Gilbert Council Approves Assisted Living, Defers Data Center Rules Amid Unprecedented Governance Crisis

The The The City council meeting, Arizona. Proper nouns. The The The City council meeting, Arizona. Proper nouns. The Thank you. The City council meeting, Arizona. Proper nouns. The The City council meeting Arizona Proper nouns Thank you. The City council meeting, Arizona. Proper nouns. The The City council meeting, Arizona. Proper nouns. The Okay, I think we're ready to get started. I'll call this regular meeting of the Gilbert Town Council of October 20th, 2026 to order.

Our invocation tonight will be by John Kamau, CEO of the Kenya Presbyterian Church of Arizona. John? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. My name is John Kamau. I am a resident of this wonderful city. I've lived here for 23 years and I am very humbled to be here to say the invocation for the leadership and the people of Gilbert. Let's bow our hands and pray.

Almighty everlasting God, we come before you, holies and persons with grateful hearts, acknowledging that you are the source of all wisdom, justice, and righteous leadership. Heavenly Father, we lift before you this great city, its people, its families, and all who have been entrusted with the leadership of serving them.

Lord grant our Mayor, City Council members, and all public servants the wisdom of Solomon, the courage of Joshua and the great integrity of Daniel and the compassion of Jesus Christ. Where there is divisions, Lord, bring unity. Where there are challenges, provide solutions.

Where there is suffering inspire compassion and where decisions must be made let justice truth and righteousness prevail Bless our neighborhoods, protect our children, strengthen our families, cross power businesses, and watch over those who protect and serve our communities. May every decision made in this chamber honour the dignity of every person and advance the peace, prosperity and well-being of this city.

Lord God Almighty, let this city be known not only for its growth and achievements, but for its integrity, compassion, unity and justice. We commit this meeting as the liberations and the leadership into your mighty hands. In the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we pray and believe. Amen. Amen. Thank you, John. Our pledge tonight will be led by Councilmember Buckland.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, for liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Roll call. Mayor Scott Anderson, Vice Mayor Chuck Bongiovanni, Councilmember Bobby Buckley, Councilmember Kenny Buckland, Councilmember Yon Kaprowski, Councilmember Monty Lyons, Councilmember Jim Torgerson. A quorum is present. Thank you. We have a couple of proclamations and a recognition tonight.

Our first proclamation is declaring the month of October 2026 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Councilmember Torgerson. Before I go into this proclamation, this is something that goes beyond. Ladies up here that may have been victims. We had, I believe in the proclamation says, 2,096 domestic violence calls last month. Those were the calls. Those aren't the ones that didn't get called in. And in my family there have been some people that were victims.

And knowing the decades it took to recover for some of them is incredible and it's never to be slighted. This is not something that we should just recognize once but it's something to remember if you see something, you feel something, be engaged with your neighbor, know what's going on because it's an extremely tough thing to get out of when you're trapped in that cycle and we have a domestic, we have a victims advocacy center coming online. That helps, but it's a start.

So just please take it to heart because when you see people, you know people that have literally taken decades to heal. It's an injustice that we can't do on our own. So whereas domestic violence is defined as the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and or other abusive behavior as part of a systematic pattern of power and control perpetrated by one intimate partner against another.

It includes any behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure, or wound someone physically, emotionally, or psychologically. Whereas domestic violence affects over 12 million Americans each year across all demographics, including age, race, gender, sexuality, religion, education level, and economic status. Domestic violence does not discriminate and can happen to anyone.

It looks different in every relationship and no one experiences it the same way. Although the underlying objective of all domestic violence is to exert power and control over another. Whereas Arizona ranks as the fifth highest state in America for domestic violence and between August 1st, 2025 and August 31st, 2026, that is a mistake. It's August 1st, 26, not 25.

