Good afternoon, everyone.

Welcome to the Tempe City Council work study session agenda.

Item number one council meetings can be watched in real time via Cox Cable Channel Eleven and at Tempe.gov slash Tempe Eleven.

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

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

We will now play a video with the proper protocol for ensuring the appropriate conduct at City Council meetings.

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.

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.

Okay, before we move into the call to the audience portion of the meeting, I want to take a moment to address campaign related activity, especially as we are now in the 2026 election season.

City council meetings are open to the public and are a vital form for civic engagement.

We welcome all individuals, including candidates to speak on matters of public concern during the public comment portion of the meeting.

However, because this is an official city council meeting that is both televised and live streamed using city resources.

We ask all candidates, including any current council members to refrain from electioneering or campaign related activity while participating in this meeting.

That means no discussing your candidacy, asking for votes or signatures, or displaying campaign materials such as signs, t-shirts, or literature while speaking.

So thank you for helping us maintain the integrity and neutrality of our public meetings.

That brings me to item number two, announcements from the mayor and or city manager.

I have one that I'll run down for.

All right, here.

So for this one here, I will need our fire marshal, uh David Woke and Chief Darrell Duty to come on down.

Thank you.

All right, so this proclamation here is for community risk reduction week.

And this reads whereas every 23 seconds a fire department in the United States responds to a fire somewhere in the nation.

And whereas in 2024, fires were responsible for 2,920 civilian deaths nationwide, with 75% of these fatalities occurring in the home, as well as 8,920 civilian injuries, with 75% of those injuries also related to fires in the home.

And whereas wildlands and urban interface fires remain a concern nationwide with multi-billion dollar losses in 2025.

And the fire service responds to a growing number of medical calls for service to address fires surpassing 90% of total call volume in some jurisdictions.

And whereas the value of community support from local, state, and national partners to address community risks is insurmountable in meeting the needs and demands of the fire service.

And whereas community risk reduction is a data-informed process to identify and prioritize local risks through the integrated and strategic investment of resources to reduce the occurrence and impact of emergency events through deliberate action in the areas of the five E's: education, engineering, enforcement, emergency response, and economic incentive.

And whereas most fire-related and many medical calls for service are preventable, with the five E's performed as part of an integrated community risk reduction program.

And whereas a January 19th is recognized as a national day of service, as well as Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Day, and serves as an opportunity for communities across Tempe to reduce the risk of fires through educational and outreach programs that will help make the City of Tempe a safer community for all.

Now, therefore, I, Corey Woods, mayor of the City of Tempe, Arizona, do hereby declare January 19th to the 25th, 2026 as community risk reduction week in Tempe, Arizona.

Here we go, one two version.

Thank you, Richard and Mennoncy.

All right.

That's the only announcement I had this evening, but uh actually, no, excuse me, I don't.

That's 2B is my announcement as well, which is the 2025 annual report for the City of Tempe Boards and Commissions.

I think we got a little slide that's going to go along with that.

So each year the city's boards and commissions are responsible for preparing and submitting an annual report to the mayor and city council.

The annual report details the membership, accomplishments, goals, attendance, and the overall work of the boards and commissions.

The 10th annual 2025 boards and commissions annual report will be published to the City Council Weekly Information Packet and on the boards and commissions webpage tomorrow, Friday, January 16th.

On behalf of the City Council, I'd like to thank the 268 Tempe residents and community members who serve on the city's 28 boards and commissions.

We are grateful to have engaged individuals willing to take time away from their own very busy lives and family and friends to make a difference in the city where they live.

So thank you to each and every one of you.

That's all my announcements actually this evening.

I'm going to now look to our city manager, Madam City Manager.

Any announcements.

Thank you, Mayor.

No announcements.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Next up, item number three, call to the audience.

The City Council welcomes public time at this public comment at this time for the issue review session and committee of the whole items on this work study session agenda.

There is a three-minute time limit per speaker.

Madam Clerk, do we have any cards this evening?

No, we do not, Mr.

Mayor.

Thank you very much.

Um let me just look.

Is there anyone in the audience wishing to address the council before I move on?

I'll look for hands.

All right, seeing none, I will close that portion of the meeting and move on to item four, which is our issue review session.

Item 4A is presentation on the downtown Tempe Historic Core Plan.

And so if you are presenting on that, if you could please come forward.

Let's see.

We've got uh Stephen uh David Ovis of Moore Iacano Goltzman and Corky Poster of Poster Mirto McDonald to give a presentation on item 4A.

Now, of course, they see Dr.

Zach Lecter as well.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council members.

Um, I'm pleased to have our consultants with us today.

I just wanted to give you a little bit of a brief introduction to them and what they're doing since this is uh the first time that you're having the opportunity to hear from them.

Um but again, yes, my name is Zach Leichter.

I'm the Historic Preservation Officer for the City of Tempe.

I just want to remind you, uh, not that you need a reminding, but in March of 2024, Tempe voters approved general plan 2050.

One of the goals in that plan uh was to create a downtown Tempe Historic Corps plan to balance historic preservation uh along with continued robust development in the downtown core.

A request for proposals last year by the city, issued by the city, yielded responses from both national and local firms, and resulted in the selection of MIG Inc., a nationally recognized company headquartered in California with a track record of completing similar types of studies for communities throughout the country.

MIG has contracted with post remirto McDonald PMM, a Tucson-based historical architecture firm.

Planning is ongoing, including meetings with staff, stakeholders, tribal nations, and the public.

And the intent is to issue a draft plan at the end of March, uh, early April and provide council with a final plan for adoption uh in late June.

I'm pleased to introduce Stephen Davidovis of MIG, Corky Poster of PMM, who will make a presentation and seek your feedback on the status of their work on the downtown Tempe Historic Corps Plan.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Zach.

And good afternoon, Mayor and Council members.

The purpose of this study session is to introduce the downtown historic core plan, which is a key implementation item of the recently adopted general plan, specifically policy HP 7.

The purpose of the plan is to establish a clear planning framework and study area for the downtown historic core, ensuring that future preservation efforts and downtown investment are coordinated and aligned.

As part of this process, the consultant team and city staff are examining historic resources, cultural and indigenous connections, including those tied to Tempe Butte, and how these elements intersect with ongoing growth and redevelopment.

Ultimately, the plan will set the stage for future policies, tools, and strategies that balance preservation, adaptive reuse, and activation, ensuring that the downtown historic core remains a vibrant and historically grounded part of the city.

This afternoon's discussion is intended to provide context for why this plan is being initiated and how the consultant team and city staff are approaching the work with recommendations and the draft plan itself coming at a later date.

As Zach mentioned, um, some additional background here, uh a request for proposals in spring of 2025, yielded proposals uh and resulted in the selection of our consultant team.

We kicked off the project with the city in July of 2025.

And since the summer of 25, uh 2025, we've been focused on engagement and existing conditions analysis, which has included extensive research and a lot of listening to people's ideas and visions for the downtown historic core.

