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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 6/3/2008 *PLEASE NOTE: Since the Glendale City Council does not take formal action at the Workshops, Workshop minutes are not approved by the City Council. MINUTES CITY OF GLENDALE CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP JUNE 3, 2008 1:30 P.M. PRESENT: Mayor Elaine M. Scruggs, Vice Mayor Manuel D. Martinez, and Councilmembers Joyce V. Clark, Steven E. Frate, David M. Goulet, Yvonne J. Knaack, and H. Phillip Lieberman ALSO PRESENT: Pam Kavanaugh, Assistant City Manager; Craig Tindall, City Attorney; and Pamela Hanna, City Clerk 1. LOOP 303 CORRIDOR UPDATE CITY STAFF PRESENTING THIS ITEM: Ken A. Reedy, P.E., Deputy City Manager; Jon M. Froke, AICP, Interim Deputy City Manager; and Mr. Leyton Woolf, Principal Owner, Woolf Logistics This is an update on annexation matters and water and sewer services in the recently annexed and unincorporated properties west of 115th Avenue, in the Loop 303 Corridor. Since October of 2007, an interdepartmental team has been meeting with a coalition of property owners, referred to as the "Loop 303 Corridor Group", in this area to discuss annexation, utilities, and future development options. This Loop 303 Corridor Group is funding nearly $1,000,000. for the completion of necessary consultant work, including master plans, and has formed an executive committee to coordinate communication with the City of Glendale. This is a request for the City Council to provide direction in moving forward with the Loop 303 Corridor planning efforts by directing staff to continue working with consultants on design, water resources, and to consider the possibility of amending the adopted annexation policy to permit the city to provide water and sewer services west of 115m Avenue. Working in conjunction with the Loop 303 Corridor Group, city standards would be consistent within the new stand-alone service area located west of Luke Air Force Base. This allows the city to continue to maintain a high level of services to existing residents, while also experiencing the economic development and employment benefits of the Loop 303 Corridor. 1 Glendale 2025 — The Next Step, the city's General Plan, includes specific goals addressing the need for growth management. Annexation is a tool that can be used by the city to direct and manage growth, rather than relying on Maricopa County. This is an opportunity to develop a large employment base important for Glendale's future. The Council adopted Glendale's first Annexation Policy on December 16, 2003 and amended the policy on July 12, 2005. The Annexation Policy maintains that viable private companies will provide water and sewer service for any annexed area located beyond the city's existing service area. Those private provider solutions anticipated in 2005 are not considered viable by the developers and land owners. Luke Air Force Base is approximately four square miles in size. The city annexed the base on July 25, 1995. The city does not provide water and sewer services to the base because Luke owns the infrastructure to provide both water and sewer services. The Loop 303 Corridor Group has been working cooperatively with representatives of the base, including the potential provision of reclaimed irrigation to the Luke AFB Golf Course. Within the city's strip annexation area the property owners of agricultural land, within an approximately 5,900 acre area bounded on the north by Peoria Avenue, the east by Luke Air Force Base, the south by Camelback Avenue and the west roughly by Cotton Lane, have approached the city expressing an interest in being annexed and having the city provide water and sewer services to them. The property owners identify this area as the Loop 303 Corridor. Both the Police Department and Fire the Department have met with the Loop 303 Corridor Group. Funding the provision of fire and police service, including any needed stations, has been recognized by the 303 Corridor Group and included in their master plans. Based on the current land use and police calls for service for this property, no additional police staffing is currently needed. The existing west side beat officer(s) will be able to respond to any additional calls. Once this property is developed and reaches build-out, as projected; an additional 20 officers (17 in the Patrol Divisions and 3 in Criminal Investigations Division) and 5 non-sworn support personnel will be needed. The Police Department uses a formula based on the current comparable land use with the "calls for service" average, to calculate any additional patrol staffing needed. Each year the data is updated and reassessed during the annual staffing study. 