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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-03-01 City Council Regular MinutesCITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MARCH 1, 2011 The regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Apache Junction, Arizona, was held on March 1, 2011, at the Apache Junction City Council Chambers pursuant to the notice required by law. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Insalaco called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. INVOCATION Councilmember Wilson gave the Invocation. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Councilmember Barker led the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL Councilmembers Present:Mayor Insalaco Vice Mayor Dietz Councilmember Barker Councilmember Coleman Councilmember Eck Councilmember Serdy Councilmember Wilson Staff Present:City Manager George Hoffman Assistant City Manager Bryant Powell City Clerk Kathleen Connelly City Attorney Joel Stern Public Safety Director Jerald Monahan Others Present:Program Coordinator Heather Patel Business Advocate Janine Solley REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL MARCH 1, 2011 PAGE 1 OF 9 ACCEPTANCE OF CONSENT AGENDA )Councilmember Coleman MOVED THAT THE CONSENT AGENDA BE ACCEPTED AS PRESENTED; AND THAT THE AWARD OF BID FOR PW 2010-07, WINCHESTER ROAD IMPROVEMENTS, BE AWARDED TO NESBITT CONTRACTING CO. IN THE AMOUNT OF $910,496.97 PLUS 10% FOR UNFORESEEN CHANGE ORDERS IN THE AMOUNT OF $91,049.65 FOR A TOTAL AMOUNT OF $1,001,546.12; AND THAT AUTHORIZATION BE GIVEN FOR THE MAYOR TO SIGN THE AGREEMENT PENDING FINAL APPROVAL AS TO FINAL FORM BY THE CITY ATTORNEY; AND THAT RESOLUTION NO. 11-02, A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF APACHE JUNCTION, ARIZONA, AUTHORIZING THE CITY TO ENTER INTO AN INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT WITH ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FOR THE DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE OF A LANDFORM GRAPHIC ON U.S. 60 AT IDAHO ROAD, BE APPROVED; AND THAT AUTHORIZATION BE GIVEN FOR THE MAYOR TO SIGN THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT; AND THAT THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT BETWEEN SOUTHWEST SLURRY SEAL AND THE CITY OF APACHE JUNCTION FOR STREET MAINTENANCE SLURRY SEALING OF SELECT CITY STREETS IN THE AMOUNT OF $273,118.00 PLUS 10% CONTINGENCY IN THE AMOUNT OF $27,311.80 FOR A TOTAL AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $300,429.80 BE APPROVED; AND THAT AUTHORIZATION BE GIVEN FOR THE MAYOR TO SIGN THE AGREEMENT. Councilmember Barker SECONDED THE MOTION. VOTE:Unanimous. The motion carried. ANNOUNCEMENT OF CURRENT EVENTS Councilmember Coleman commented the weekend before last we had one of the key events of the city, the Lost Dutchman Marathon. A great job was done by city staff, the volunteers and the marathon committee.The weather was lovely.Everything worked like clockwork.It is obvious that the organizers are runners themselves because even the littlest details were taken care of for the runners comfort and convenience, things that are not REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL MARCH 1, 2011 PAGE 2 OF 9 present in other marathons.It was such a neat experience to be at the starting line and have the forty little fires set. People were there from all over.He warmed up with a professor from the University of Fairbanks in Alaska.He was here to run. It was a great experience.He hopes they can continue the city sponsorship into the future.This was the tenth annual marathon.It was very well organized.He was glad the mayor did not injure anyone when he shot the starter's gun to begin the races. Mayor Insalaco commented he was told to keep it away from his ear and he made sure he did. Councilmember Eck commented he has been on the council for 14 years and has never been an applicant in the Lost Dutchman Days Parade before.He complimented the chamber and all the volunteers for making it so successful.He will go in the parade anytime now.He thought it would be gloom and doom and take forever.It was very organized with many out-of-town applicants.He thinks they will definitely come back.He was very impressed. Councilmember Barker commented she had the pleasure of going to the state legislature last Thursday with the city manager and Matt Busby.They met with Representative Pratt; the other representatives could not be there.There were a multitude of cities from this area that were represented.There was a lot of concern over a variety of house and senate bills.One dealing with development fees has passed the senate and is going on to the