Let me go back.

And now in 2026, we move into the plan development phase.

What we plan to do now is start to draft recommendations and the framework for the final planning document that will be brought to city council for consideration before July of 2026, as you can see on the right of the screen there.

And so, as mentioned, we've been hearing from community members, stakeholders, key partners, and city commissions since September.

And so I just want to give a brief overview of what we've been hearing so far.

We've met with the Development Review Commission and the Historic Preservation Commission a few times.

And the commissions have emphasized preserving historic resources as well as visual integrity, particularly related to Tempe Butte, while studying building massing, strengthening indoor outdoor connections, and enhancing public gathering spaces in the public realm.

In our focus small group meetings, which you can see there's a lot of representation in these meetings so far.

Participants have stressed the cultural and visual connection to Tempe Butte, the importance of shade and storytelling throughout the downtown, protecting the historic character of the core, thoughtfully integrating old and new development, adding a central gathering space, and supporting everyday neighborhood services.

And then finally, community meetings.

We held a few community meetings back in December.

And what we heard there was the need for context sensitive and flexible planning and this idea of balancing growth with local character while prioritizing walkable and multimodal mobility, treating open space and desert identity as foundational elements of this plan, and providing clear development standards that support housing and investment downtown.

We've also conducted an online interactive survey, which was available for just over a month.

This survey received over 550 online visitors and focused on the historic and land use planning elements of the downtown historic core plan.

A full detailed summary will be posted on the city's project website in the coming weeks, but we wanted to give a quick snippet here of one of the key elements of the online survey.

We asked participants to identify where they thought Tempe's downtown historic core should be centered.

And so the map you're seeing on the screen is a heat map, which highlights with the darker red areas where the highest concentration of pins were placed.

As one might expect, these are focused on Mill and Fifth and going north along Mill towards Hayden House and the Flower Mill, as well as at Tempe Butte.

And before we move on to talk about draft goals and some additional topics, some key takeaways from this first phase of engagement and listening.

Preserving cultural identity and protecting the Butte, the city's historic character and that downtown authenticity, balancing growth and context by tailoring design guidelines to fit the character of the historic core, filling everyday gaps and finding ways to incentivize daily serving uses, planning for flexibility and certainty by providing adaptable standards with clear guidance to support housing and mixed-use growth, and the importance of the public realm, prioritizing shade and walkability, and finding opportunities for improved public gathering spaces.

And now I'll pass the mic over to Corky Poster, who will take us through the next few sections of this presentation.

Thank you, Mayor and Council.

We put together five principal plan goals that are guiding kind of North SAR guidance to the work that we're doing.

One is to celebrate the history of Tempe, expanding protections for historic resources, promote context sensitive development, and in that process, trying to develop design guidelines to ensure that context sensitive.

We're interested in mixed use, a vibrant mixed use in terms of adaptive reuse and a balanced approach to development.

That is development on one hand, preservation on the other.

Those are not mutually exclusive.

Our goal is to make those work together.

Enhance economic vitality.

Everyone we talk to emphasize the fact that Tempe's uniqueness and its historic character has economic value and is an important part of tourism of local businesses.

And so our goal is to balance density and sure there's ample uh economic benefits to pursuing historic preservation.

And then number five, to strengthen downtown Tempe's identity.

Again, we were told over and over again that identity is important.

It's an economic value to Tempe in public spaces in the public right away important, and also connectivity within the district and through uh through two adjacent districts.

So we're going to talk a little bit about historic preservation and development.

Again, we don't see those as either or, we see that as both.

So let me talk first about historic preservation.

You have a quilt of various categories of historic preservation properties.

On the right is a list of uh 30 different properties that we identified downtown, and they fit in several categories.

Some are on the City of Tempe Historic Directory, some are on the National Register of Historic Places, some are on both, and some are identified as potentially eligible by way of age or the characteristics of those buildings.

We're also assembling a matrix that summarizes and clarifies all those different characteristics.

And most importantly, that matrix will have a live link, which will connect you to all the supporting material, inventory forms, directories, a variety of issues relating to historic properties.

You can see that those are located in the historic core, but also on the edges as well.

So what are we hearing?

We heard that it's important to recognize uh context and preservation outside the designated historic properties.

That is the perimeter of that in the context.

We heard a lot about uh Tempe Butte and its importance uh to Tempe.

Uh we discussed incentives.

Um, we're looking not so much as regulatory patterns, but incentives as a way to get the result we want uh for balancing preservation and growth.

Uh we were focused uh or directed to focus ourselves on archaeological resources in and around Tempe.

Um, and we settled, and we'll get to it in a bit more about uh the project boundaries, but not only look at the core, but look at the buffer area around the core.

In terms of development, um, as you know, um Tempe has been quite active in the development arena in a variety of categories.

In green, we can see public green open spaces in the stripe.

We have recent developments, that is between 2000 and the present, and in the dark red plans that are approved, entitled or under construction.

And what are we hearing from the folks uh in the development community about um about how to manage that?

Having a distinct identity in Tempe in the historic core has economic value.

Historic preservation along with good urban planning can be an economic benefit.

Um, this is important.

Progress um that respects the past but does not kill the future.

Um don't slow down uh development for the sake of historic fabric.

Identify design and scale elements that should be reinforced as a pedestrian experience, respect the historic character and respect the new.

Uh, and then using development agreements is a great tool because each site is unique and has its own uh different characteristics.

Turn it uh back to Stephen to talk a little bit about plan area.

And uh as mentioned at the beginning of this presentation, one of the charges of the Tempe Tomorrow general plan was to use this planning effort to determine the boundary of this downtown historic core.

And so before getting into the boundary itself, um we thought it'd be good to define to define what the downtown historic core means.

So, starting with downtown, what we're talking about here is really a walkable mixed-use environment, one that traditionally has served as the primary center of commerce, public life, and cultural activity for Tempe, with a concentration of historic, civic, and higher density development.

For historic, you can think of a consistent historic fabric reflected in the continuity of building scale, architectural style materials, street patterns, and parcel size that work together to convey this cohesive historic character and really a unified historic context rather than isolated and or relocated resources.

And then finally for core, this is really the symbolic and functional heart of downtown.

So concentrating efforts and focusing within this area can help protect integrity, reinforce that downtown identity, provide clarity for property owners, developers, and the public, balance preservation with compatible change, and then finally retain a legible and vibrant historic fabric.

And so keeping that in mind, we move on to this map of downtown to understand the important context and physical assets that should also be considered when thinking about that.

Uh so as temp as uh Corky mentioned to the north and the northeast, uh, very important anchors and assets to the downtown are Tempe Beach Park and the Tempe Butte.

We have civic spaces located throughout the downtown.

Uh ASU, of course, a very impactful neighbor to the east and to the south, with also a presence throughout the downtown, uh vacant or underutilized parcels, which were identified by city staff and may include surface parking lots or vacant lots, represent an opportunity for redevelopment and growth.

