3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG: Mayor Kouts led the Pledge of Allegiance. 4. OPENING PRAYER: Mrs. Sharon Kouts offered the opening prayer.

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1 MINUTES CITY OF SAFFORD CITY COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2018 at 6:00 pm MEETING LOCATION: SAFFORD LIBRARY PROGRAM ROOM 808 S. 7 TH AVE SAFFORD, ARIZONA The mission of the City of Safford is to make Safford a great place to live, work, and visit 1. WELCOME AND CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Kouts called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL: A quorum of the Council was present (7). COUNCIL PRESENT: Jason Kouts, Mayor; Richard Ortega, Vice Mayor; Councilmembers Gene Seale, Arnold Lopez, Steve McGaughey, Chris Taylor and Michael Andazola. STAFF PRESENT: Horatio Skeete, City Manager; Joe Brugman, Police Chief; Alma Flores, Finance Officer; Randy Petty, City Engineer; Lance Henrie, Public Works Director/Assistant City Engineer; Amber Hogle, Planning and Community Development; Leslie Norton, Human Rescources Officer; Victoria Silva, Library Director; Tamara Webster, Deputy City Clerk; Denver Finch, I.T.; Georgia Luster, Dan Braatz, Gale Hedges, Morgan Seale, Nathan Estes and Raymond Orsornio. OTHERS PRESENT: David Sowders, James Bryce, Nickolas Battey, Mick Ruiz, Shelby McGinnis, Justin Millar, Linda Burgis, Cindy Woodman, Tracey Hansen, Retha Russell, Dian Delgado Pederson, Sarah Delgado, Mark Pederson, Nathan Estes, Paul R.David, Dan Ziclarelli, and others who did not sign in. 3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG: Mayor Kouts led the Pledge of Allegiance. 4. OPENING PRAYER: Mrs. Sharon Kouts offered the opening prayer. 5. CITIZEN COMMENTS ON AGENDA ITEMS: Nickolas Battey, Justin Millar, Cindy Woodman and Linda Burgis each addressed the Council regarding the 8 th Street Cul-de-Sac agenda item. These citizens expressed their safety concerns and objection of the closure of 8 th Street and creation of a cul-de-sac. 6. CITIZEN COMMENTS ON NON-AGENDA ITEM: NONE 7. PRESENTATION: Mick Ruiz, Boys and Girls Club of the Gila Valley Director, will present the Mayor and Council with an annual report. Boys and Girls Club Director Ruiz presented the Council with information regarding the club finances, membership, programs, club highlights, and the future of the Boys and Girls Club. 8. NEW/OLD BUSINESS: 1. Eighth Street Cul-de-Sac: Presentation by City Engineer and ADOT on proposed closure of Eighth Street and creation of a cul-de-sac. Randy Petty informed the Mayor and Council that ADOT is now preparing plans for the US Highway 70 from 20 th to 8 th Street P a g e 1 8

2 project and will go out to bid very soon. Included in the project is the construction of the East 8 th Street cul-de-sac. ADOT will be constructing the cul-de-sac on the project with no city match. It will be fully funded by ADOT. In 2013 council approved the reconfiguration of the street and ADOT then agreed to fund the work. At this time the city is looking at different options on shortening the length of the cul-de-sac. Mayor Kouts inquired that this item previously went to council for a vote to completely close 8 th Street and are there any sitting council members at that time. Councilman Seale stated that he was on the council. As he recalls the presentation that was made to council at the time, the easiest thing to do would have been to put in a traffic light in Councilman Seales opinion. However, ADOT did not think that was a good idea because they anticipated another traffic light just to the east within a few years. The only other option that was proposed would be a round about in the middle of the highway. Councilman Seale disagreed with the round about becaue of all the traffic and big trucks. There were not a whole lot of options that were real palettable. The cul-desac was the other option that was discussed. Councilman Seale stated he is not sure if there were any options that were easier to accomplish. Mayors Kouts inquired that is what was gathered was a proposed option without a council vote or was there an actual council vote to close 8 th Street. Randy Petty replied yes. Vice Mayor Ortega stated that he was on the council at that time as well and what has been said already was pretty much it. The only oposition or big concern was the business that was concerned about closing off the end of 8 th Street. The business was wanting 8 th to continue being a through street. Councilman Seale continued that with the construction of 8 th Street the way it is, the width of the street does not allow many options to widen the street. Randy Petty stated there is no option to widen the street much more than what it is now. Possibly 26 to 28 feet wide would be the maximum. Mayor Kouts states that in the city s general street requirements, which is , it stipulates that a maximum length of a cul-de-sac is 500 feet. Mayor Kouts physically measured the street and states that is is 1,130 feet and for this to even come up to council for a vote, the rules of a cul-de-sac should be known. Mayor Kouts met a lot of the property owners on 8 th street and took pictures of the streets improvement needs. Including a speed limit sign that is angled, a culvert that is full of debris, the edge of the concrete road that has an over 8 drop, cracks in the road, a sidewalk that is buckling, and a speed limit sign that is posted on top of another short sign. Mayor Kouts suggested also putting a weight limit sign up for 8 th street. If the street closes today, the residents will have to travel an extra 630 feet before the next ingress and egress out of their P a g e 2 8

