Mr.

Martinez, I see you in the back.

Do you want to come forward or please come forward, state your name and city of residence?

You have three minutes.

Nice.

My name is Mario Martinez.

I live in Tempe.

False statements by Tempe City Chief Kenneth McCoy and the city spokeswoman spokesperson, which attribute the key Queen Curtis, I have trouble pronouncing it, related bomb threat drama to uh blaming uh Kathleen KD Kearney merit immediate condemnation.

As usual, these statements have Corey's fingerprints all over them.

In a previous uh 2023, Tempe High Bomb Threat, which became Maricopa Criminal Court Case CR 2023, 134064.

The county attorney took the case and successfully prosecuted this felony.

In the recent Queen Circe case, which the county uh uh refused to prosecute, our police chief only proved how ignorant he was about bomb threats.

After the county attorney exposed McCoy's argument, ignorance, he could have sought further action on the misdemeanors in Tempe.

He chose not to.

And then he turns around and binds Miss Kearney for for this action.

She was not at fault.

With very few exceptions, all Tempe employees, including the city uh police and city spokespersons are direct or indirect employees of Corey's uh city manager.

Follow the money.

If Corey did not approve of our $370,000 per year city manager's action, he could express these differences at any time.

If he approved these actions, he could give the city manager a $50,000 raise race with the assistant uh assistance of the usual spineless seven to zero vote.

This is exactly what Corey and the council did.

Bomb threats are not legal.

Game of Thrones, uh game of thrones memes are not only legal legal, they are harmless when a bunch of overpaid uh public officials are too ignorant to know the difference between a bomb threat and a meme based on total fiction, the result was a grave civil rights violation of our First Amendment rights.

We cannot tolerate this.

We cannot tolerate this.

Now, I want to point out, too, that uh one of the uh uh uh the investigative tarkers of this was a caller Connor Culver person.

Okay, when you went to uh uh to Tucson to arrest that lady, you took a 10-person SWAT team with this uh this other case, the Tempe bomb bomb threat case, a real case.

You didn't use a 10, you didn't use a uh 10-person SWAT team.

Not at all.

That's not being so hypocritical, Corey.

Next up, uh David Alexander Alter.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Thank you.

My name is David Alter.

My city of David Alter, my city of residence is the valley I'm currently homeless.

Um I'm gonna read a little speech and then I'm gonna um give examples to show you guys what's going on.

So this I won't have time to do more than just one example today, but I'll be in coming back to illustrate what this means.

Members of the city council, my neighbors, and my fellow citizens of Tempe.

There comes a time in the life of a community where it must look in the mirror and ask difficult questions.

Who are we?

Not who we pretend to pretend to be, not who or brochures say we are who we are, not who we pretend to be.

Not the future market, but who we truly are.

For history has recorded time and again that the soul of a people, a community, is measured not by its monuments, not by its wealth, not by the number of cranes in the skyline, but how it treats those who are the weakest members of their society.

The ones with the least power, the least privilege, and the least voice.

We in Tempe stand at a crossroads today.

We celebrate growth, progress, and innovation, but beneath this forward motion, there are those who are left behind, whose suffering is made invisible so that others may not be inconvenienced by the slight of their pain.

The poor, the unhoused, the struggling worker, the young person with no path forward, the elder with no one to care for them, blah blah.

These are the people whose fate will determine Tempe's legacy.

For make no mistake, a city that abandons its vulnerable is a city that forfeits its moral future.

Every encampment swept away without compassion, every family displaced for the sake of profit, every child left without hope, writes a line in our collective story.

And the ache of justice never fades easily.

Dr.

King once reminded us that the arc of a moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice, but the ark does not bend by itself.

It requires hands, heart, and courage.

It requires those that with power choose conscience over convenience, mercy over management, humanity over headlines.

Like licking before the files of civil strife, we too must appeal to the better angels in our nature.

For those angels do not reside in distant heavens, they live in us.

Or not at all.

And when the silent and when we silence them with policy, with neglect, with indifference, we silence the voice of what is best in Tempe.

I asked you, esteemed members of this council when the chronicles of this city are written, when children unborn look back at this era, will they say that Tempe rose above the pressures of the moment and shows justice?

Or will they say that we traded compassion for comfort?

And turn our backs on our brothers and sisters.

This is our test, this is our time.

Let us not be remembered by how brightly we build, but for how deeply we cared.

Let Tempe not be the city of walls and ordinances, but a city of bridges and designs where a city of humanity itself is honored and where no one is cast aside.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker I have this evening is Kathy Holland.

Please come forward, state your name in City of Residence.

You have three minutes.

And my comment is on rezoning Shalomar Golf Course.

I have lived in Shalomar for 18 years and have loved every minute of it here.

I know a lot of neighbors in the area.

All are wonderful and many are good friends.

I walk my dog in the neighborhood nearly every day.

It's peaceful and quiet, and I get to stop and talk to neighbors and friends on our walks.

If the Shalomar golf course is rezoned, it will completely change and ruin the neighborhood.

There will be so many cars in the area that it will be like walking my beloved dog on the 101 freeway.

It will become crowded and extremely uncomfortable in so many ways.

The golf course area is beautiful, quiet, and amazingly comfortable.

If the current golf course zoning is held, one house per acre, the neighborhood will remain comfortable and pleasant.

If the golf course is rezoned, I will not want to live here any longer because of the traffic and crowdedness.

I will get rid of my beloved house and move to a quiet neighborhood far away if the rezoning happens.

That will be absolutely heartbreaking after 18 years of happiness and peaceful living.