And then, as Corky mentioned, uh, which is a majority of this map, the striped area, which are recent developments that have been completed within the last few decades.

So they don't fall neatly into the historic or you know, uh uh an opportunity for redevelopment, um, approved plans entitlements or under construction projects, which are at different stages of underway, and then finally the green dots there, uh historic resources, which are located throughout the downtown with those key concentrations at Mill and Fifth, and then in the northwest around the old town square area.

And then finally the green dots there, historic resources, which are located throughout the downtown, with those key concentrations at Mill and Fifth and then in the northwest around the old town square area.

And so as you can see, this map has quite a lot going on.

It's pretty busy, and there's a lot of important context.

So this first boundary that you can see here is what we're calling the planned study area.

And the idea here is really to capture a majority of what many know as downtown Tempe, as well as those concentrations of historic resources.

As you can see from the images shown, this study area includes historic resources, Tempe Beach Park, the Butte, but it also includes these areas where a lot of the recent development has occurred with these higher density and high-rise contemporary projects.

So while the character of the overall study area may not necessarily be thought of as historic, we are finding it still important to understand the context of and plan for that going forward.

Now, when it comes to the downtown Tempe Historic Core, going back to that definition, this area really is intended to serve as the key concentration of historic resources within that downtown core that has that unified historic context, linking those resources together.

And then again, based on the images shown, this is kind of what you can expect within that downtown historic core, as you all know, that that unified sort of historic character throughout.

And so now that we've shown those two draft boundaries, the planned study area and the downtown historic core, what does that really mean in terms of influence and implementation?

And so, as a brief overview here some of the different ways planning documents can influence development in Tempe.

So the first is guiding.

Great example is the Tempe Tomorrow General Plan.

So this outlines long range policies for community growth and development, and this is not a planning document that is directly enforceable.

And then on the other end of the spectrum, there are zoning regulations and the development code, which are mandatory.

These are legally enforceable quantitative ordinances, and they must be complied with for project approvals.

And then the direction perhaps that this plan is going is more so towards the bottom to the advisory plans, which are the first one area plans, intermediate level plans between general plans and development approvals.

These both can have policy or regulatory details, and the goal here is to advise approval bodies such as yourselves in the approval of projects, and then design guidelines, which can either be part of that or separate documents, which are again advisory, and these are recommended qualitative design approaches that can be taken for projects.

And as we prepare to close, we do have a few examples of other plans throughout the country that have similar context and goals to what we're striving for here in Tempe.

And so the first example is the Denver Lower Downtown Neighborhood Plan.

Some of the key successes of this plan since its adoption, they've had high historic building retention due to their adaptive reuse policies and incentives.

They've focused strategic density at the edges of the neighborhood so they could protect the historic core scale, and they have managed to increase overall density and population.

They've sustained private investment due to strong increases in assessed property values catalyzed by early public investment.

And they've managed to have a very vibrant public realm with active ground floor uses, streetscape improvements, and public spaces that work together to reinforce it as a 24-7 downtown district.

The next example is the Portland Pearl District and Central City Plans.

And again, some of those key successes.

They've had extensive adaptive reuse of historic buildings with contemporary infill that works to reinforce rather than mimic that historic character.

They've achieved a substantial net density increase with major growth in both residential units and jobs.

And then I'll pass it back to Corky to talk about a more local example here to Arizona.

And the third example we have here, just down the road in Tucson.

I understand that Tucson and Tempe are different, but there are some similarities as well.

This is the Fourth Avenue district.

It is a national register historic district up and down Fourth Avenue, but is also under fairly strong pressure for new housing development, particularly for students in and around the area.

It's on this on the streetcar in Tucson.

And so it also pertinent to this project operates under the constraints of Proposition 207, which I think you all are aware of in your everyday life and zoning.

And so what we developed there was an optional overlay zone, which gave uh the owners the right to use the underlying zoning, which in this case was six stories commercial, uh, or to opt for the uh overlay zone uh and the incentives in that overlay zone.

Uh to date in the six years this has been in place.

Uh 85% of the new development that area has opted for the overlay zone and the design guidelines uh associated with it.

And the main goal there was to move massing away from the historic street front uh to just behind that.

And you can see examples in the upper left of the large photograph of new development.

Uh that's the union on six, same development that you have here in town.

Um, and new developments on the north and south end of that.

So, with that, um, we uh appreciate the opportunity to present to you, and we'll turn it back to you, uh Mayor Woods, for any discussion.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Very much appreciate the presentation.

Uh Council Perhaj.

Yeah, thank you for the presentation.

Well, my first question is I saw the the layouts of the different cities.

Is any of those cities landlocked like we are?

Because that makes you know comparing it, that's still comparing apples to oranges if they're not landlocked.

Yeah, to answer your question, I would say very much so for the Portland example.

Um there they've got a river on one side, and they're they've got mountains on one side.

So they they do have similar constraints in that avenue as well.

Um, and then similarly for the Denver example, the that neighborhood specifically is surrounded by other neighborhoods that already exist.

So similar, not exactly the same, of course.

No, I mean like line locked throughout the city, not just the corridor, because they can build outside of their city.

We don't have that privilege.

That's why I'm asking is there any kind of examples you can give us of a landlock area like that?

Because it we're that makes us very unique to other cities.

Sure.

Yeah, we can seek to find some more examples for sure and follow up.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh, next up, Councilmember Chin.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh, a couple of questions.

And can you go back to it?

Might be your thirds, your third slide, uh, where you have a list of who you've spoken to or included in the conversation.

Yes.

Might be.

I could what?

There.

Okay.

Um, I heard a couple of things that were promising.

Uh preserving and honoring Tempe's history and culture is important to many of us.

Uh, I like hearing the balanced uh approach to development, not either or.

I think there can be a coexistence of adaptive reuse and updated new.

Um I've been to both um Portland and Denver.

I've seen it.

I've also been to Tucson, and we're very different from Tucson for the record.

I need everyone to know.

Not a surprise.

I use me.

Three things I need to tell you.

Um I'm curious.

Um the community is built by many hands, right?

And I'm curious.

You mentioned Corky, is it?

You mentioned that you're hearing from the development community.

Who have you spoken with to in the development community?

Who's been involved in the conversation?

Uh we've identified all of the principal uh development sites and develop active developers in the area, and we've had two or three different stakeholder meetings.

Um we did not have all of them show up, of course.

Uh, that's part of community outreach.

Um, but we've been hearing that from principal on development entities in and around the area.

Anyone you can share with me?

Um I'd have to look back at my notes for specific.

Okay.

We we have some good partners in the area next door.

You can see that uh they may be able to lend some uh good input into the discussion.

Also, I see that you've included DTA, the downtown Tempe Authority.

Have you worked with any of the businesses that have recently chosen to come in and had invited them for input at all?

Yes, we reached out to almost all businesses that we were able to get contact information from.

We haven't been able to meet with many of them yet, uh, but I will point out that we do have additional stakeholder meetings and focus group meetings coming up.

