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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 10/8/2019 City of Glendale 5850 West Glendale Avenue Glendale, AZ 85301 Glendale ARIZONA Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 8, 2019 12:30 P.M. Workshop Meeting Council Chambers City Council Mayor Jerry Weiers Vice Mayor Joyce Clark Councilmember Jamie Aldama Councilmember Ian Hugh Councilmember Ray Malnar Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff Councilmember Bail Turner CALL TO ORDER Mayor Weiers called the meeting to order at 12:31 p.m. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Jerry Weiers Vice Mayor Joyce Clark Councilmember Jamie Aldama Councilmember Ian Hugh Councilmember Ray Malnar Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff Councilmember Bart Turner Also Present: Kevin Phelps, City Manager Michael Bailey, City Attorney Julie K. Bower, City Clerk Chris Anaradian, Assistant City Manager Vicki Rios, Assistant City Manager WORKSHOP SESSION 1. DISPOSITION OF CITY-OWNED PROPERTY UPDATE Presented by: Kevin Phelps, City Manager Chris Anaradian, Assistant City Manager Ms. Bower read the item by title. Mr. Anaradian presented information on existing facilities, redevelopment opportunities, and vacant land. The following properties were "in process": Glen Lakes Golf Course, the Glendale Cemetery, Bank of America Building, Brown Lot, and Thunderbird Lounge. Mr. Phelps said the Brown Lot was under contract and closing was expected to take place before the end of the year. Mr. Anaradian said facilities that were not in process, included: • Civic Center, • Future Court site •57th Drive, south of Lamar Road •57th Drive and Lamar Road, west corner • 5988 W. Palmaire Avenue •54th Drive, north of Lamar Road •75th Avenue and Zoe Ella Way •95th Avenue, south of Bethany Home Road • Black Lot • Gila River Arena • Glendale Airport and surrounding land Mr. Anaradian reviewed the City's Real Estate Disposition Policy; the policies for a Council-initiated disposition; unsolicited disposition; City-initiated disposition and methods which could be used for disposition. City Council Meeting Minutes -October 8, 2019 Page 2 of 9 Councilmember Aldama asked how long the city manager had to analyze an unsolicited bid before informing Council. Mr. Phelps said any and all offers would be shared with the Council at the earliest opportunity, if the offer was not time-bound. If the offer was time-bound, an executive session could be scheduled as soon as possible. Councilmember Aldama requested that Council consider a time frame and not leave it open-ended. He wanted the policy to include wording that the city manager would not make any promises or negotiations during the time he was analyzing the offer. Mr. Phelps said once an unsolicited offer was received, the first step was an executive session. There would be no indication to the prospective buyer whether or not the City would be interested. Councilmember Turner said the policy, adopted in February 2019 by the City Manager, stated the offer would be brought forward if it was deemed credible and valid. Council should know of all offers, no matter the amount, because it would indicate to Council that there was a piece of property the market was interested in. He was concerned with the process workflow and felt the consideration of whether or not a parcel was for sale should be discussed in a public session. Mr. Phelps said there was nothing that precluded Council from starting off with a public discussion. Council review should occur early in the process to determine what was in the best interest of the City and to ensure there was nothing that would weaken the City's position. He said all offers should come to Council whether frivolous or not. If Council moved to adopt a new policy, it would take precedent. Vice Mayor Clark asked if it was habit and practice that only negotiations of land be considered at an executive session. Mr. Bailey said the challenge was in defining what was, in fact, negotiation. No binding decisions would be made until noticed in accordance with Code and it had been duly noticed for consideration at a public session. Vice Mayor Clark said whenever Council was dealing with City-owned property, the appropriate place for initial discussion was in executive session. Once it was in the public realm, it could affect the disposition of the property. She was comfortable with most general land transactions beginning in executive session. Councilmember Turner commented the word "negotiating"was in the statute for a reason. If staff had property it would like to sell and would like to share the pros and cons, that discussion should occur in public session. Negotiations were the only thing that should occur in executive session. He said more clarification was needed. Mr. Bailey asked if Councilmember Turner was making an allegation that the open meeting law had been violated. Councilmember Turner was not making an allegation but had raised the question in the past. Councilmember Tolmachoff understood