Please do not allow rezoning of the golf course.

Thank you.

Next speaker I have this evening is Stephen Bercy.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

They told me I could have their time.

I know what a sacrifice it is to give up your time for the public.

I would I taught elementary school for 15 years and channeling was a principal in Ohio for seven years and a principal in here in Arizona for 12 years.

And I'm here to speak to you about the Shatamar rezoning issue.

Have you seen the developers plan?

Probably not.

Probably not, but if you have, ask this question where do the children play in those kind of complexes?

Every time I pass these complexes, I ask that very question like gosh, it's just boom, wall to wall.

Well, bringing in hundreds of high-rise apartments benefit Tempe.

Yeah, sure.

But so would a casino.

And just like with a casino, more people equals more crime, more traffic, less green space.

Does that make Tempe a better place to live?

No.

People bought their homes with the current zoning.

And while I understand that zoning can change, it should never be changed to benefit one family, in this case, the new Heisels, the same family, mind you, that fought, they fought against rezoning several years ago.

So I don't need to come up with more reasons why it's a bad idea.

Just use the reasons that the new Heisels gave you.

But I do have a solution.

You tell the new Heisels they're welcome to sell their land.

You tell the developers they're welcome to develop the land.

But it has to be developed according to the current zoning.

You tell them that Tempe does not sell out on wonderful lifestyle to the highest bidder.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker I have this evening is Cole Lightfoot.

Please come forward.

State your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

My name is Cole Lightfoot.

I live in Tempe.

Thank you for your time, Council members, and Mayor Woods.

My family has lived in the Shalomar community on the golf course since 1967.

Every generation of my family since then has enjoyed Shalomar's green space and played on the course regularly.

I live, I love my neighborhood and the common values that we all seem to share.

Not only do I stand to lose property values, my backyard views, but I could also lose the chance that my daughters and future generations have a chance to enjoy this beautiful and peaceful community.

This neighborhood has been wonderful for its quiet surroundings and its tight-knit community of neighbors.

Rezoning this area for high density homes and apartments would be detrimental to our community and way of life.

For these reasons and many more, a vote against rezoning this area is a must.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker I have is Steve Norris.

Please state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Hello, city council members and mayor woods.

It's good to see you again and hope you have a happy new year.

Thank you.

Golf is one of my passions.

It's very popular sport, which teaches the lessons, life lessons, as well as disciplines like honesty, integrity, patience, and many more.

Right now, Tempe has two golf courses operating.

Mace has 25, Phoenix has 35, Scouts has 55, Channel has seven, and Gilbert has six.

That's kind of I don't know.

So since I was young, I found out found that you meet some of the best and finest people in around golf courses.

I met my best friend Anna there 22 years ago at Shalomar.

It also relieves stress.

Best thing about golf courses is you don't have to be a golfer to enjoy it.

It's a great place to socialize.

Golf courses can be a great place to have fundraisers.

Around the body group, which was founded at Shalomar, had terms to raise funds for underprivileged kids in the Southeast Valley.

Done by the raised about 125,000 over 10 plus year period.

We also sent one kid to the World Junior Golf Tournament in Scotland.

Andrew practiced religiously at Shalomar.

Golf courses can also lead to uh lifelong memories.

I got a hole in one on hold number seven at Shalomar and another holding one at Cochapoli on hole number 17.

Finally, I achieved perfection for two holds anyways.

I hope Shalomar remains a golf course for these and many more reasons.

I hope you both know for rezoning.

Thank you for your time and listening to me.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

The next speaker I have this evening is David Stewart.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Thank you.

Good evening.

Thank you very much, Council members.

Mayor Woods.

My name is David Stewart.

I've lived in Tempe for 25 years.

Thank you for allowing me to speak.

I have been a Tempe resident for more than 25 years.

I am a homeowner, investor, and member of the Shalomar neighborhood community.

I understand that there's an effort underway in rezoning Shalomar Golf Course.

I am strongly opposed to the rezoning of Shalomar Golf Course.

When the current owners of the golf course purchased this property, it was zoned AG1.

And that was reflected in their relatively low purchase price at the time.

The owners now want to sell, and they have every right to sell.

However, they do not have the right to request rezoning so they can make more money.

Rezoning will negatively impact the surrounding neighborhood as well as those neighbors' property values.

The only ones that stand to gain by rezoning are the current owners and the developers.

While their neighbors experience significant property loss in value, huge traffic increase, and the environmental impact of loss of green space.

This seems very unfair to me.

As an investor, I would not purchase a property with the expectation of it being rezoned at the impact of my neighbors.

Rezoning would have a dramatically negative impact on the neighborhood and the lifestyle that so many enjoy in this historic North Tempe Gem.

I encourage the city to City of Tempe Council members to fully support the community and oppose rezoning.

Thank you very much for your time.

Thank you.

The next speaker I have this evening is Lauren Whitaker.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

We have three minutes.

Good evening, Mayor and Council members.

My name is Lauren Whittaker, and I'm a longtime Tempe resident, having owned my home in Shalomar neighborhood for over 25 years.

My mother, husband, and two daughters are all ASU alumni and lifelong Sun Devils.

Our family has deep roots in this community, and like so many of my neighbors, I'm here tonight to share my concerns about the proposed sale and rezoning of the Shalomar Golf Course to eliminate this green space and replace it with high density housing.

While the developers say they've listened to the community feedback by reducing density from 396 units to 244, this proposal is still fundamentally flawed.

The current plan calls for 244 homes at 5.4 dwelling units per acre, primarily rental town homes and houses, which would permanently alter the character of our established neighborhood.