We've been working with the downtown authority on getting those contacts.

Okay.

And we'll keep at it.

Yeah, and in your next update, I'd love to hear who you're meeting with in the development community.

Absolutely.

Right.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Next up, uh, let's see.

Council Member Amberg.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

I guess maybe the best place to do this.

I would like to see some sustainability portion added to this, maybe in the design guidelines, but I know that they're advisory, the form design and aesthetics, uh, because I didn't see anything in the presentation about that.

And it's really big and tempy.

The Tucson thing, um, I'm not sure.

That's kind of apples to oranges.

Uh, that they've got it's the tax and increment financing district, the Rio Nuevo district down there is the reason that they were able to do it.

Uh revitalize it that quickly and make it look that fantastic.

They've basically built a line around that district and all of the money that uh taxes that are derived from that district is then going back into that district in order to revitalize that.

And we don't have that in Tempe.

It'd be fantastic, it'd be a great way to finance the file mill, but you know, the state legislature, I doubt would allow Tempi to do that as well.

So I don't know that that's necessarily something that we can replicate here as quickly as they did it.

Councilmember Amberg, I sit on that Rio Nuevo district TIFF district board, and you're right, we have $18 million a year every year to invest in new development and uh and new mostly uh sales tax producing activities, but it's it's been a game changer uh within that entire district.

So I guess my quick thing is actually probably piggybacking a little bit off of off of uh Councilmember Chin's question, I guess, which was just sort of, and maybe it's less of a question and kind of more of a statement.

Uh it's just trying to make sure that you know, kind of as we move forward, you know, clearly all of us very much value historic preservation, the moving of the Walker House, saving of the first institutional church, uh, you know, the sort of impending purchase of two other uh historic buildings on Mill Avenue.

But my big thing is just trying to make sure that we've talked to I I don't want to I'm trying to think about what word to use.

I'm thinking majority or a sort of a large chunk of the downtown property owners as well, because that's some of what I've heard from some folks who are going, hey, we're not opposed to historic preservation, but I've talked to some of the property owners who've said, hey, I haven't really heard about this, and I don't really understand what this means.

I know that the council supports this.

I know this is a value of our city that we want to be supportive of, but we just don't exactly know what's being planned here and how it might impact or affect us.

So I'm just trying to make sure that you know, as we kind of keep going forward in this process, like you know, Councilmember Chid said, meeting with some of the folks who are the developers.

My big thing is also just meeting with some of the existing and many times long time property owners, just to make sure that we kind of understand their opinion and perspectives on this.

Yes, absolutely.

Thank you.

If I can respond to that a little bit, you know, it's in my experience, we worked really hard to outreach and get people involved.

Uh they tend not to get involved at the beginning because they don't have anything to be concerned about.

As we move forward and have some preliminary recommendations, I think the amount of participation will increase, and there will still be lots of time for input and and changes to those early recommendations.

So uh we had a lot of participation in some areas, and others were clearly busy with their business, and uh uh I think we'll come aboard later on.

We've contacted everyone.

Okay.

Uh so they've certainly had the opportunity to do that, and we will double down on uh making sure they have an opportunity to comment.

Okay, I appreciate that.

Thank you.

Uh by spare garlic.

I was gonna say I appreciate um what you had said in on one of the slides about respecting the character, um, but also respecting the new because we we do need to turn things around um in downtown.

Um, and we've been doing a great job.

The mayor and Arlene have been working really hard on some of the businesses that we have coming in there.

But um, I really appreciate the fact that it's this is gonna provide that you're looking at something to provide clarity for us and for people moving forward.

I think that's really super important.

Um, and I I look at this, you know, we talked about how important historic preservation, and I all of us will say we we we know how important it is to keep our historic buildings, but it's it's also important for us to move to move forward.

And I look at this as you had posted or put in here about it, this being advisory.

I look at this similar to our character areas.

It gives us as great detail of what the that area looks wants to look like, but it's it's advising us as we move forward.

Um, so I appreciate that.

Um, and um, yeah, it's I was gonna say adaptive reuse is really important.

So I we love being able to do that, so thank you.

Thank you.

Uh Council Member Adams.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

It sounds like you've done a lot to try to reach out to these folks, and I'm just uh suggesting if there's anything we can do to help um to get everybody on the same page and in in a room, um, I'm willing to to make phone calls because it's really important that everyone they might not think it'll affect them, but you know, then down the road then you know, 11th hour they discovered it will might affect them.

So I just want to have the communication be very clear and upfront and get these people to the table so everyone understands what's going on.

Thank you.

That's helpful.

Thank you.

Yeah, I guess my only last comment to um Councilmember Adams' point as well.

I think that was sort of my big thing too.

It's just sort of, I want to make sure as we're going along, is that we very all uh value our historic preservation community.

I just want to make sure that as we get further down the road, that it's a situation where all of a sudden we don't have property owners or folks coming back and saying, you know, wait a minute, hey, like you can't do this to me, or you know, this is going to prevent me from developing my property, and then I'm gonna come and sue the city or something of that nature.

And I am definitely not an attorney.

The only attorney here's wearing the red shirt over there, but uh, but just sort of in my random kind of law and order uh kind of knowledge of actual law.

That's that's just sort of my only concern.

It's just making sure as we go down because I also know that you know our historic preservation commission, Tempe Historic Preservation Foundation, you know, I know they're they're very emotionally connected to this issue, and I appreciate them for being so.

But I just want to make sure that whatever we're talking about or whatever plans we're coming up with are things that we actually can deliver on, that we're not gonna at the 11th hour all of a sudden get a wrench thrown in that sort of stops everything or heavily slows down some of the progress.

So that's my that's I know I'm kind of beating a dead horse, but I wanted to make sure I just said that.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh anyone else on council.

Sounds good.

Thank you.

Appreciate the presentation.

Thank you.

Thank you all.

All right.

Next up, item four Bowntown Mill Avenue Streetscape, University Drive to Rio Salado Parkway update.

And there's Eric and Tara.

Good afternoon.

Uh thanks for having us.

Uh we're here for uh another update on the uh Mill Avenue Streetscape in your downtown.

I think it dovetails nicely with the uh presentation you all just had, as we've talked a lot about um historic preservation as we move through the design and construction of this project.

So hopefully you will see um in some of our images that we have in the presentation with you, a reflection of where we've come from and and where we are today.

Um Eric Iverson, the transportation and sustainability director.

Tara Ford, Public Works Director.

And we're going to share this presentation so we go in back and forth.

We're gonna go through a little bit of um an update on what the purpose of the project is, how we started it, um, and then get into really what the progress of construction.

There's been a lot of construction since we were here last time, about a year ago.

Um, a little bit of touch and base on uh events and how we're coordinating with all those and our business outreach and really trying to make uh the residents and businesses um feel minimized and in what uh the impacts of construction they've experienced, and then of course, what's left to do.

Uh lots of different um pieces of this project, so it affects uh several of your performance measures.