2 The Fire Department utilizes a model that defines when a population, within a four- minute travel-time, geographic area, averages 1,000 calls-for-service annually, it then warrants a fire station sited within that service area. Several factors that can influence the need to establish a station sooner or later than normally anticipated are: location of automatic aid or contract-service providers and their capacities within or near the service area; type of occupancies located within the service area, i.e., residential, retail, light commercial, heavy commercial or industrial/hazardous use; natural or manmade barriers; or a policy decision to expedite or delay fire station citing. Based on current population, there is no need for a fire station at this time. Fire protection, Hazmat and Emergency Medical Services can be implemented in a stair-step fashion. The first phase would be placing a temporary modular building with a crew of two firefighters located to best serve the annexation areas. The development and calls for service will drive the location of a permanent fire station(s) and the addition of full-time employees (FTE). However, staff will continue to analyze the area and will report to the Council annually. The area is within Glendale's Maricopa Association of Government's (MAG) 208 Planning Area, which indicates that the area will have sewer service provided by the City of Glendale and any sewer solutions must be reviewed and approved by the city. Water issues in this area include acquisition of the rights to serve certain areas that have a private provider with a certificate, defining supply and demand, projecting infrastructure needs, defining individual capital improvement projects and facility requirements, evaluating budgetary concerns, and design and construction considerations. Within this 5,900 acre area, there are two private water companies with Certificates of Convenience and Necessity (CC&N) to provide water service as authorized by the Arizona Corporation Commission. There are also portions of this 5,900 acre area with no certificated private water company. There are no certificated private sewer companies within the Loop 303 Corridor area. Based on the Annexation Policy, Glendale currently does not provide water or sewer services west of the Glendale Regional Public Safety Training Facility. Accordingly, city staff has been meeting with the Loop 303 Corridor Group and their representatives to explore options to have the city be the water and sewer provider within the Loop 303 Corridor, serving an area of approximately 5,900 acres of property along the Loop 303 Corridor and west of Luke Air Force Base. Existing single-family residential ranchettes within the strip annexation area are largely excluded from the potential city water and sewer service area since they are currently served by an existing water company and are on septic systems. 3 At the January 15, 2008, workshop, an update was provided to the City Council on annexation and utilities issues in the Loop 303 Corridor. The Council directed staff to determine whether there is the necessary water resource in the area and the feasibility of developing the area as a stand-alone district without affecting existing rate payers. On July 12, 2005, the Council adopted the current annexation policy, which states that viable private companies will provide water and sewer service for any annexed area beyond the city's existing service area, and that consideration will be given to annexation requests submitted from any location within the Glendale Municipal Planning Area. At the February 12, 2005, workshop, "Annexation Scenario Impacts" was presented for discussion, a part of which was related to water and sewer service. On April 13, 1978, by Ordinance 1020 NS, the city established the current strip annexation city limits. The potential annexation of property within the Loop 303 Corridor and the potential provision of water and sewer services to all or a part of the area west of 115th Avenue would provide the following benefits to the community: o The annexation of any new areas will require that any future development meet the Glendale General Plan requirements, as well as all other development. o Annexation would allow the city to guide and control growth and land uses in this area. o Provision of water and sewer would allow Glendale's Utility Department to provide uniform services to Glendale residents and properties within Glendale. o Economic development opportunities and job creation along the Loop 303 Corridor. A rate study and development impact fee study are currently being conducted to assess the budget impact to provide water and sewer services in the Loop 303 Corridor. This presentation is provided as an update regarding annexation efforts. Staff is also seeking guidance from the Council regarding the following implementation steps for this area: 1. Amend the Annexation Policy to permit the city to be an alternate provider of water and sewer services west of 115th Avenue. 4 2. To continue to work with the Loop 303 Corridor Group on finalizing master plans, including the design and construction of water and sewer treatment capacity and backbone water distribution systems and sewer collection infrastructure as a stand-alone service area for the undeveloped properties in the service area along the Loop 303 Corridor, west and north of Luke Air Force Base inside the Glendale Municipal Planning Area. 3. To annex the 5,900 acres through a single annexation request consistent with Glendale's General plan for the area. Mr. Ken Reedy stated that this area has been a point of discussion for a number of years. He explained that over the last couple of years, they have dealt with a large number of property owners west of Luke Air Force Base, as well as along the 303 Corridor. He stated that Mr. Leyton Woolf and his team of developers and planners have brought an added direction and assistance to the development of this area. Their work also included evaluating the kind of infrastructure that would