3 property. Mayor Kouts continued to discuss other safety issues regarding the 8 th street and stated that No leader takes his community to a dead end. The city should go back to ADOT and tell them to pull the plug on this project and hear from each property owner letting them know that their voice matters. As well the city fixing the safety issues mentioned above. Citizens comments were heard at this time. Councilman Seale stated that the action item should be tabled until more information is received. Mayor Kouts replied that ADOT needs to know if the City Council wants the cul-de-sac or if they do not want the cul-de-sac. If the cul-de-sac is wanted then ADOT needs a council to vote for the project to keep moving and if council does not want the cul-de-sac then ADOT needs a vote to stop the project. A discussion followed regarding 8 th Street and the cul-de-sac. City Manager Skeete stated that in 4-6 weeks he will bring back to council how the conditions have changed and how the considerations for the improvement should change along the way as well. The conditions that were voted on and the idea of the traffic signal being off the table 7-8 years ago when it was being considered. Some of the conditions that would have made that not possible today is no longer there today and some of the things that were being proposed to do then is not being proposed to do now. Mr. Skeete would like to find some alternatives that might be available now. Vice Mayor Ortega replied that he would like to give City Manager Skeete the time to proceed and come back to council with this project. A short discussion followed. Mayor Kouts stated he wants to hear when the City of Safford is going to fix the potholes and issues on 8 th Street. City Manager Skeete replied he will take care of the problem respecting some of the comments heard. A viable solution that is going to last will be found. No action was taken on this item. 2. Utility Locator Position: Request for Mayor and Council to approve the transfer of one vacant position from the Customer Service in Finance to the Utilities Director s Office for the creation of a Utility Locator (Blue Stake) position to service all City owned utilities. Leslie Norton requested permission to convert the vacant field service tech position to a utility locator position based on the analysis submitted. The three different divisions, water, gas, and electric, do their individual blue staking. The city would like to consolidate P a g e 3 8

4 that to one position which would do the blue staking for all the divisions as well as do the GIS component that will get it all mapped into the GIS system. A short discussion followed. It was moved by Councilman Lopez, seconded by Councilman McGaughey, and carried unanimously to approve the transfer of one vacant position from the Customer Service in Finance to the Utilities Director s Office for the creation of a Utility Locator (Blue Stake) position to service all City owned utilities. MOTION ADOPTED 3. Minutes: Requset for Mayor and City Council to review and approve February 26, 2018 Council Work Session and March 12, 2018 City Council Meeting Minutes. No changes were requested. It was moved by Councilman Andazola, seconded by Vice Mayor Ortega, and carried unanimously to approve February 26, 2018 Council Work Session and March 12, 2018 City Council Meeting Minutes. MOTION ADOPTED 9. ORDINANCES: 1. Ordinance O18-002: Consider a first reading of Ordinance Number O18-002, amending City Code section , service deposits and fees. Alma Flores stated Ordianance O is to ammend the city code section reffering to service deposits and fees. The area being changes is in section A number 1. The time frame that a deposit can be impounded for is being changed to be established by resolution. This ordinance would be the first reading to change that section. Some of the changes included in the resolution regarding deposits for residential services are as follow: high risk customer (red) currently requires 2 times the deposit amount, new policy would have them enroll in automatic payments and pay 1.5 times the deposit amount; current policy minimum deposit required for electric services only is $150.00, new policy would be $75.00; current policy deposit return for any utility service is two years after no delinquencies on utility accout at customer request, new policy is automatic return of deposit after one year of no delinquencies. Commercial account deposit policy changes include: current deposit policy is 2.5 times the highest monthly bill, new policy would include auto withdrawals and 1.5 times deposit; currently deposit is not refunded to commercial accounts until account is closed, new policy would include no delinquincies in 12 month period would receive 1/3 of their deposit back. These are the changes that will be recommended after the ordinance is complete to change the city code. A short discussion followed regarding the deposit requirements. Ordinance Number O was read by Tamara Webster, Deputy City Clerk. It was moved by Councilman Taylor, seconded by Councilman Andazola, and carried unanimously to consider a first reading of Ordinance Number O18-002, amending City Code section , service deposits and fees. MOTION ADOPTED P a g e 4 8