house.Senator Smith stated it may be amended in the house, which would be a good thing.The revenue sharing bill appears to be asleep now and they hope it stays asleep.She will not call it dead because it could come back to haunt them at any time.The uniform local sales tax also appears to be asleep; they are hoping no one wakes it up either.It was really nice to be able to hear the concerns of other cities that mirror ours and it was nice to be able to present those to Representative Pratt.It was gratifying to hear his response to the cities. He was very responsive, understood how the cities feel about some of these bills and how these bills would impact the cities. Councilmember Barker stated she attended a Maricopa Association of Governments meeting last Wednesday.They are all concerned REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL MARCH 1, 2011 PAGE 3 OF 9 about PM -10.It seems that Maricopa Association of Governments and the Environmental Protection Agency are working together now to come up with a better way of handling the monitoring so that, perhaps, the area will not end up having to do some paybacks before this is all over with.They seem to have a fairly good thing going together right now.We hope that they continue because it could impact us pretty heavily if there are some kinds of demands made. Councilmember Wilson commented he talked to a lot of people at the Arizona Horse Council booth at Lost Dutchman Days last weekend.It was very rewarding in the number of people he talked to that were not from Apache Junction.They were from other areas, including other states, and they were not just winter visitors.They were in the valley for a week and heard about it and came out specifically for the event.Unfortunately we had snow and rain on Sunday, but the event was very well attended with a very good turnout on Friday and Saturday.He complimented the city staff responsible in helping to put this together, including the police, public works, and parks and recreation.He appreciated all the work they did that weekend, including the parade. Councilmember Serdy commented he announced a couple of months ago that the Focal Point and Tourism Committee was going to try to have a market in the center of town.Things have not fallen into place yet.There are still some obstacles.They will continue to work on those.Hopefully when it cools down next fall they will have everything sorted out and they can get on with it. Mayor Insalaco commented he was standing out there since 6:30 a.m. the morning of the marathon.The people that were there were from all over.He talked to someone from New Zealand and someone from Flagstaff.Others came from New York and Illinois. They said this has been the best marathon that has been done out west. Mayor Insalaco announced he taught a social studies class at the high school this afternoon.The teacher had them prepare questions the day before.He answered all their questions.He commented that students do know what is going on in government. One girl thought she had a stupid question and he told her there REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL MARCH 1, 2011 PAGE 4 OF 9 is no such thing.There was not one stupid question asked. They know what is going on in the city and the world.It was a nice thing to see. AWARDS, PRESENTATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS None. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT City Manager George Hoffman commented on the article in the paper showing the mayor with the starting gun at the marathon, ten percent of the top ten local runners are in attendance at the meeting tonight, the registrants in the race, 60 years of business in Pinal County for Arnold's Automotive, read a letter from Charles and Rita Zang regarding a neighborhood meeting at Apache Villa, commented on a news article regarding debt per capita for local municipalities and the remaining Apache Junction debt, the development fee bill currently being looked at in the legislature, and the poll results on voters trusting local elected officials with taxpayer dollars. PUBLIC HEARINGS PUBLIC HEARING, SELECTION AND DIRECTION TO STAFF REGARDING SUBMITTAL OF APPLICATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2011 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT AND FISCAL YEARS 2010/2011 STATE SPECIAL PROJECTS GRANTS )Program Coordinator Heather Patel briefed the council on the item. Mayor Insalaco opened the public hearing on the item. Mr. Tim Foley, 105 N. 97th Street, Mesa, addressed the council.He spoke in support of the bike lanes and road improvements. Ms. Christa Rizzi, 1755 S. Sombrero, Apache Junction, addressed the council.She