My concerns fall into three key areas.

First, our infrastructure is already failing existing residents.

I have suffered two falls in the past two years due to heaving sidewalks and potholes.

My husband no longer bikes in our neighborhood because it's of the unsafe pavement.

The entire area from Broadway to Southern and McClintock to Price hasn't been repaved in more than 20 years.

Neighbors have reported collapsing sewer lines.

When these concerns were raised during public meetings, the developers said infrastructure is not their problem and deferred responsibility to the city.

But if our aging systems cannot reliably serve current residents, adding 244 more homes will only worsen these existing failures.

Second, this project misunderstands what Shalomar represents to our community.

For decades, Shalomar was a vibrant, well-maintained green space.

Since the owners abandoned it, the property has become weed-ridden and severely neglected, with numerous dead or drying dying trees.

Wildlife that once depended on the course for food, shade, and water is now stressed and forced farther into the neighborhood, depriving deprived of what was once safer, more natural habitat.

Neighbors are now coping with odors, pests, and hazards.

And the reality is if any of us allowed our own properties to deteriorate like this, we would receive code violations and fines, yet the owners have been permitted to let 44 acres decline.

The land includes hundreds of mature trees, irrigated lawn that is critical to the health of surrounding homes, home landscaping, and open space that naturally cools and sustains our neighborhood.

A small HOA managed community lawn cannot replace 44 acres of a living ecosystem.

Third, the rental concentration raises stability concerns.

With 70 to 75% of the development planned as rentals and no assurances against institutional investors purchasing the remaining four-sale homes.

This project would shift the balance of our neighborhood and impact schools and traffic and community cohesion.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And the next card I have is from Lori Herman.

Please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

Thank you, sir.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

My name is Lori Herman.

I've been in uh oh, sorry, I've been uh resident of Tempe for 45 years and ASU grad a couple times.

I am here for two points.

One very simple point just to request that the city consider planting trees at every bus stop for the obvious reason we have enough concrete, but we don't have enough shade.

And second, I didn't know I was stumbling into the Shalomar issue, but I fully support the residents of the Shalomar area.

The ecosystem that was just previously mentioned is important for keeping the temperature down, not only in that way in that area, but also in citywide.

The city has been getting hit hotter as ASU research has shown.

Every time there's a collapse of the uh plantings that are existing, and then the stack of boxes of concrete that are allowed to flourish.

We have plenty of housing.

You see those hideously ugly concrete, uninhabited apartments along Rio Salado.

What are they going to be rented for?

We don't need more housing.

We need less antitrust, um, anti-competitive and anti-residential uh support because there's so much transient population coming into these neighborhoods.

I've known Shalomar community for 35 of those years.

I support them and oppose that development.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

That's all the cards I have this evening.

Is there anyone else in the audience wishing to address the city council?

If so, could you get my attention?

Okay.

Seeing none, I'll go ahead and close that portion of the meeting.

Thank you.

And that will move me to item number seven, which is the consent agenda.

All items listed on the consent agenda will be considered as a group and will be enacted with one motion by the city council unless an item is removed for separate consideration.

Members of the public may remove public hearing items for a separate consideration.

Public hearing items are designated as public hearing item at the beginning of the item title.

Council members may remove any item for separate consideration or to declare a conflict of interest.

If a council member would like to declare a conflict at this time, the city clerk will provide the council member with a disclosure form.

If you wish to speak on a public hearing item, please fill out a speaker card and submit your completed card to the city clerk prior to the agenda item coming forward for council discussion.

I will call your name when it is your turn for public comment.

This evening the consent agenda is listed as follows.

If anyone would like to have a public hearing item removed, please get my attention now.

Okay, seeing that I'll look to my council colleagues here.

Are there any agenda items that you'd like to have removed?

It's been moved by Councilmember Hodge to approve the consent agenda.

Do I have a second?

Seconded by Councilmember Keating.

With that, please vote.

Yes.

And that item passes seven to zero.

Next up.

Item eight, non-consent agenda.

All items listed on the non-consent agenda will be considered separately.

Agenda item scheduled for introduction and first public hearing will be heard, but will not be voted upon at this meeting.

Agenda item scheduled for second public hearing and final adoption will be voted upon tonight.

Council members who may have a conflict of interest, may abstain from voting on a matter, and the city clerk will provide the council members with the disclosure form at this time.

The first item of uh section is 8A1, which I have to note may be the longest agenda item that I will ever have to read in the 14 years that I've sat up here.

Or maybe the six, I guess, is mayor, I should say.

So this one here item 81.

Approve one-year contract renewals with the companies noted below for repair and maintenance services related to the upkeep of city facilities.

Firms recommended for renewal include 365 mechanical, AH painting, Armstrong Service Electric, Arctic Heating and Cooling, B and B blinds and builder services, blinds and beyond, Builders Guild Incorporated, Chase Building Team Incorporated, Crawford Mechanical, Kraut and Heller, Dakin Applied, DECA Southwest, DH PACE Company, Diamond Ridge Development, Diversified Flooring, DMS doing business as Hernandez Companies, ELS Construction, East Valley Disaster Services Incorporated, Fabiani Painting and Decorating, Fluoresco Services LLC, Flynn Beck LP, GTI Contractors LLC, B2B Direct Sales doing business as the HBAC company, Invader Pest Management Incorporated, Kowalski Construction Incorporated, Solar Art Metro Tint, Midstate Mechanical, Norkon Industries, PLG LLC, Progressive Roofing, Pueblo Mechanical and Controls Incorporated, SDB Incorporated, Southwest Avian Solutions LLC, Spectra Electrical Incorporated, ViewMaker LLC, Summit Restoration and Construction LLC, Sun Valley Solar Solutions, TDI Industries Incorporated, Tollin Mechanical Systems, Train U.S.