be necessary to allow the city to provide service in that area. Additionally, they assessed any problems that they might need to overcome in order to move this project forward. He noted that there has been significant progress made and was very encouraged. He said that there were still some technical issues that needed to be addressed; however, they were confident that this project was moving along fairly rapidly. Mr. Reedy stated that the directive they are seeking from Council today was to allow them to continue to work on this project and be able to bring this item back as more information unfolds. Additionally, he would like Council to consider continuing to move forward on the decision points that would permit the city to potentially provide water and sewer services west of 115th Avenue. Mr. Jon Froke stated that he would like to recognize some of the groups that have worked closely with the city. He acknowledged and thanked the many consultants and representatives that had worked diligently on this project. He stated having the property owners working with the city had been very beneficial. He reiterated Mr. Reedy's comments that they are seeking Council's direction to allow staff to continue to work with the consulting firms and property owners for an anticipated annexation in November of 2008. He introduced Mr. Leyton Woolf, property owner and Chairman of the Maricopa Water Conservation District. Mr. Woolf discussed how the timing was of the essence in most of these items. He explained that three to five years ago there was no movement for development in that area. However, with the 303 coming to reality, construction and development is inevitable. He stated that now was the time for this area to start moving forward. He added that this area is going to develop into an area that Glendale can be proud of. He said that they looked forward into being annexed into Glendale and becoming proud citizens. 5 Mayor Scruggs thanked Mr. Woolf for the confidence he has showed to the City of Glendale as well as all the effort and work that has been put into this project. She added that she appreciated his vision on what can be done in the future. Councilmember Lieberman commented that Mr. Woolf was the Chairman of the Maricopa Water Conservation District and as such, there had been discussions on water sources as well as Lake Pleasant being a back-up water source. He asked Mr. Woolf how close the canal system was to this area. Mr. Woolf stated that the Beardsley canal had run from Lake Pleasant since 1927. He explained that the canal itself runs from Lake Pleasant to the east of the McMicken Dam which would be approximately two miles from the area. Councilmember Lieberman asked how much piping would be needed to bring this source on line in the areas shown on the map. Mr. Woolf explained that it was an open ditch that would require very little piping. Councilmember Lieberman thanked Mr. Woolf for his presentation. Vice Mayor Martinez also thanked Mr. Woolf for his interest in the City of Glendale and acknowledged all the work he had accomplished. He asked how many property owners were in the area and of those, how many were in support of this project. Mr. Woolf stated that there were 45 owners in support who represented 84% of value and 55% of land. Councilmember Lieberman commented that 10 or 12 years ago, Mr. Woolf was one of the owners that donated land for the 303 right of way 10 or 12 years ago. He asked what percentage of the original property owners were still in support. Mr. Woolf stated that he was not certain because that was a long time ago and many changes have occurred, however, he suspects it is the majority. Councilmember Lieberman stated that 64% of the total property owners were in favor of this annexation. Mr. Woolf stated that he was correct. Mayor Scruggs asked for any other questions for Mr. Woolf. There were none. Mayor Scruggs asked Council to consider the three items that staff was seeking direction on and provide direction. She listed the three items. Councilmember Clark commented that she would like to focus on the water issue. She remarked that the city must have 100 years assured water supply, therefore, would this area be a stand alone 100 years assured water supply or will they have to rely on the city designation to be able to develop. Mr. Reedy stated that they believe it to be a stand alone assured water supply because the city has an assured water supply for the rest of the area and it stands to reason that this area should as well. He explained that they were in discussions with legal consultants as well as the Department of Water Sources to be able to accomplish this as this was a very unique situation. He added that their discussions with the Department of Water Sources had been positive and believes that they would be able to accomplish the task. He added that the stand alone water situation makes sense because of the dramatic separation between the existing service area and the region. Councilmember Clark inquired about the amended annexation policy to permit the city to be an alternate provider of water and sewer services west of 115 Avenue. She asked if they were to agree to this amendment, would they have to honor any request other than the 6,000 acres that are being considered today. She also asked if they were compelled legally to provide water and sewer service to people that might not be in the 6,000 acre group and if this would be a precedent setting situation. Mr. Froke explained the discussions had with the property owners. He stated that the property owners that are most interested in the annexation were the owners of the 6,000 acres. 