Gilbert police department has responded to more than 2 calls for service related to domestic violence and made 1 arrests Whereas the dedication of Gilbert family violence detectives police counselors prosecutors victim advocates and interns working harmoniously The The City council serves on the Maricopa Association of Governments Domestic Violence Subcommittee to ensure regional discussions, efforts, and policies support domestic violence survivors.

And whereas Gilbert is committed to the increasing domestic violent awareness and providing the resources necessary to reduce its perpetration in our community and support survivors through the forthcoming Vic Family Advocacy Center that will open in the fall of 2026 to provide trauma-informed care for the through advocacy, therapy, and forensic services to domestic violence survivors. And, hold that for a moment. Sorry for that.

Now, therefore, I, Jim Torgerson, on behalf of Scott Anderson, the mayor of the town of Gilbert, do hereby proclaim the month of October 2026 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month in Gilbert, Arizona, and invite all members of our community to attend Gilbert's fourth annual domestic violence awareness event at 5 p.m. on Thursday, October 22, 2026, held at the Southeast Regional Library to learn more on how we can eliminate domestic violence from our community.

And at this point, I would really like to hand the proclamation to you and for you to introduce everybody that is with you. Thank you so much. This is our team. We're the Domestic Violence Committee. Keith has been our leader and now he's changed hands to Melanie. This is our fourth year, is that right? Fourth year having this event. And I think you can hold it, Keith.

What's important for everyone to know is that there is a different kind of survivor of domestic violence that's not always talked about, and that's the type that I am. They call us the invisible victims of domestic violence, and that's children who witness domestic violence. Every 44 minutes in the state of Arizona, a child witnesses domestic violence, and about 60% of the time when there's domestic violence present, there's child abuse present as well.

And so what I would hope is that we also support the adult victims, but also the children who witness domestic violence and understand the long-term, lifelong consequences that it can have. Witnessing domestic violence is the single greatest predictor of juvenile delinquency and adult criminality. And so when people say that it's not their business and it doesn't matter, it truly does.

And I'm honored to live in a town like Gilbert where it matters, where it's always mattered, where we've had nonprofits serve as victim advocates until we had these fine victim advocates here. And so excited for our Family Advocacy Center coming up and just couldn't be more proud. I still call him my chief, Mike Solberg, over there. I'm so grateful for him and all the work he did to make that happen, and so grateful for the care that happens for victims every day in our amazing town.

So thank you. Okay, thank you all so much. I'm thinking we'll do this group first for a photo and then if anyone on council would like to join for a photo after that. Council want to jump in since you guys are in your purple? Feel free. Thank you. The Thank you. and declaring October 2026 is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Councilmember Buckley. I'll let you hold it. Yeah, just for a second. How are you? Would you ladies like to introduce yourself or say anything?

Well, either way, if you want to wait, I'll read it. All right. So, whereas breast cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in women and also affects men with one in eight women being diagnosed in their lifetime. And whereas while breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women, when detected early and treated effectively, the five-year survival rate is very high.

And whereas October is annually recognized as Breast Cancer Awareness Month to increase public awareness about the disease and to emphasize the importance of early detection, education, and access to quality care. And whereas breast cancer screenings, including mammograms, are critical tools for early detection and are vital for saving lives.

And whereas breast cancer survivorship can go beyond treatment and many survivors face ongoing struggles of emotional, mental, and physical challenges as they navigate life after cancer. and whereas we honor and celebrate the resilience of breast cancer survivors and stand in solidarity with those currently undergoing treatment, while also remembering those who have lost their lives to this disease. Okay.

Whereas the generous support and tireless efforts of volunteers, caregivers, researchers, and health professionals are essential to finding a cure and providing support to those affected. Okay. Whereas by raising awareness, promoting early detection, adding more resources, and supporting the mental and emotional well-being of those affected by breast cancer. Our community can help women not only survive, but live brightly before that.