Incorporated, TrueView Windows and Glass, and West Coast Arborists Incorporated.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm here all night.

Council, any comments or discussion on item 8A1.

It's been moved by Councilmember Hodge and seconded by Councilmember Adams, please vote.

That was impressive, Corey.

Thank you.

And that item passes seven to zero.

Council Brain Hobbes, you're good?

Yeah.

Okay.

I press the button.

Okay.

Let me go back here.

Okay.

Next up, 882 approval one year contract renewal with Humana to provide group Medicare Advantage plans to eligible city retirees and their eligible dependents.

Council, any comments or discussion.

Vote to approve.

It's been moved by Council Burke.

Do I have a second?

Seconded by Vice Mayor Garland, please vote.

And that item passes seven to zero.

The next item under the section is 8A3, which is to award a construction contract to Felix Construction Company for project number 3205025D, well improvements phase two, South Tempe Water Treatment Plant, Drilling Well 15 and 15R GMP 1.

Okay, it's been moved by Councilmember Adams and seconded by Councilmember Hodge.

Please vote.

And that item passes 7 to 0.

The last item under the section is 8A4, which is to adopt a resolution to authorize the city manager to execute a purchase and sale agreement to acquire ownership of improved properties at the addresses of 520 and 526 South Mill Avenue in Tempe, Arizona.

Just as a note here, I do have a speaker card on this item.

And normally we don't allow comments, but I want to make sure since someone actually pulled this, I want to see if we can allow them to speak.

So the speaker I have is Finn Howe.

Yes, please come forward, state your name and city of residence.

You have three minutes.

And I had a question about this one for staff, and then uh some things I wanted to say about it.

The question I had, um, I understand that this would be the acquisition if if it were to go forward with the uh of the Tempe Bank on Mill, which currently has Darkstar, and from my understanding, their lease will be ending.

Um I wanted to ask if this is going to continue to be a uh leased as a music venue or a uh uh bar in this uh building if it were to be acquired.

Mr.

Anderson, am I allowed to comment on that?

Uh certainly this is a meeting item, so we can you can discuss freely.

Sounds good.

I figured I would ask for it went.

Uh, just one note too for members of the public, and I know you asked a question about 526 South Mill Avenue, which is the Tempe National Bank.

The other building is the 520 building, which is the Tempe Hardware Building as well, and that's owned by a different group.

I still wanted to point that out for those watching at home and those sitting in the audience.

Uh, the I guess the short answer at this point is we don't know.

Um at this point, the owner of Darkstar chose to not renew the lease with the current owner of the building.

Uh, but the city's main purpose of trying to acquire these spaces is to one uh protect our history.

We recognize a lot of residents have come up and they've talked about development all over the community.

Uh, and we obviously support additional growth and housing for people who frankly need it in all different income categories, but at the same time, uh we also want to make sure that we are preserving those very critically important elements and buildings that are part of our city's history.

Uh, and so the goal really would be to frankly acquire these buildings to uh preserve history, but also is because the city many times, and this is no slight of it when we sometimes have the ability to, while we have to offer market rates to people, we can offer market rates to lease, whatever, at sort of very, very affordable rates uh for the purpose of actually trying to bring in more local small businesses into the downtown because it's something else a lot of our residents have talked about uh for quite some time.

They'll say there was a period of time where downtown Tempe was full of local small businesses, then there was a period of time where it kind of went through this rebranding where it was more corporate sort of national brands, and now you're seeing this renaissance where a lot of new local small businesses are coming back into the fray uh in the city of Tempe.

We recognize that that's frankly what our residents want are the opportunities for more local people to be able to succeed in downtown Tempe.

And I think we also recognize that the big thing that separates Mill Avenue from any kind of a shopping mall that you could see all over the valley or all over the country is that sort of element of uniqueness, the ability to come down here and find something that you can't find in another community.

But the uh, but I think it's two things.

It's basically just one to preserve these historic spaces, and it's one to offer even lower rents, although still at a market rate, to make sure that local entrepreneurs still have a chance to be successful on Mill Avenue.

So I just want to say I think that that's an amazing idea to have Mill Avenue properties that are locally owned and small businesses, and primarily um for the music scene here in Tempe.

Um, you know, I I love going to local shows here in Tempe and Phoenix.

And um, you know, last year uh in Phoenix um local venue uh trunk space uh closed in May of 2024, and uh next Saturday uh Ground Zero Studios in Phoenix is gonna play its last show.

And um, so we're we're sort of losing a little bit of opportunities here for uh local bands and musicians to play uh in the valley, but the demand is still there.

Um, if you look at you know, Mesa opened uh in in downtown Mesa, the Rosetta Room opened, and um you know the shows I've been to, there's always so many people there um out there supporting uh local bands.

And um here in Tempe, uh the AMP organization at ASU has put on uh many shows with hundreds of attendees at houses here in Tempe as well as on ASU campus.

So there's definitely, especially um with uh you know young people like myself, uh, really want to see more uh venues for uh local musicians and bands.

And I think that um a lot of the places on Mill Avenue right now are clubs, they have DJs, and um, you know, while that's great, I think that if we need at least one place on Mill Avenue that can offer uh bands and give bands like you know, say like the Jim Blossoms or like injury reserve, you know, legends that are here from Tempe, you know, the next generation of musicians and artists, you know, there should be a space for them as well.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I just wanted to say to you too, just on that note, thank you for coming forward this evening.