6 The preliminary engineering work that has been done is for the sizing of pipes for the 6,000 acres. He stated that they had made one last call-out to the rest of the area which is approximately 8,000 acres. He noted that owners of 6,000 acres out of the 8,000 are on board with this proposal and those who have chosen not to participate will have to wait for another period in time because they are moving forward conceptually with designs to accommodate the 6,000 acres. He deferred the legal questions to Mr. Craig Tindall, city attorney. Mr. Tindall stated that if they did not have the distribution system for additional property owners, they were not required to build an infrastructure because it would be a budget matter for the city whether to provide water to an area. He said that they could not be compelled to do so if they did not have the facilities. He added that the precedent setting question was complicated, however, he believed it would not establish a precedent should they decided to service a portion of the area. Councilmember Clark asked who the facilities belonged to once they were developed. Mr. Tindall deferred the question to Mr. Reedy. Mr. Reedy stated that they will establish a service area boundary related to properties annexed into the city. He explained that they would not be required to serve beyond that service area boundary. However, they did have the option to expand that area if they decided to. He stated that there were some properties that had no interest in becoming part of the city because they already have water and septic services. Mayor Scruggs commented that when this policy was created, it was to be all privately serviced, however, now it had become both private and city. She asked if it would be practical to modify the policy specific to the boundary. She stated that the city could be an alternate server with exception defined in such a way that relates to the 6,000. Councilmember Clark and Vice Mayor Martinez agreed. Mayor Scruggs stated that she would be much more comfortable with a modification that addresses just those property owners. She added that this was a tremendous private investment and the invested property owners should be recognized. Councilmember Clark added that there should be additional language stating that should other property owners decide to come into the boundary area, there was a mechanism to do so. Councilmember Lieberman stated that he would be in support of the modification. He asked how this would affect the county island that stands in the center. Mr. Reedy stated that they would not be affected because they are already served by other entities. Vice Mayor Martinez asked Mr. Froke if it has been made clear to the other property owners that if they do not agree to be annexed, they would have to wait until an undetermined date. Mr. Froke stated that it has been made very clear by staff and by the consultants. 7 Councilmember Goulet thanked Mr. Woolf for his work on this project. He asked Mr. Reedy to explain the scenario should the city become the alternate provider and did the city have to stay in that position for a fix period of time under any federal guideline. Mr. Reedy stated that once they start providing service to an area, they typically continue to provide that service. He explained that the word "alternate" was in response to the original service providers not coming on line to provide service to a certain area which might require the city to become the alternate provider. He noted that previously the providers were all private entities; however, the city now has the option of becoming the service provider. Mayor Scruggs commented on the word "alternate". She stated that the wording was somewhat confusing. Mr. Reedy agreed and stated that he will look for better wording. Councilmember Clark commented for the record that any future water and sewer adjustments have nothing to do with this project. She stated that this project was a stand alone project. She asked Mr. Reedy if this stand alone project will cover the cost of the infrastructure and construction. Mr. Reedy stated that it will be covered by either construction dedication or through impact fees and rates in their stand alone district. He added that this included operations and maintenance as well. Councilmember Clark stated that she wanted to make it very clear, that if they were to proceed, this will be a stand alone district with its own rates and this will not impact present water users east of the airport and 115th Avenue. Mr. Reedy stated that she was correct. Councilmember Clark read from the informational packet on the amount of Fire and Police needed for this project. She asked staff to define build-out and when they would start needing personnel for that area. Mr. Froke stated that they had met with Fire, Police and property owners, however, they had not agreed on anything specific. He explained that their desire is to obtain direction from Council today and work through those issues throughout the summer and into the fall. Councilmember Clark asked for Mr. Froke to define build-out when they begin discussions once