that negotiation was the back and forth to reach an agreement, not necessarily a sale. Mr. Bailey said, depending on the factual circumstances that could arise, it would warrant the need for an executive session or a public discussion. City Council Meeting Minutes -October 8, 2019 Page 3 of 9 Mayor Weiers said Council had to give guidance to the city manager to negotiate on its behalf. He did not see that as negotiating but rather setting guidelines for the city manager to act on Council's behalf. Councilmember Tolmachoff said Council had the responsibility to act in the best interest of the citizens it represented. Negotiation in a public session on price and terms for a property might not be in the best interest and an executive session was better for that purpose. Councilmember Turner agreed that price and terms were part of negotiations, however, the question of whether or not to sell should be discussed in public session. Mr. Phelps did not recommend a boilerplate method, but rather discretion and understanding of the particulars to make the decision of whether an item should be in executive session or a public meeting. Mayor Weiers said Council did not have authority to tie the hands of future Councils regarding the sale of City-owned property. Councilmember Malnar said Council needed to take each case individually to determine what was in the best interest of the public. He agreed with the concept of not tying the hands of future Councils. Vice Mayor suggested Council give direction to staff if there were any particular properties it wanted to see action on. Councilmember Malnar said the issue was whether the public had enough time to evaluate and provide comment before anything was finalized. Councilmember Aldama wanted the possible purchase of a City-owned property to be announced in a public session with negotiations taking place in executive session. Mr. Phelps said it was not uncommon for an unsolicited potential buyer to ask the City to sign a non-disclosure agreement prior to negotiations on acquiring the asset. In that situation, the better place to start the discussion was in executive session. There might be times when discussion would start in a public session, but it might not always be in the interest of the citizens to do so. Councilmember Tolmachoff suggested Council or City-initiated sales be discussed in a public meeting and that unsolicited offers did not always have to be discussed in a public meeting. Mayor Weiers asked if there was currently a policy. Mr. Phelps said staff had developed an administrative policy based on Council feedback. He proposed formal adoption of a policy which would include the requirement for the city manager to immediately share any unsolicited offer with Council. He asked for Council consensus on formalizing a policy that would be brought back to a Council workshop and voting meeting. Councilmember Turner said if Council identified a property as "not for sale," it did not bind a future Council because the future Council could put it back on the table. He wanted to find out if there was any case law on point to the subject or ask the Attorney General's Office for an opinion as to what the word "negotiations" specifically meant. He asked for an explanation of a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Mr. Bailey said both parties agreed that information received was in confidence and would not be disclosed. It could include everything, even the actual NDA itself. City Council Meeting Minutes -October 8, 2019 Page 4 of 9 Councilmember Turner did not support entering into such agreements because it tied the hands of Council until something developed. Mr. Phelps suggested that the policy include that if a party requested an NDA, staff would seek direction from Council. If Council agreed and approved, staff would work with the City Attorney's Office. Councilmember Aldama asked whether the City could announce it had signed an NDA, but not divulge the entity or individual's name. Mr. Bailey said it would depend because it was very fact-based and was on a case-by-case basis. Mr. Phelps said if an unsolicited offer was received with an NDA, Council could agree to accept the NDA but indicate to the party that the NDA would be disclosed. The interested party would then have to decide whether or not to accept the disclosure. Councilmember Aldama wanted the restriction that only Council could change the policy. Vice Mayor Clark supported moving forward with the adoption of the policy as presented. There was flexibility in the policy. Council would make the decision regarding disclosure and bore the responsibility for doing so. Councilmember Malnar was interested in a policy which provided the necessary flexibility to protect all parties interested. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the policy would be brought back for further discussion. Mr. Phelps said staff would prepare a draft based on the discussion that would be brought back to a Council workshop. Mayor Weiers said there was Council consensus for the item to be brought back to workshop. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked how the "not-for-sale" property list was memorialized. Mr. Bailey said there was a workshop discussion with general direction provided, however, nothing came back to Council for a binding vote. Councilmember Turner believed the following properties should come back to Council for consideration: •Thunderbird Lounge •47th Avenue • Future Court Site • 57th and Lamar Road •West Palmaire avenue • 71st and Zoe Ella •95th Avenue, south of Bethany • Black Lot Vice Mayor Clark requested the following properties be brought for consideration: • Future Court site • Civic Center •Thunderbird Lounge City Council Meeting Minutes -October 8, 2019 Page 5 of 9 • Possibility of land at the airport and the arena Mayor Weiers said property at the airport should not be sold but could be leased and should be considered for opportunities of new business. 2. FOLLOW UP ON COUNCIL ITEM OF SPECIAL INTEREST REGARDING THE HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION SURVEY Presented by: Kevin Phelps, City Manager Ms. Bower read the item by title. Mr. Phelps requested discussion and direction regarding the Council Item of Special Interest and the role of the commission. Councilmember Turner had brought the item forward because two HRC Commissioners had brought a concern to him. The Commission had drafted survey questions. The survey was submitted to Council twice, posted on the City website and then taken down quickly. He supported the survey and asked if there was Council consensus to proceed with it. Councilmember Malnar said the role of the Commission was as stated in the establishing ordinance to bring all peoples together and to unify the community, possibly through events such as a food fair with different cultural foods. He would like to see a cultural event for the entire City which would benefit all groups. Vice Mayor Clark asked if the Government Services Committee (GSC) had adopted a policy for each Commission to establish appropriate goals for the upcoming year and if all boards and commissions had received a copy of the policy. Ms. Bower said that was correct. Vice Mayor Clark said the HRC should determine its goals and how to accomplish them. She agreed with Councilmember Malnar's comments. Councilmember Aldama did not have a problem with the HRC conducting the survey and said it would help the Commission put its goals together. Councilmember Hugh agreed with the comments that the role of the HRC was to get all cultures together. Mayor Weiers did not support the survey but did support the Commission holding an event to encourage unity among the City's diverse communities. Councilmember Turner agreed with having events or activities, which was the point of the survey. The HRC was trying to find out who its audience was and suspected that in plenty of other departments stakeholders had been surveyed. Vice Mayor Clark said, based on her understanding of the HRC's goals, she did not think it was necessary for a survey to be conducted. The HRC could create goals to further the mission of creating unity. Mayor Weiers asked if the HRC had issues obtaining a quorum to conduct meetings. Ms. Bower said that was correct. The HRC had not met since May. The meetings had been City Council Meeting Minutes - October 8, 2019 Page 6 of 9 vacated due to a lack of quorum. Mayor Weiers suggested combining the HRC with another board or commission to make it easier to reach a quorum and conduct business. Ms. Bower said the HRC was a 14-member commission, which required 8 members in attendance to reach a quorum. The Commission currently had several vacancies so if a few people were absent, there were not enough members present to hold the meeting. Mayor Weiers said the quorum issue needed to be resolved first. Councilmember Turner suggested defining quorum as 50% of the appointed members, not of seats in total. It would help the HRC and other commissions meet quorum if Council was slow to fill positions. Vice Mayor Clark said it was an issue for further discussion at the next GSC meeting. Councilmember Aldama agreed the quorum issue should be addressed by the GSC. He supported proceeding with the survey. He suggested the City partner with the Glendale Chamber of Commerce on the survey and share the results with the Commission. Mayor Weiers did not think a joint survey was appropriate because the Chamber membership was comprised of businesses throughout the West Valley, not just Glendale. Vice Mayor Clark supported the GSC conducting a review of the HRC. Councilmember Turner supported letting the HRC proceed with the survey and suggested it present its strategic plan at a Council workshop. Councilmember Malnar did believe a survey would accomplish its duties and was not in favor of the survey. Mayor Weiers asked if staff was paid to attend the board and commission meetings. Ms. Rios replied that hourly employees had to be compensated in some way. Salaried employees did not receive additional compensation for the time spent at the