And as you talked about, uh, Tempe has something even specific referred to as the Tempe Sound, uh, which are a lot of artists that frankly contribute contributed to the culture of what this city is frankly all about still to this day.

And so, no, definitely live music is a really critically important part of our history, but to your point, it should also be a very critically important part of our future as well.

So, you know, while we don't know exactly what will be occupying the space if this boat goes through this evening, uh, please know that it is something that really is very important to all of us to make sure that we are maintaining that live music culture, not just frankly throughout the downtown, but throughout the entire 40 square miles of the city.

But I really appreciate you actually coming up and talking about that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I I should also note too, just before I know um in the response that I gave as well, um, the current owners of those buildings, one of them, Mr.

Seifer, is sitting out in the audience this evening.

I want to make sure to also note uh these folks have also been incredible stewards of these buildings, frankly, for generations.

And when I talk about the city wanting to make sure that we have uh local small businesses in these settings, uh, that's not anything new.

Mr.

Sefer's been doing that for years in his in the building that he's owned for quite some time, and the folks at Wexford Developments as well, releasing to Scott Price, who has Darkstar, but also has other properties uh like um like Sunbar, of course, in Casa, and he's opening up a couple of other concepts called Casa Cantina and a republic as well.

So I want to just be make a very big point that the people who actually currently own those buildings, like Mr.

Sever and Mr.

Gordon from Wexford are currently leasing to local people.

So we're not doing anything different.

We're frankly just continuing on the tradition of the legacy that you fostered in this community.

So wanted to say thank you.

Anyone else?

Um, any further comments on this item?

It's been moved by Councilmember Chin and seconded by Councilmember Hodge.

Please vote.

And that item passes seven to zero.

The next section on the non-consent agenda is ordinances and items for introduction and first hearing.

The items under the section will be read and introduced tonight, but no votes will be taken.

The second hearings and votes are scheduled for January 22nd, 2026.

The first item of the section is 8B1, which is to introduce and hold the first public hearing to adopt an ordinance for a planned area development overlay to modify the development standard for building height and change the development type from office to residential for a new 16-story, 1210 dwelling unit project on 1.81 acres for 250 Rio, located at 250 West Rio Salado Parkway.

The applicant is Gavage and Vurnham PLC.

And good evening and happy new year, Ms.

Voss.

Yeah, well, happy new year to you, Mayor.

Uh, and happy new year to all of you.

For the record, my name is Monthula Vazlaw from Gambit and Vernum.

With me is Mike Duffy from RSP.

And we just want to talk to you about reimagining maybe 250 Rio.

Um I'm here tonight on behalf of Heinz.

Mayor left.

That's okay.

Heinz, as you know, is a developer.

100 mil.

And then the ADP building.

They've also developed the office building at 24th and Calmbach, I'm sure all of you have seen it.

And they have built a high density multifamily building.

If you see that across from the Suns called the Adeline, it's across from the footprint center where the Suns play.

So tonight we're talking about the 250 Rio site, which is the old Penny Saver site that we had entitled, you know, several years ago.

I know that all of you were very involved in it.

So the Vice Mayor, we've talked to a lot about kind of how this is going.

And one of the things we've talked a lot about is both the historic avenue, Ash Avenue Roadbed, and how do we preserve that within the project?

So just quickly, at the time in 2022, we rezoned this project from it was GID, which is an industrial designation, to City Center.

And then we had a PAD and a development plan review.

And the intent in 2022 was to build an office building.

So the plan was, as you remember, putting in, we're going to preserve historic Ash Avenue, build a 14-story office building, have flex space at the bottom, outdoor commercial, six-level parking garage.

However, the office market has changed, and we are coming back to do something which we think is really exciting and to build for sale multifamily units and make a very, you know, we think high quality for sale project on the lake.

I mean, it's something that we've all talked about, and nothing has done since basically Ridgeview and Edgewater.

Mike's gonna talk a little bit about it.

But what we've been able to do by doing this, we're still preserving the Ash Avenue walk uh the roadbed, and what you end up having, you're gonna have townhouses that will be able to walk out and walk right onto the historic Ash Avenue.

The building is about the same height, but because the office floor to floor height is tall, we're able to do 16 stories of residential tower, which in the 14 stories that we had approved.

Only 110 units, so big units.

Um think, you know, we're trying to something like Optima with Optima builds in Scottsdale, if you've seen that.

Very high level, we've spent a lot of time thinking about who would be the right person who wanted to live here.

75 two bedrooms, 23 three bedrooms, and then 12 four-bedroom units.

We have pocket parks and dog parks.

I'm gonna have Mike walk you through very briefly.

This is just the PAD.

We're still working through the DR, and I know we're working with Keith and his team and some of the PD and some of these other issues, but just as we walk through, talking about how we've added more open space, park space, and how we're excited.

And we'll move some micro.

Yeah, so I'll talk through the uh site plan here and then also some of the rendering.

So this site plan generally shows that the building and massing is in uh uh the same place as it was previously as the office use.

We've got the main entrance on the north, which is the left-hand side, we've got a pocket park at the south, and we've got the rehabilitated Ash Avenue there on the uh uh upper side of the plan on the east facing the park.

The one thing I do want to mention, just briefly for the just for people initially it was as approved as an office tower, would have generated 222 vehicle trips, which we had approved, and then 231 vehicle trips.