again. Mr. Reedy stated that build-out was considered to be when the last piece of property was constructed and occupied. He stated it indicates the expected maximum at ultimate complete build-out; however, it was still only an estimate. He said that the projections are based on the full general plan build-out which is 20 officers, 17 patrol officers, 3 criminal investigators and 5 non-sworn employees. He reiterated that this could also change if things develop in a different way. Mayor Scruggs asked the Fire and Police Chiefs to address the Council on this matter. Chief Conrad agreed with Mayor Scruggs statement that every year the data is updated and reassessed during the annual staffing study. He said that what they had attempted to do was look at the number of calls for service that the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is currently handling. This information provides a base line for the number of officers needed for the area at the time of the annexation. This number is normally very low. Then the Police Department looks at the different types of projected land uses in the new area, and using known call for service data for similarly sized areas in other parts of the city, a projection of officers needed at build out is developed. This approach provides the best estimate of need given the available information. Councilmember Clark commented that she believes this would not be without cost to the city in terms of providing fire and police to the area. She stated that Council would appreciate any information and guidelines, to rely on regarding anticipated police and fire services instead of having any surprises in the future as this project develops. 8 Mayor Scruggs remarked that just like any other area in the city, these projections will address police fire services needed then increase as the need increases. Also, as the need for services increases so will the revenue generated to off-set costs. Chief Conrad agreed. Mayor Scruggs asked Chief Burdick to come forward to answer any questions. Councilmember Clark asked Chief Burdick how he proposed to meet their four minute response time goal. Chief Burdick stated that they would assess a temporary location that would be adjusted to the needs of the development. He added that further analysis would have to be done throughout the summer. He noted that the current development places a much lesser demand on their services than previously thought. Councilmember Clark asked who provided the automatic aide for the area surrounding this acreage. Chief Burdick stated that Surprise to the north, Avondale and Goodyear to the south and Buckeye to the west were all on automatic aid stations located in that area. Mayor Scruggs asked Chief Burdick if their first phase plan was still to place a temporary modular building with a crew of two fire fighters or was it to continue assessing the situation throughout the summer. Chief Burdick stated that essentially the first and easiest step would be to incorporate the temporary building and two fire fighters; however, things could change as new information develops. Mayor Scruggs stated that Council's concerns were to avoid any problems with city services being disrupted or reduced because of this project. She wanted to make it very clear that there were other automatic aides on line to handle the services needs and the city will build on those services as they move forward. Chief Burdick agreed. Councilmember Clark asked Mr. Reedy if there would be any impact fees directed toward public safety issues. Mr. Reedy stated that they were still evaluating every potential city service to the area with either impact fees structure or a commitment by the property owners to provide them with services that would off set impact fees. Councilmember Clark stated that based on the answers received today, she is willing to move forward and support the three questions specified by staff. She explained that she was willing to provide staff and the applicant's additional time to evaluate the details. Councilmember Frate stated that he would like to see this project move forward and will support it. He explained that his number one concern is for this annexation to work with the developing community to have zoning and density work completed to protect Luke Air Force Base now and in the future. He said that Luke Air Force Base was the number one priority for national security. He added that he believes that in working with this group, they will be able to accomplish that. Mayor Scruggs agreed with Councilmember Frate. She stated that Mr. Woolf and partners had been from the beginning very mindful and aware of the importance of Luke Air Force Base to the community. She noted that they have always been prepared to meet all state laws concerning Luke Air Force Base. She reiterated that this project will not harm the Base in any way. Mayor Scruggs thanked Mr. Woolf and all the property owners that are working to achieve compatible development. 9 Mayor Scruggs gave Council direction to proceed with the three implementation steps listed by staff. Additionally, there is to be an exemption that the city's portion of water and sewer service is to be narrowed down to pertain to this development but still allow for consideration of other developments in the future as discussed today. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 2:30 p.m. 10