Those are listed here.

Uh this slide is really giving you what the um purpose of the project was, which was really to update uh our infrastructure.

It started as an underground electrical and and uh irrigation infrastructure project, and as you all know, um while we're doing all that work and it hadn't really been touched, the street had not been uh comprehensively upgraded in about 40 years.

Um so while we're doing that underground work, we want to do all the really cool stuff on top of the ground.

So trees and aesthetic elements, um, all sorts of other good amenities on the street for people to experience and really prepare us for the next generation uh in Tempe.

We did also want to just mention that um it's really to support our community, support economic development, support our residents, and really um give a lot of good attention to our downtown.

And we're talking about just so everyone knows, I think everyone does.

We're talking about Mill Avenue for a half a mile from University Drive on the South to Rio Salado on the north.

Hand it over to Tara.

And as Eric said, these are main the key elements of the project.

Most of them have been completed, all of them pretty much.

Um it began in the summer of 2024 when we started down on university and Mill Avenue, and we completed that intersection and then just moved up from there, which you all know, all the construction.

One item I do want to point out specifically on this bullet point list foundation completed.

That's uh critical because that was not part of this project at all.

And we ran into some unforeseen circumstances out there.

This was one of them.

And so if you can see the light pole kind of in front of sports the sports grill there, that was one of the foundations that was actually a signal pole.

And what happened is once we started digging, um, some of them were compromised.

We actually had a light pole fall over, and the construction workers were asked to grab it, right?

I was actually driving by, it was kind of funny, and not really, but I looked like why is that pole in that bucket truck?

And then I found out why.

So from there, we then assessed all of the poles out there.

So we didn't stop, which is you know, um, kudos to Aiken Gardner.

They continued moving as we were able to assess all of the light poles and all of the signal poles out there, and then we had to rehab some of them, replace some of them to ensure that they were structurally sound.

So I did really want to point that one out on this slide.

And then as Eric said, this started out as an irrigation and electrical project.

So basically, we were just gonna go in, replace all the electrical and irrigation underground in the median island and on the curb side.

Um, because as you know, some of the electrical wasn't working out there, the irrigation, we had trouble during events, um, the boxes weren't working.

So, what we did is we went in and we started that first and then did it in conjunction with the aesthetic work as well as like the brickwork, the paver work, the trees, all of that.

So this is just a picture of in construction.

And then this photo here shows some of the bulbouts or the expanded pedestrian space on the corners, as you can see.

Um, and the red brick, the gray brick.

One other thing I want to point out on here is the electrical bands.

We keep using that over and over.

And so what an electrical band is when you're walking, people don't even know.

It's on the side of the curb that you can see there, it just looks like a gray band going around.

And so that's where we ended up putting all of the irrigation and all of the electrical lines so it's clean and we're not digging up all the sidewalks if something happens.

You can see that junction box right there in the middle picture.

Um, and that we can access, and we have larger ones throughout the project, but that's an area where we can actually access it if we need to put in more irrigation, more electrical.

So we built this project not just for now, but for the future, and it's easily accessible.

We're not tearing stuff up.

So there's some highlights I really wanted to point out on these slides.

So she, oh, this is me too.

Okay, and then ADA improvements.

So here you can see your standard ADA, your push buttons, your crosswalks that we added in, and that's all nice, but one of the major things was the cross slope.

And the cross slope is basically what's perpendicular to the way you're walking.

And in ADA, you can't have more than 2% of a cross slope, a slope to go down.

You need to water to drain off.

Well, some of these out there were pretty bad.

They were seven to eight percent.

We had one that was 13%.

Again, so those, so it wasn't a simple project that you just go in and tear up the brick and there you go.

You know, we had to uh fix the cross slopes, we had to do a lot of structural work out there, and again, more unforeseen issues.

There were even more cross-slope issues that we uh encountered on this project, but we just kept working again.

Kudos to Aiken Gardner, we just kept going.

You know, it didn't seem pleasant at time, but it but it was.

I mean, I I think the project's gone very well.

So I just did those are some points I wanted to point out rather than just here's all the pretty stuff.

So back to you with the pretty stuff.

I think it's back to you.

Yeah.

All right, the next couple slides I'm gonna take trees.

This has been a major discussion for I think decades on on uh the trees on Mill Avenue.

Um, people are emotionally attached to them.

It's really important element of the overall streetscape.

It's an important part of our objectives in the city, and I know that you all have identified tree and shade canopy as one of the top five acceleration uh performance measures for the upcoming year.

So this coincides nicely.

We have five new species, as you all know, um, that are being introduced on the street.

They are in the ground, most all of them are in the ground.

Um, so we got them in the ground as early as we could, so they get growing and they're doing well.

We've had a couple that have been replaced, but um essentially really expanding upon the urban forest and the diversity and strength of that in our city.

We worked, of course, really closely with our urban forester, Richard Adkins, um, as well as a community on these.

These are um five different species from different deserts around the world.

Um, they are trees that are that are familiar to us in Tempe.

We have we have them in parks, people have them in yards, we've been using them.

Uh so we know how they grow, we know um uh their characteristics.

We have a variety of them that give color, um, different canopy uh sizes.

So uh in front of some historic buildings, we kind of wanted to minimize uh a little bit of the tree coverage so the building could be showcased.

Um so there was a little bit of nuance with the tree placement as we considered where they were gonna be uh put.

Once I'm listing the the five species that we have here.

Again, they're there's species that we have already in our city.

Um, a couple other things to mention here.

We're using mulch as the ground cover material instead of DG.

This is a cooler material, it's part of what we're doing citywide with with um both our programs and community services and parks as well as in in in our program in transportation and sustainability, part of our urban cooling objectives.

So every little piece of things that we can do to cool things off is is what that is about using that mulch, and that the picture of that is on the far right.

A couple other things to mention.

We kept we can't plant ficus anymore, according to the Arizona Department of Water Resources, but we're keeping the healthy ones.

We're able to keep those until they reach their lifespan, and then we'll put in one of the new five species.

But we did expand the actual planting area in the downtown.

So that will also help with the success of the trees.

Do you want to go now or do you wait till we would go down?

I just want to say one thing.

Sure.

With the FICAS, I know that Joe Navarro somewhere is making a big smile on his heart right here.

So there's still about 20 of him for 20 of them for him to enjoy.

Yeah, 20 of him.

There is 20 of him.

Thanks for that.

The uh the other thing, this was one of the first things that was put in, just kind of creating some good good character downtown.

Three of the blocks have the overhead string lights.

You guys have all seen those.

They operate at night, um, just giving a nice effect on uh third street.

I'm sorry, Fourth Street on the west side, and then both sides of Sixth Street, um, just across the way.

Another another really important element, as you all know, and this has been getting a lot of attention on social media is that um pretty much at every corner.

Um, there's what there's these mosaic uh pieces that um are showing, we're just we're flashing before you uh several of them that are in, um, but they really represent the whole history of Tempe, as we've talked about.