But given the amount of traffic around there, you know, as a residential building, this will see an 80%, about approximately 80% decrease in vehicle trips because you'll have such a different traffic pattern and more certainly less people.

But here's some pictures of my Kentucky.

A couple of conceptual renderings here, and these show again the general scale and massing is in accordance with what was previously approved in the in the previous project.

The tower is placed on a parking podium and then screened with activated uses, in this case townhomes uh along uh Ash Avenue, which you see in images two and four.

Um, this north-south orientation has been done to maximize engagement with the park and really treat Ash Avenue as the main pedestrian frontage.

Um, if we move along to Rio Salado, Rio Salado is really the primary vehicular and uh frontage with the main entrance at the north.

Uh you're leveraging the existing curb cut that's there today to go to the uh the Tempe Beach Park uh parking lot there.

And then we also have service on the southeast.

And in this lower left-hand corner, you can see the Ash Avenue Historic Rehabilitation, which is similar to what was done before and in accordance with the study that was performed back in 2018.

And this is this is the same.

This Ash Avenue rehabilitation has already been approved prior by the HP committee and has not been changed.

So this is exactly the same, the kind of from the FACLO study that was approved in 2022.

Yeah.

Um, then the last slide here is an overview.

Uh so that's a quick presentation.

We're happy to answer any questions.

Quick got a couple of things actually.

So let me go to I Council Member Shin, Vice Mayor Garland, and Councilmember Bramberg.

Thank you, Mayor.

This side of the table.

I vaguely recall this from um previous presentations, I believe.

As I recall, and I think I'm recalling correctly, there was a mention of the veterans memorial.

Where is that?

Well, um Jason, can I have my picture back?

Oh work.

Oh, Councilmember, if you may remember, and we can talk to the Vice Mayor.

Well, we originally intended was we were going to have it's going to be a part of this project.

Originally, when we had kind of talked through with which we're still talking to ED about in terms of how do we incorporate the veterans memorial and with some other kind of incorporation in terms of how it gets redone, our intent, if you may remember, is to put something so it incorporates along the historic Hash Avenue rehabilitation bridge here.

And then we can still use, and I talked to them about you.

There's a Mike, where is the site plan here?

Yeah.

Okay.

So our kind of intent was to try to make this area here that's open as part at the park.

Yeah, on the right hand side of the page where you've got a little pocket park there as Rio Salada rounds the curve.

Yes.

And we are when we originally talked about was put maybe a sculpture of a tree in this bosque, which is a little pocket park.

And then you could hang dog tags off the tree.

And then we would also have some things like little plaques or something leading along the Ash Avenue rehabilitation or the roadway and leading up to the veterans memorial.

So you kind of walk through you, you have the Bosque that can be a place of kind of meditation.

Now we have not had any of this approved by the Veterans Commission.

These are just conversations we're having as we go through the DR process.

So it's still in play.

Yes, it's still in play.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Vice Mayor Garde.

That was actually going to be my first question.

Because all I kept thinking about is how incredible that tree was that we talked about doing and having those dog tags on there, and that we can all put the dog tags of our family members on there.

I really like that walkway that we had talked about about having a statue or a spot to stop and for each branch of the service.

So I still love all those.

So I appreciate the fact that you're keeping that in there.

And I can't wait to hear from the Veterans Commission about what that would look like or within partnership with you.

So thank you for still doing that.

I I you know, we need housing.

So switching this in the same footprint that we had before and switching it from office space to housing makes me very happy because that's what we need.

And when we did our housing study, we recognized that we were missing really high-end housing and and on the lower end housing.

And so this kind of feeds into part of that.

So I I appreciate that.

Ums what are you doing with the windows and the concerts there?

Because boy, they're loud.

They are, you know, they're gonna, I mean, it's gonna be triple pane windows, but as we also talked about, and I talked, you know, this is all going to be for sale and with a lot of disclosures and an HOA and very tight CC and R's.

Um, and so there'll be triple ping windows, which people will then sign off on.

But you know, they're the same kind of thing, the windows exist at Bridgeville and Edgewater, right?

I mean, people are living there, and they've lived there for a long time, and you and I know many people who live there, you know, who, and I've been in there, and if you do the right windows, you can't hear.

But in addition, you know, you understand what you're living next to.

I will say, you know, we and the Heinz team have gone out across the US, they've built in many, many um different markets.

But if you look at, you know, you have people who live next to Reagan National, you have people who live next in San Diego, you have people that next who live in Dallas.

There are many places where people live, you know, in high end near airports, and so we're using those types of windows and that design as we move forward.

Bike and RSB has been involved in many of those.

Okay, great.

Um, and then um owner-occupied.

Will they be owner occupied?

They're gonna be owner-occupied.

Okay, I appreciate that.

Um, and then the last thing is um green codes, the voluntary green codes.

So it'd be great when you guys come back the next time if you could just bring a list of if you can look at those volunteer voluntary green codes and just let us know what you are gonna be applying because it helps us because we want to try to we want to try to encourage as many of those green codes to be used as possible.

Of course, yeah, just um we can give you a very high-level list.

As you know now, this is just the PAD, this is not the DR.

So we're gonna give you a high-level list in terms of owner occupation and some other things.

We are also uh, because again, this is CC and R's, these are not apartments, we can control them.

We're also gonna control the short-term rentals, like not allowing short-term rentals, um, putting in some of those things to make sure, you know, we, as you know, are spending kinds of spending a lot of money.

I mean, our intent is to build an optima type of quality high-end Scottsdale community, and so it's very important that you know there are going to be rules about living here and how it works.