5 10. RESOLUTIONS: 1. Resolution R18-018: Request for the Mayor and Council to approve and adopt Resolution Number R18-018, a resolution of the Mayor and City Council approving the lease purchase agreement with Signature Public Funding for the purchase of a 2018 Caterpillar 304E2 Hydraulic Excavator. Alma Flores presented Resolution R18-018, a lease agreement with Signature Public Funding. The city currently has a lease agreement with Signature Public Funding for the purchase of a sewer machine which was originally requested for $400, This resolution is now the second part of it that the city is requesting increase that amount enough to finance entire hydraulic excavator that the sewer department is in need of. This would be an extension of that existing lease that went into affect November of The amount that it will be increased by is $48, The purchase price of the machine would be $53, The funding would be for the same length of term, five years, and no additional closing costs. Mayor Kouts inquired if the city went out to bid for this item and if any other brands of equipment besides CAT were bid. Ms. Flores responded the city did go out for bid on the original lease. Morgan Seale stated that the city did not go out for bid on the machine. The machine is on the state procurement and with that the city gets a state price for it. The best deal was the CAT Excavator. Councilman Lopez commented that this is an extension of the existing lease but the interest rate increased excavator part of the lease. Ms. Flores stated that the current interest rate had to be used which is at 3.14% and other banking institues were contacted to compare rates and Chase quoted just under 6%, Zions Bank was about 4.2%. It was moved by Vice Mayor Ortega, seconded by Councilman McGaughey, and carried 6 to 1 to adopt Resolution Number R18-018, a resolution of the Mayor and City Council approving the lease purchase agreement with Signature Public Funding for the purchase of a 2018 Caterpillar 304E2 Hydraulic Excavator. MOTION ADOPTED (Mayor Kouts opposed) 11. CONTRACTS/AGREEMENTS/BIDS: E Caterpillar (Mini-Excavator): Request for the Mayor and Council to authorize the purchase of a new Caterpillar 304E2 for use in the wastewater division, in the amount of $53,879. This item is listed with the State of Arizona Procurement contract # Morgan Seale requestd Mayor and Council to athorize the purchase of a new Caterpillar 304E2 for the wastewater division for the amount of $53, Currently the city has two of these machines, one is a 2004 and the other a 2012 of the same size. The 2004 is the smaller size of Caterpillar excavator. While doing research of hours on heavily used equipment they average around 300 hours annually for heavily used equipment. Last year in 2017 the smaller excavator had a total of 320 hours and the large a total of 560 hours. P a g e 5 8