So we got a lot of public feedback on these, worked really closely with the History Museum, Historic Preservation staff.

Um, and so these are a great aesthetic element that people can see as they're wandering down the street.

Um, one thing to note is you see the concrete band that is around the images, those are gonna be sandblasted or etched with names, so it'll tell people really what it is, um, and which will be a nice uh nice touch.

Um we're gonna include names like where appropriate, uh indigenous names, like for the butte.

Um, so that's another really recognition of the whole history of Tempe.

Some buildings that have been, you know, that are long gone, and then some that are here that we're you know, really respecting and honoring uh through representation in these medallions.

And then finally, uh we are putting new bus shelters on the street.

We have four new designs in Tempe.

We're using uh one of our smaller designs to go on the street, and uh we worked with public art and we worked with the local indigenous artist collective, the hookyo group, uh, to develop the patterning that will go on the backside of these bus shelters to reflect the indigenous history of Tempe.

Hand it over to Tara.

And then the Mill Avenue Gateway sign.

I know you've all seen this.

And so uh the Mill Avenue Gateway sign, it's a gateway into Mill Avenue from the south um end of Mill, kind of by um Jack in the Box, filthy animal in that area there.

Is this our right slide?

Anyway, okay.

All right, it's a new map didn't show them.

We did have one showed a map of where this was going.

Anyway, so um, but this the Mill Avenue Gateway sign, um, it's in production right now.

Uh so we're anticipating that it will be in in um March, April, a time frame.

Uh the uh the pylons are being uh fabricated as we speak, and the 14th, the rest of it's going to go into fabrication.

Back to me.

Um I think I've got the next couple ones.

Uh we we also, as I mentioned earlier, um, and you all know this, we we have continue to to um outreach to the public, uh, working with DTA, um, working with neighborhood services, the contractor, all of us.

Um, sometimes it's Tara and I going out and talking to business owners, but we're really just trying to again um make it as least disruptive as possible.

It is disruptive to construct, um, but we have creative signage, always providing access, pedestrian pedestrian access to the businesses.

Um, you can see a picture on the right here where we had to get really creative.

The contractor terrace team had to get really creative on how you get to businesses.

So, all that was done.

It was really important, of course, um, but wanted to make sure that we mentioned that and that that coordination continues today.

There is a monthly meeting where we share the team share the status of the project that's recorded, people attend it, or they can go watch the recording to find out what's happened and what will happen in the next month.

So that is continuing as well.

And those bridges that Eric's pointing out, we would we would adapt those as we saw fit with the business owner.

So if they called us that day and they're like, this isn't working for me, our crews went out there right away, adjusted it, fixed it, made sure it met their needs.

And so we did a lot of that throughout this project as well.

Similarly, um, all the events that that we're proud of that continue to um evolve and and or happen year after year in Tempe, those continue to happen.

Um we we made them happen seamlessly during construction, as you guys all saw.

Um so we show a picture here of the Tempe Blooms, which is coming up in two weeks, next weekend.

Um, and all the other great events that have happened historically and are still happening.

That that did continue to happen throughout construction.

And then next steps.

Wrapping up the project.

So it's about 90% complete.

Um what we're doing now, you'll be seeing uh Aiken Gardner out there, you'll be seeing our guys out there.

We're basically doing punch list items, warranty work.

If a plant died, then we'll put a new one in.

And we we've done some curb work where there's been like an 18-wheeler that took a curb and like took the whole curb out.

And so we're basically doing those types of repair works as well.

Um, we still have to come back and the gateway sign, which I said we'll be back in uh March, April.

We're still we're working on it right now.

So when I say this, we're not just like leaving things dormant.

We keep working on the base of it, the um the rebar that we're putting in the ground.

All of that is being it's all the pre underground prep work that nobody really sees.

That's all being done so that once that sign is fabricated, it's just gonna go up.

And it's probably gonna take about seven, seven to ten days to get that erected once it's out there because we have everything else in the ground ready to go.

Um, we've been working really close with the civils, making sure it's what it needs to be for to support that.

We will be coming back in the summer.

I don't have a schedule for you right now to do the paving.

That's gonna be huge.

It's go it might be about two to three months because it's not your standard paving.

It's a full mill and overlay, a full reconstruct.

So we have those intersections that are pavers, it's a full reconstruct.

We have to dig all that up, get that up, um, do your standard mill and overlay, but also what we're trying to do is make it least impactful to everyone, the businesses, the pedestrians, the traffic.

So we're not just we can't just go in and shut the whole thing down and shut down um the uh streetcar as well.

If we could, it would be a little bit shorter, but we're not looking to do that.

And we want to do it in the summer after school's out.

If we can start some areas before that aren't that impactful, then we will um the side streets because we're doing those as well.

We're not just doing mill, we're doing like fifth and say we're doing some of that's called the side streets as well, because we have drainage issues over there.

Um, and and you you guys have seen those streets.

So they need to be repaired as well.

So it's all of mill, and then the side streets as well that we'll be doing.

So that is coming.

Once I have the schedule and we know what that looks like, then we will share that.

And one thing I we have a quick question.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Uh Madam Vice Mayor.

Where in the repaving process, because I know this isn't part of downtown mill, um, is mill just north of the bridge, especially over by the Marquee Theater, because dang.

Let me see Mark Weber and I don't need the answer right now, but just like eventually.

We'll we'll look it up and get back to you when it's on the schedule because I know exactly what you're talking about.

Yeah, thank you.

Yes, yes.

And then Councilmember Adams.

Yeah.

Did you no I don't know?

I have a question.

Uh just um speaking of that road, there is a huge hole um uh southbound on Mill Avenue, uh right just south of uh Rolling Hills, and it's been there for a long time.

So north of the lake, and yeah, yeah, it's north of the lake.

Yeah, as you're going out of rolling hills and going down that way, it's on the on the left, and it's really dangerous.

Somebody hits that, they're gonna blow their tire.

So that I just thought of that.

Yeah, so thank you.

Thank you.

And I'll come back with more rest of my things later.

Go ahead.

I just and while we have council member Adams, I wanted to reference you had requested last week um a little bit of an update on the fifth and mill intersection.

We were at the the regular council meeting last week.

Um we um we had talked internally.

What I want to mention here tonight was um all sorts of construction activities creating you know congestion and confusion maybe at some of the intersections.

Um we wanted to recommend um as part of this presentation that we finish the construction uh downtown and and finish the specifically the work at fifth and mill.

Um get good data on how it's performing, get the right, you know, kind of all the right markings and and uh observe the usage of that particular fifth and mill intersection and then come back and report all that to you with good clean information after we finish the construction.

So it would be a little bit longer than in the next couple months, um, but come back to you when we have that good clean information uh and data after the construction is completed.

Okay, that would that would be great.

I understand the delay, but um, I'm glad you're gonna look at the data.

It's all about the data.

Yeah, yeah.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And that concludes our presentation.

All right, thank you so much.