And as we work with PD also, you know, we've talked to the police and to Keith about you know coming in and out and how you would get in and out during the couple of times when Rio Salado may be blocked off during the events.

Um we are working through all of that.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Bramberg.

Yes, thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

I'm absolutely thrilled that these are going to be owner occupied and no short-term rentals.

Um my question has to do with parking and the fact that you are adjacent to the only parking lot for Tempe Beach Park.

How are you going to be able to mitigate the fear of folks that are coming to visit people that are living there from taking up all of the parking spots for people who are actually coming to Tempe Beach Park to play?

Well, two things.

One, we actually have um all the parking here is is interior in a parking garage.

And in addition, we actually have uh we're oh we have more parking than units.

So wanna, you know.

We're gonna have a lot of restrictions on terms of how parking works.

I mean, we have actually if you pull into the garage, some of them have like full garage doors, right?

So nobody, the intent is that people aren't going to people, there's no one here who's going to park in the surface parking lot.

We have more than enough parking for that.

If they have guests, we have guest parking as well.

And yeah, I I believe what you're saying.

I think that the people that live there are going to park in the parking garage.

My question is how are you going to keep the visitors of the people that are parking in the parking garage from parking in the Tempe Beach Park parking lot?

I don't think there's gonna be enough.

I mean, there's a lot of parking in the Tempe Beach parking lot to have some.

I mean, it's a public parking lot, so we can't keep them from totally parking there.

But I don't think there's gonna be, you know, it's it has not been our intent that there would be so many that you know, if you have one or two park there, but we do have guest parking available here.

Plus, they have light rail.

We're gonna it is our goal.

I mean, people who live here and people who live down to like, hey, don't just come bring your car.

You know, you're right next to light rail, take the street car, bike down.

I mean, what we all say to everybody like why don't you bike, come meet me, we'll bike, we'll go to the town lake.

That's what it's for.

So that's for you to bring your car.

In addition, there's a parking garage across the street, which we've talked to.

And you know, there's some things we need to work through, but we have talked to the staff about hey, you know, we the Heinz actually also controls the parking garage across the street at 100 mil and ADP.

So we can also, if we need to have overflow guest parking, that's where they're gonna go.

Okay, that actually would make me feel a lot better.

Yes, we can we can put that in there.

What's we're working on with the um in terms of a security system?

We will also have we have golf carts, we'll have people, the people who are property managing will have the golf cart.

So people need to park over there, they can be driven across the street in the little golf cart.

Okay, so even if you have the parking garage, which is going to be south of this building, the entrance to your building is the north of your building, so they're gonna have to walk all the way around in order to get in.

No, they they can get in, Mike can show you.

Yeah, through Ash Avenue if you go back.

So from a pedestrian perspective, if you're coming from the south or from the east, you would actually enter the building going along Ash Avenue.

But you still would come to the north.

Yeah, just right like as you cross the street.

So you the same way you would walk up the historic bridge or stand in the park, that's where you can enter in.

So that makes sense.

Thank you.

Council Brads?

Yes, thank you for the presentation.

Uh um want to remind everyone that the light rail station is right by this building, so perhaps people won't need as many cars.

So I always uh encourage that and promote sustainability uh and using public transportation.

Um I like that that it's uh owner-occupied, and I love that you uh remembered the dogs and how a dog uh park in the facility.

So uh this is a this is a win-win project for us.

We need more of these um housing projects and um let's go for it.

Thank you.

And happy new year.

Happy New Year.

Excellent.

All right, thank you.

Yeah, anyone else on council, any further comments or questions.

All right.

Thank you so much.

We'll see you in a couple of weeks.

Appreciate it.

All right, this is also a public hearing.

So I'm gonna go open up and open up the public testimony portion.

Uh, is there anyone in the audience wishing to rest the council on item 8b1?

If so, get my attention.

All right, seeing that I will close the public testimony portion of the public hearing.

Council members, any last comments or discussion?

All right, hearing them.

The second and final public hearing on this item is scheduled for January 22nd, 2026.

The next item under the section is 8B2, which is also now the second longest item I've probably lived.

Which is to introduce and hold the first public hearing to adopt an ordinance amending Tempe City Code, Chapter 27, sewers and sewage disposal.

Article 1, Sewers Pre-Treatment, Sections 27-3, 27-4, 27-10, 27-11, 27-21 through 27-23, 27-32, 27-36, 27-42, 27-46, 27-51, 27-52, 27-54, 27-56, 27-57 through 27-61, 27-63, 27-71, 27-82, 27-86, 27-91, dash 91, 27-96, 27-97, 27-123, and Article 2, Sewers General, sections 22-151, 27-155, 27-175, 27-176, 27-192, and 27-194 through 27-197.

As I mentioned, I'm here all night.

Let's see here.

Council members, any questions for staff on this item.

Can you repeat that?

I'm gonna uh go to the public testimony portion here.

Anyone have any uh public testimony on this item?

This is a public hearing.

If so, please get my attention.

Seeing that I'll close the public testimony portion of the public hearing.

Uh council would any final comments or discussion.

Hearing none, the second and final public hearing on this item is scheduled for January 22nd, 2026.

The next item under the section is 8B3, which is to introduce and hold the first public hearing to adopt an ordinance authorizing the partial abandonment of three waterline easements and one sewer and one water easement located south of Broadway Road and west of Price Road.

This is a public hearing item as well.

So for the city public testimony, can you please get my attention now?

Okay, seeing that I'll close the public testimony portion of the public hearing.

Council members, any comments or discussion.