stated REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL MARCH 1, 2011 PAGE 5 OF 9 she is concerned with the lighting in the area between Idaho and San Marcos.The sidewalk is only on one side.The school district has to enforce the one mile rule and children of very young ages have to walk to school now.She is sure there are many areas throughout the community that could use additional lighting.It is a safety concern. Mayor Insalaco closed the public hearing with no one else wishing to speak.He reopened the item to council discussion. Councilmember Serdy stated he liked all the projects and they need to do as many as they can as quickly as they can before there is no more money.He does not know how long the money will be there the way the economy is heading.Frequently they get accused of spending frivolously. He suggested that whenever they do these projects a placard of some type should be put up to show that it was done with grant money.Not everyone watches these meetings.They will be able to see that it is grant money and where it is coming from. Mayor Insalaco closed the discussion with no further comments and called for a motion. Councilmember Barker MOVED THAT STAFF BE GIVEN THE FOLLOWING DIRECTION REGARDING THE SELECTION AND SUBMITTAL OF APPLICATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2011 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT AND FISCAL YEARS 2010/2011 STATE SPECIAL PROJECT GRANTS:THAT THE CDBG FUNDING BE USED TO INSTALL SIDEWALKS ALONG OLD WEST HIGHWAY AND THE SSP BE USED TO COMPLETE THE IMPROVEMENTS ON NORTH APACHE TRAIL. Councilmember Coleman SECONDED THE MOTION. VOTE:Unanimous. The motion carried. Councilmember Barker commented Christa's comment regarding lighting was very timely. It is something they maybe should look into.We have a lot of areas and we normally do lighting districts.That might involve REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL MARCH 1, 2011 PAGE 6 OF 9 a little bit different situation than the grants they are doing right now. Vice Mayor Dietz commented about 4 or 5 years ago we used a grant on lighting.It was south of Broadway on a couple of streets over that way. Program Coordinator Heather Patel stated that project was State Special Projects funded. Vice Mayor Dietz commented it is something to look at. Program Coordinator Heather Patel stated she will be coming back in April and May to propose the resolutions that are necessary to submit with these applications.They will hopefully be able to provide notification in December and move on with the project. OLD BUSINESS None. NEW BUSINESS None. COUNCIL DIRECTION TO STAFF None. SELECTION OF MEETING DATES, TIMES, LOCATIONS, AND PURPOSES Vice Mayor Dietz MOVED THAT AN EXECUTIVE SESSION AT 5:45 P.M. AND A WORK SESSION AT 7:00 P.M. BE HELD ON MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2011, IN THE CITY COUNCIL CONFERENCE ROOM AND CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS, RESPECTIVELY; AND THAT AN EXECUTIVE SESSION AT 5:45 P.M. BE HELD ON TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2011, IN THE CITY COUNCIL CONFERENCE ROOM. Councilmember Barker SECONDED THE MOTION. REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL MARCH 1, 2011 PAGE 7 OF 9 VOTE:Unanimous. The motion carried. CALL TO THE PUBLIC: None. ADJOURNMENT ) )Mayor Insalaco adjourned the meeting at 7:41 p.m. ' Consent Agenda Items are as follows: 1. Acceptance of Agenda. 2. Approval of Minutes of Regular Meeting of February 15, 2011. 3. Consideration of award of contract to Nesbitt Contracting Co., Inc. for the Winchester Road Improvements, PW 2010-07, in an amount not to exceed $1,001,546.12. 4. Consideration of Resolution No. 11-02, authorizing the city to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) for the construction of landform rock art graphic at Idaho Road and US 60 traffic interchange. 5. Consideration of an agreement with Southwest Slurry Seal for the street maintenance slurry sealing of select city streets in an amount not to exceed $300,429.80. ACCEPTED THIS 15TH DAY OF MARCH, 2011, BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF APACHE JUNCTION, ARIZONA. SIGNED AND ATTESTED TO THIS 15TH DAY OF MARCH, 2011. REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL MARCH 1, 2011 PAGE 8 OF 9 ATTEST: KATHLEEN CONNELLY City Clerk CITY COUNCIL MINUTES CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Apache Junction, Arizona, held on the 1st day of March, 2011.I further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this 2nd day of March, 2011. KATHLEEN CONNELLY City Clerk REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL MARCH 1, 2011 PAGE 9 OF 9