6 A short discussion followed as to why this item was removed from the April 9, 2018 agenda. It was moved by Vice Mayor Ortega, seconded by Councilman Andazola, and carried 6 to 1 to authorize the purchase of a new Caterpillar 304E2 for use in the wastewater division, in the amount of $53,879. This item is listed with the State of Arizona Procurement contract # MOTION ADOPTED (Mayor Kouts opposed) 12. BUDGET: Provide Mayor and Council a summary and detail of the proposed 2019 budget. Alma Flores provided Mayor and Council with the entire summary and detail of the proposed 2019 budget. Staff provided a balanced budget. On the summary page shows that in the general fund the revenues exceed the expenseses by $21, There is a lot of activity going on in the enterprise fund for the water department. The city will be seeking bond funding in the amount of 10 million dollars and be doing projects of about 5.6 million. This will leave some funds to go back into the fund balance to utilize the following year which is estimated at almost 6.8 million dollars. The electric department has a lot of activity going on as well. The city will be going into the electric reserves fund balance and paying off the debt that is in the electric department right now which is at 1.8 million dollars. Staff is recommending to pay that debt service off. This also include paying for some capital projects and transfering the 1 milllion to the economic development fund as well. The budget also includes pocket park for neighborhood enhancements, the CDBG project which also includes 200 hundred thousand set aside in the council budget to use for a project of their choice, the return of the 50/50 sidewalk plan, the cemetary perpetual fund, and the economic development fund. Staff is also recommending a sewer capacity fee moritorium for two years which will hopefully encourage some growth within the City of Safford. Included in the budget will also be lighting improvements along the walking paths, a 3% cost of living increase, and a self check out machine in the library. An expenditure of limitation of aproximately 53 million dollars is being set. Once the tentative budget is approved that expenditure limit is set and may not be increased. It may be decreased but not increased. A short discussion regarding the CDBG project funds followed. City Manager Skeete pointed out that included in the budget numbers are the 53 million dollar maximum expenditure limitation which does include 3 million dollars in the enterprise fund and 3 million dollars in the general fund of contingency funding to allow for flexibility during the course of the year. When the tentative budget is adopted this does allow a little bit of room. 13. ANNOUNCEMENT OF CURRENT EVENTS: The Mayor or any member of Council may at this time present a brief summary of current events and provide future agenda items. However, no discussion shall take place on such items except for clarifying comments related to substance, time and location. P a g e 6 8

7 Día de los Niño s Celebration on April 30, 2018 at the Safford Library Program Room Cinco de Mayo Parade on May 5, 2018 down Safford Main Street Pride of Safford Award to three Safford Officers April 26, 2018 at the City Annex Building Councilman Lopez attended a SEAGO meeting regarding elderly care Councilman Taylor recognized the passing of retired fire fighter Wesley Kouts and moment of silence was held in his honor 14. REPORT ON OPERATIONAL ITEMS: The city manager, members of city staff or those individuals designated by the manager may present information pertinent to items under consideration or information related to the operation of the City. There shall however be no discussion at this time except for clarifiction inquiries. (If not listed below) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between City of Safford, Graham County, and various land owners for a linear park along the river. City Manager Skeete stated that he has been working with the Graham County Board of Supervisors Danny Smith and County Manager Dustin Welker and has engaged a couple of the property owners and right now have a river walk project concept that s being presented and discussed that takes a walking park and alternative trail park from Little Hollywood to College or Reay Lane in Thatcher connecting the communities along the river. Mr. Skeete continued to explain the process of developing the linear park over the next ten to twenty years. Request for use of City of Safford land by Gila Watershed to establish nursery. Horatio Skeete stated thas the Gila Watershed is a group of people in the valley that have been doing tremendous work on the preservation and restoration of the Gila River. They are looking for an area to develop a nursery to nuture some alternative plants that would be used to replace the damaged and dead salt cedars if and when the beatles show up and destroy the trees along the river. Mr. Skeete is working on identifing an area somewhere close to the water reclamation treatment plant that will be marked out and brought back to council at a later date for a lease. Request by The River Church for City of Safford land to be used for a drug rehabilitation facility. City Manager Skeete was approached by the River Church with a request to identify a piece of land specifically in the Industrial Park area north of Discovery Boulevard and west of Highway 191 that is owned by the City. They requested that he consider about one to two acres of land that the River Church will be willing to enter into a lease agreement for a drug rehab center. Mr. Skeete has currently identified a couple of parcels that may work and is working out the details. Once a the property is settled a lease will be brought to council at a later date for approval. All of these projects are still in the early stages and the details are being worked out and wanted to inform the council of these items that City Manager Skeete has been working on. 15. ADJOURN: It was moved by Vice Mayor Ortega, seconded by Councilman Andazola and carried unanimously to adjourn at 7:52:35 p.m. MOTION ADOPTED APPROVED: P a g e 7 8

8 Jason Kouts, Mayor ATTEST: Tamara Webster, CMC, Deputy City Clerk STATE OF ARIZONA ) ) ss COUNTY OF GRAHAM ) CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of the Safford City Council, Graham County, Arizona held Monday, April 23, 2018, and approved at a Regular Council Meeting held on Monday, May 14, I further certify the meeting was duly called, held and that a quorum was present. Tamara Webster, CMC, Deputy City Clerk May 14, 2018 P a g e 8 8