Hearing none, the second and final public hearing on this item is scheduled for January 22nd, 2026.

Once again, the last item on under the section is 8b4 regarding the drink spiking education and prevention ordinance.

So as noted on the revised agenda, the first public hearing on this ordinance will occur at the January 22nd regular council meeting.

So as a result, there's no public hearing and no public testimony on item 8 before this evening.

This item is continued once again to January 22nd, 2026.

The last section of the non-consent agenda is ordinances and items scheduled for second hearing and final adoption.

So votes on these items will be taken tonight.

The only item under the section is 8C1, which is to hold the second and final public hearing to adopt an ordinance amending Tempe City Code Chapter 16A, license and business regulations, Article 10, short-term rentals and vacation rentals.

My amending section 16A-213, license required, penalties to conform to changes adopted by the Arizona State Legislature.

The applicant is the city of Tempe.

Council members, any questions for staff on this item.

Seeing none, this is a public hearing item as well.

So if there's any public testimony from anyone in the audience, please get my attention now.

Seeing none, I'll close the public testimony portion of the public hearing.

Council members any final comments.

It's been moved by councilmember Keating, seconded by Councilmember Hodge.

Please vote.

And my screen's taking a while, so I'll just say aye, and the that vote uh passes seven to zero.

Next up, item nine, current events, council announcements and future agenda items.

Council members may request that an agenda item be added to a future council meeting during their allotted time, but in accordance with the open meeting law, there should be no discussion on the item other than to clarify the request.

I'm gonna call upon council members now for their comments and or request to add an agenda item to a future meeting.

And this evening I will start with council member Amberg.

Yes, thank you, uh Mr.

Mayor.

I want to talk about Tempe Public Library.

They are launching their monthly series of engaging community events designed to bring people together.

This month's theme lends rock and roll with recycled art for creative and energetic experience.

Attendees can take part in hands-on activities that spark learning, creativity, and meaningful connections.

The program is open to all ages, making it a great opportunity for families, individuals, and neighbors to enjoy together.

Participants will be encouraged to explore new ideas, discover library resources, and connect with fellow community members.

Join us for the first event of the series.

It's this Sunday, January the 11th from 2 to 3 at the Desert Will in the Desert Willow Room at the Library.

Um located south to the it's at the library.

All right.

And the Desert Willow Room.

All right.

There we go.

Okay.

Tempe Leadership Class 41 is hosting a live music fundraiser to support the Storm to Shade initiative.

The event takes place on Saturday, January 17th from 5 to 10 at uh Joseph Lewis's resident on 15th Street and Tempe.

Guests will enjoy an evening of live music from local favorites, uh, like the Sugar Thieves, Walt Richardson, and Season in the Sun.

Tickets are 100 per person, and they include live entertainment, a buffet style dinner, and an open bar.

For more information, uh, you can get tickets by visiting on Instagram.

It's at Class XLI, which is 41, and are visiting the class XLI.com.

Thank you.

That's it.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

Next up, Vice Mayor Garland.

No messages, okay.

All right, thank you so much.

Next up, Councilman Burkey.

Just want to wish everyone a happy new year, Mayor.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up, Councilmember Adams.

Yes, thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Um, I'd like to add something to the um to the future agenda items, and that would be um re-examining the crosswalk here on Mill and uh and Fifth Street.

I've got a lot of complaints about um that it's uh tying up traffic too long.

People aren't using the horizontal one very much anyway, and uh they don't they don't like to walk the wait time and and what uh furthermore, um it's my understanding that people are cutting through um ash and and maple ash neighborhoods to try to avoid um having to stop at that.

So that's a problem for me, and uh I just would like to revisit that and see if it's really still necessary.

Sounds good.

Madam City Manager.

Thank you, Mayor.

We'll add it to the agenda.

Okay, thank you.

Excellent.

Thank you.

And then um my announcements.

Um this Saturday is on the opening night of Heist at the Tempe Center for the Arts, and tickets will be available through ATC.org forward slash heist, and you can use the code H E I T M P X and save $20 on your tickets.

So it's a great venue, and really we would encourage you.

I heard it's a great show to check it out.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

That concludes my announcements.

Thank you very much.

Next up, Councilmember Chin.

No announcements, sir.

Thank you.

Next up, Council Brahge.

Yes, first off, I want to wish my baby boy, Jason Hodge, a very, very happy birthday.

He's in India, but I love you, Jason.

And also that we have uh Martin Luther King birthday, the the original Martin Luther King's birthday is on Monday.

So um wish everybody a happy hot MLK day.

And also we um about a week ago we lost a true legend, Mr.

Ron Denny.

He served as the coordinator for special emotional wellness at Tempe Union High School District.

He worked closely with our Care 7 team, the Tempe Coalition, playing a key role in developing programs to our support our youth.

He also collaborated with me on the Sandy Hook efforts and leaving a lasting impact on our community.

So he will be loved and missed.

Um thank you, Ron, for your service.

And um, I just want to wish all of our students.

I know our college students will come back next week.

All of our K through 12th are here this week, so wish them all a safe and um journey back into school.

Thank you.

That's all I want to say.

Thank you very much.

Uh, I don't have any announcements this evening, which brings me to item number 10 public appearances.

Uh the same rules that applied earlier still apply now, but is there anyone in the audience wishing to address the council?

If so, could you please get my attention?

All right, seeing none, I will close that portion of the meeting and move to item 11, which is adjournment.

The next regular city council meeting is scheduled for January 22nd, 2026.

We are adjourned at 7 23 p.m.

Thank you, everyone.

Have a good night.