Um council members have questions at um Jennifer and then ready.

Thank you, madam Vice Mayor.

Um, this is why I loved public works to you, because you get to see the the results.

You they're tangible.

And I mean, this you guys have done a great job with this project, and it's a big project, and it was decades in in the neat the needing area, that's for sure.

Um and it's uh I like how you incorporated sustainability practices into it, and it will increase our shade canopy because that most of those trees were dead, so I mean that's gonna make a huge difference, and it's gonna be a lot more warm and welcoming environment.

So I appreciate that.

Um I like the mosaics, I miss long wings.

Me too.

Drinking less though.

Well, I like the music.

I like the music that they played.

So it was it was a good place to just hang out and listen to music.

Um, and uh the new bus shelters look really nice.

I'm glad that we're gonna have some um new bus shelters that are protected of people.

I would like to increase our protected bus shelters, and maybe we put trees by the bus shelters.

So we use a shade, it cut covers two birds with one stone, right?

We um increase the tree tree canopy and also um save money, I think, because those bus shelters are kind of expensive.

So just was thinking about that.

And the mill avenue gateway sign, that is really really impressive.

I'm I'm super excited about that.

And um, what about um I was thinking by public works days um about doing the road work at night instead of during the day?

I know we've done that in the past on yes, we we're we're trying to take advantage of all off hours that we can, extended hours, whatever it may be.

We did that, you saw that with some of mill when we had shutdowns.

Yes, and we definitely definitely we're doing it to where it opens up like right when um people are starting to come to work, but a lot of that they were they were starting at like two, three in the morning.

Okay, yeah, yeah.

So if we can do that with the noise ordinance and stuff, we we'd push it right to the limit.

Yes.

Okay, okay, that would be great.

It's cooler then, and and just there's less traffic.

So um, okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Those are my questions.

Thank you.

Thank you very much for the presentation.

Uh it looks great so far.

You know, it looks so much cleaner and just kind of newer and sounds weird to say, but almost like more welcoming.

So I really appreciate the work that you've done.

And it's been a long time.

Like I'm thinking about like wow, you know, because we had our national sales meeting at the Omni last year, and that whole area of the of the road is all torn up, and now it looks great, and we're working on other parts.

So it's been a multi-year project.

I know you guys have put in a lot of time to make sure that you're delivering for for the people, and it I'm very pleased.

My one regret is we didn't get a second gateway sign because it looks so good.

And in my opinion, the best entrance to the city is Mill Avenue coming across that bridge right into our downtown.

Just looks phenomenal.

I did it the other day to visit the uh the mill, and I was just like, man, this is just the coolest like drive.

So you know, that's one regret.

That's on me.

I should have suggested that two years ago.

So I'll I'll take the bullet on that one.

Um, so maybe we're looking to assign the future, and I have a money-saving operation that will help pay for the sign.

Since we have eucalyptus trees, maybe we import some koalas to save on maintenance.

Yeah, there you go.

Something to think about, right?

No, but uh again, congratulations, guys.

I mean, it looks great, and I know we're kind of in the the final stretch here, and uh I'm just I'm very pleased with it all.

So well done.

Thank you.

Uh anyone else, sorry about that.

Uh Council Bramberg.

Just on the eucalyptus trees.

I'm not in favor of those because I'm highly allergic to them.

Koalas or the trees.

Trees.

And uh oh, and uh Vice Mayor Garvel and Council Bureau.

Uh so I have a couple notes on here.

I I love the idea of using the mulch here.

It's so much better here.

By our house, if you use mulch, it just means Scorpions.

So, but I I really appreciate the look of it here also, and I understand that that it is cooling.

The medallions are super cool.

I can't wait for you to start doing the etching on that so that we could read those also.

I'm gonna go down and take a picture of every single one of them because I just think they're amazing.

Great work on the tiling, it just is beautiful.

Love the construction science.

Whoever thought of all of those cute little things that you put on there, the DTA, we got to give credit.

Yeah, it's a DTA, it's their staff.

It's it's not the right construction be careful.

What they're just very creative, and I just love that that they've done that.

Um, I I think it's really important, and I'm glad you guys mentioned this about checking in with the businesses.

It's really important that we support them.

This is I know this isn't been easy for them.

I've talked to a number of the businesses down there.

Um, but we're all kind of looking forward to the to the end of what looks like.

So again, it leads to my next thing I was gonna say.

I appreciate you spreading out the continued impact that we're gonna have because I I think I think everybody needs a break, take a big deep breath, and then start all over again.

So I think that's really smart to do that.

I'm sure the businesses are going to be appreciating that.

Um, and that's all I have.

But you great work, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Council Brad.

Just my last comment.

I like the fact that you are planning ahead for um for the future improvements, and you we're not gonna have to tear everything up.

You know, we have the the one area that we can just make the improvements in, and so that's that's great.

And that's a sustainable practice because it saves money and time in the future.

Thank you.

Okay.

And I did find out that's going that's scheduled for 2028.

That section of the road.

All right.

Anyone else?

Just a quick note of my end two, and sorry I had to pop up for a second.

So, the what I really love about this is when this was all first getting started.

There were a lot of folks that I talked to who said, I, you know, I don't understand what's going on, and there's so much construction, and you know, but it's like when I used to watch The Joy of Painting as a child, and the first 22 23 minutes of what Bob Ross was doing, I couldn't quite tell what it was.

I'm like, what is he painting?

I don't see this coming together.

And all of a sudden, at minute 27, I was like, ah, now I see it.

And I've heard that from so many people in the community, business owners, longtime residents, visitors over the last probably I would say a couple of months when they started seeing the new sidewalks and gray pavers going in and saw the new tree plantings and and saw some of the uh sort of cities sort of Instagram and Facebook moments talking about what was coming, and along with a lot of the new businesses to sort of join the older longstanding businesses.

I've now had a lot of people come to me and say, I completely understand what you were doing.

Mill Avenue looks fantastic.

I love the new sidewalks.

I love the wider sidewalks with sort of increased ADA accessibility.

And and so it's nice when people begin to see the sort of Bob Ross painting come together, and all of a sudden, even the folks who might have initially been a little critical of what you were doing, now say, I now get it.

And I understand exactly why you did it, and I'm really glad that you actually uh decided to go through this undertaking because I know for members of council, members of city staff, the downtown Tempe Authority, Tempe Tourism, a whole lot of people.

This has definitely not been an easy process.

Whenever you have to rip up streets, it inconveniences people.

There are some people that think that businesses are closed that are actually open, or they just don't understand what's happening.

But as it's all begin to come together and people can see exactly the groundwork literally that we're laying, I've gotten nothing but positive support from people in this community and folks who visited and a lot of the business owners.

So I just wanted to say thank you for persevering because I know that for as the two people who were leading this project from a staff standpoint.

I know this is a lot of coordination.

It's not easy.

People don't always see the vision, but the fact that you persevered and kept pushing through.