meetings. Mayor Weiers said there was not consensus to proceed with a survey. Councilmember Aldama asked if there was consensus to allow the HRC to draft a new survey. Mayor Weiers did not support new survey questions. Vice Mayor Clark was also opposed. Councilmember Turner said the HRC was trying to determine its focus. He did not see the harm in a survey and said other questions could be drafted or Council could make suggestions for questions. Councilmember Tolmachoff said Council could conduct a survey and share the results with the HRC. The HRC would continue to have quorum issues if it did not have a purpose. Mayor Weiers said the GSC should look at addressing the HRC quorum issue. City Council Meeting Minutes - October 8, 2019 Page 7 of 9 Councilmember Hugh said the attendance problem should be solved first and supported letting the GSC work through it. Councilmember Malnar agreed the attendance issue needed to be resolved. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT Mr. Phelps introduced Emmanuel Ogutu, the City's new Internal Audit Program Manager. CITY ATTORNEY'S REPORT No report COUNCIL ITEMS OF SPECIAL INTEREST None MOTION AND CALL TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION A motion was made by Vice Mayor Joyce Clark, seconded by Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff to hold an executive session. AYE: Mayor Jerry Weiers Vice Mayor Joyce Clark Councilmember Jamie Aldama Councilmember Ian Hugh Councilmember Ray Malnar Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff Councilmember Bart Turner Passed EXECUTIVE SESSION Council entered into executive session at 2:36 p.m. for: • Discussion/consultation with the City Attorney and City Manager to receive an update, to consider its position, and to provide instruction/direction to the City Attorney and City Manager regarding Glendale's position in connection with contracts, agreements and/or development agreements of the area in, near and surrounding West Beardsley Road and Loop 101 that are the subject of negotiations pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 38-431.03 (A)(3)(4); • Discussion/consultation with the City Attorney and City Manager to receive an update, to consider its position, and to provide instruction/direction to the City Attorney and City Manager regarding Glendale's position in connection with a contract relating to the Desert Mirage Golf Course pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 38-431.03 (A)(3)(4); • Discussion/consultation with the City Attorney and City Manager to receive an update, to consider its position, and to provide instruction/direction to the City Attorney and City Manager regarding Glendale's position in connection with contracts, agreements and/or development agreements of the area in, near and surrounding the SEC of Cotton Lane and Olive Avenue that are the subject of negotiations pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 38-431.03 (A)(3)(4); • Discussion/consultation with the City Attorney and City Manager to receive an update, to consider its position, and to provide instruction/direction to the City Attorney and City Manager regarding City Council Meeting Minutes -October 8, 2019 Page 8 of 9 Glendale's position in connection with contracts, agreements and/or development agreements of the area in, near and surrounding the NEC of Cotton Lane and Northern Avenue that are the subject of negotiations pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 38-431.03 (A)(3)(4); • Discussion/consultation with the City Attorney and City Manager to receive an update, to consider its position, and to provide instruction/direction to the City Attorney and City Manager regarding Glendale's position in connection with a contract relating to Glen Lakes Golf Course pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 38-431.03 (A)(3)(4)(7)); and • Discussion/consultation with the City Attorney and City Manager to receive an update, to consider its position, and to provide instruction/direction to the City Attorney and City Manager regarding Glendale's position in connection with a contract relating to the Bank of America Building pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 38-431.03 (A)(3)(4)(7). A motion was made by Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff, seconded by Councilmember Ian Hugh to adjourn the executive session. AYE: Mayor Jerry Weiers Vice Mayor Joyce Clark Councilmember Jamie Aldama Councilmember Ian Hugh Councilmember Ray Malnar Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff Councilmember Bart Turner Passed Mayor Weiers adjourned the executive session at 4:00 p.m. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Weiers adjourned the meeting at 4:00 p.m. I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the meeting of the Glendale City Council of Glendale, Arizona, held on the 8th day of October, 2019. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this 22nd day of October, 2019. • / J #. Bower, MMC, City Clerk City Council Meeting Minutes -October 8, 2019 Page 9 of 9