I think we're gonna have an exceptional Mill Avenue moving forward, and it's because of the work that you do and the entire team here at the city of Tempe and our partners.

So just thank you.

Thank you.

Council Member.

I just want to say it also just corresponds perfectly what we're doing with Tempe Town Lake and the north side of the you know of the river.

So it's just I think it's just a perfect connection together.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

All right.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Thank you so much.

Appreciate it.

That brings me to item number five.

Call to the audience.

The city council welcome public comment at this time for the committee of the whole items on this work study session agenda.

There is a three-minute time limit per speaker.

Uh, Madam Clerk, any comment cards.

None right.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

We'll move on here to item six A, proposed council subcommittees.

Uh, this is the call to the audience.

Um, actually, there's only one item for a proposed council subcommittee this evening.

And I should also read as well per city council rule seven, subsection two B.

Any two members of the council may propose the formation of a subcommittee at a work study session of the council by identifying the purpose of the proposed subcommittee and the proposed members of the subcommittee and obtaining approval of the majority of the council.

So, are there any new proposals for a council subcommittee at this time?

All right, seeing none, I'll move on to item six b council subcommittee status updates as needed or recommendations for council directions.

So I'm gonna go down the list here and just ask the chair if there's any updates.

Item 6b1, age-friendly Tempe Council subcommittee.

Vice Mayor Garland.

Thank you, Mayor.

So I um chair this committee um with councilmember Keating and Councilmember Amberg.

Our age-friendly Tempe subcommittee meets on January 27th, and we'll begin finalizing our five-year plan.

And the final subcommittee report is scheduled for the May 4th work study session.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

Next up, item 6b2, animal welfare and cruelty and tempee council subcommittee.

Councilmember Hodge.

Yes.

Um, I sub this with also with uh Jen um Councilmember Adams and Vice Mayor Garlet.

Our next subcommittee meeting will be held on Feb on Friday, January 23rd at 1 p.m.

at Tempe City Council Hall in the third floor.

Large conference room.

We'll have a virtual option also.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Item 6B3, Community Engagement and Connection Council Subcommittee.

Vice Mayor Garland.

All right.

Thank you, Mayor.

I co-chair or chair this committee with Councilmember Amberg and Councilmember Chin.

And our meetings continue.

The next week we'll review our public communications methods and analyze peer city approaches to community engagement.

We have also scheduled our public input sessions beginning in February.

And if you'd like more information on the dates and locations, you can go to Tempe.gov forward slash council subcommittees.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

Next up, item 6 before drink spiking education and prevention council subcommittee.

Councilmember Keating.

Thank you, Mayor.

I'll provide an in-depth update to January 22nd.

First read.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up, item 6B5, Federal and State Advocacy Review Council Subcommittee.

Councilmember Amberg.

Yes, thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

I am on that subcommittee with Vice Mayor Garlet and Councilmember Keating.

Our first meeting is February the 20th at 4 p.m.

in uh third floor conference room.

We're gonna kind of come up with a game plan on how to schedule and how to uh divvy up that document because it's pretty big, so it's going to uh take some time.

So thank you.

Excellent.

Next up, item 6b6, mixed use space council subcommittee.

Councilmember Chin.

Thank you, Mayor.

I serve on that committee with councilmember Amberg and Mayor Corey Woods.

I don't have an update tonight for you.

Thank you.

Great.

Thank you so much.

Next up, item 6B7, motorized and electric mobility device council subcommittee.

Councilmember Adams.

Yes, as I'd like to say the scooter committee.

Anyway, um our next meeting for that will be on at 2 p.m.

on February 18th at the third on the third floor at City Hall.

So please uh feel free to come.

We had a we had a big audience last time, and I welcome you all back.

Thank you.

Sounds good.

Thank you.

And yes, the scooter committee would definitely be an easier name to read.

Yes, please.

I uh I'm so sorry for that.

I forgot uh councilmember Hodge is also serving on the committee with me.

And we're uh yeah 14.

Thank you.

You can if you want.

Um let's see, item 6b8, revitalization of Tempe Town Lake Council Subcommittee.

Councilmember Amberg.

Yes, thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

I am uh chair that one with Councilmember Adams and Hodge.

Our next meeting is February the 6th at 2 on the third floor conference room.

Yeah.

Thank you, Councilmember Amberg.

And last but certainly not least, 6B9, Tempe Term Limits Policy Review Council Subcommittee.

First Mayor, let me say I I neglected to acknowledge Vice Mayor Garlet and Councilmember Hodge and my drink spiking committee update.

I know that it that's very important to decorum.

So thank you for your work on that, my colleagues.

Uh this one I serve on with Vice Mayor Garlet again and Councilmember Amberg.

We have not had a meeting yet.

Uh we will shortly and we'll announce that when that is scheduled.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

All right.

Next up, item number seven, future agenda items.

Members of the council may request that an agenda item be added to a future issue review session, but in accordance with the open meeting law, there should be no discussion on the item other than to clarify the request.

Uh, does anyone have any future agenda items?

Vice Mayor Garland.

You know, we have a plan for our um bus stop shade shelters.

Um I was just wondering if we could get an update on where we are with status of that.

It's easy to say that now it's great because it's not that hot outside and sitting in the sun is great, but summer's coming.

So I would just like to know if we can get an update on where we stand with the amount of um bus shelters we have, any new ones we're gonna put in and how are we on the status of the shelters, the new ones with better shade.

Mayor, vice mayor, absolutely.

We can provide an update.

Would you like a work study update or would you like it in a Friday package?

I think a Friday package probably would be fine too.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam City Manager.

Thank you, Vice Mayor Garland.

Uh, any other future agenda items from any of the members of council.

All right.

I will close that discussion.

Then just a very quick note before we uh close out tonight.

Just wanted to uh welcome a new member to the city clerk's team, Alicia, our our clerk, our assistant actually.

So I wanted to make sure that is I'd say a very small but yet mighty team that keeps us in compliance uh with many Arizona revised statutes.

Not many, all quite candidly.

So that's one of the welcome Alicia to uh our city clerk team.

So welcome.

Yes, Vice Mayor Garland.

I just want to say I'm uh Tempe Leadership is a great program in the city, and I'm being shadowed today with by Akima Charles, who has um ready ready step go.

No, what's your organization?

I can't remember the organization.

Ah, I see my discovery.

Lights camera discovery.

I don't know.

Oh, I got that OD something at OD's organization.

Um but she's got a great, she has a great program in the city of Tempe that works with students, and it's absolutely amazing.

She's in the Tempe Leadership class 34, although class, I mean 41, but my class 34 was the best.

You know, OD is very happy that you said his management.

I have so many things I can say.

Um not about you.

No, I was gonna say I don't feel like Odis getting enough credit these days.

Um anyway, um, I'm gonna move on here then.

Um we're gonna go to item number eight, which is adjournment.

The next scheduled work study session will be on February 12th, 2026.

We are adjourned at 5 14 p.m.

Thank you, everyone.