Now, therefore, I, Bobby Buckley, not the mayor of Gilbert, not at this moment, on behalf of the mayor of the town of Gilbert, do hereby proclaim Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the town of Gilbert and encourage all residents, businesses, health care providers, and community organizations to join in activities promoting awareness, education, and support for the fight against breast cancer. In witness whereof, I hereby... whoops, that's for Scott Anderson. So that would be for Mayor Anderson.

All right. Thank you. Thank you all so much. So my name is Laura Allred and this is Jamie Cram and we are members of the board for Brightly Living Foundation. So thank you, thank you Mayor Anderson, thank you members of the council for this recognition. So it was eight years ago that I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 33. And I think that I expected a year of active treatment and how that would take a toll on my body physically.

I didn't expect the mental and emotional toll it would take and how that would affect me after active treatment was over. There were days that I felt so alone and so overwhelmed. What I now know is that research shows that 82.5% of women diagnosed with breast cancer have symptoms of PTSD.

And so what this proclamation means to me is telling that 33 version of myself and every woman or man who has been diagnosed with breast cancer today that you are not alone We see you we honor you we support you and there are resources out there for you for physical, mental and emotional support.

For example at Brightly Living Foundation we provide in-person support groups and events to provide education and connection for mental wellness and we provide financial for people to receive professional counseling and therapy. And so there is hope and strength as we all stand together. So let's continue to support initiatives and local organizations that provide early detection and support for those on their breast cancer journey.

So thank you for allowing Brightly Living Foundation to be here today, and thank you for this proclamation. A little forward. City council members out. There we go. Thank you. Kathleen Deller, will you join me down there? Chair. Is this the chairing section? Just so you know, we have a lot of people in our community that helped build this community. Kathleen is one of those people. She's been around for 33 years, dedicated service with Dignity Health. When are you retiring? Yesterday? Okay.

Just retired. We have benefited from all the service she's given in this community for 33 years. I'll read a few of those things and maybe some of you that are over there would like to say something about her too. Kathleen began her nursing career as an R.M. before joining Chandler Regional Medical Center in 1993, later earning her Master's of Health Administration from the University of Phoenix in 2013.

As Director of Community Integration for Dignity Health, East Valley, Arizona, serving Chandler Regional and Mercy Gilbert Medical Centers, Kathleen is championed the belief that building a bridge from hospital to community Community is essential to healthcare delivery, developing partnerships, and facilitating collaboration between government nonprofits and healthcare systems. Here in Gilbert, that philosophy took visible, lasting form.

Kathleen was instrumental in crafting the vision and guiding Gilbert's Heritage Center from an early vision to a fully realized reality. In addition, she dedicated two years of her time facilitating the town of Gilbert's community engagement task force. Strengthening the ties between residents, nonprofits, and municipal leaders, she was also instrumental in supporting development of the soon-to-open Gilbert Advocacy Center, a centralized resource that will serve families across our town.

Serving as a founding member of the Gilbert Advocacy Foundation Board for the past two years Kathleen has been described by her colleague as a mentor, a builder, and above all, a friend. Her own words capture her legacy best. That together we have saved lives, improved lives, and made our communities better. Tonight, on behalf of the town of Gilbert, we simply say thank you, Kathleen, for all that you've done for us.

Thank you for 33 years of service, for the countless lives you've touched, and for the lasting mark you have left on this community. In recognition of your extraordinary contributions and partnership, we are honored to present you with the gift that I think Valerie has. You can just give it. It's a small token of our deep gratitude and appreciation for all you've done. Thank you so much. Can I stay away? You can. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much for this unexpected recognition As a resident of Gilbert since 93 it really been a true honor to serve the community and certainly through my 33 tenureship with Dignity Health I had the opportunity to really build relationships with the town of Gilbert and work together with nonprofits and community to help increase resources provide services and build a lasting impact as you mentioned It's been my great honor and I'm grateful that the dignity health outreach team continues to provide services to the Gilbert community every single day and I'm also certainly grateful for my family who has supported me through my career and my community service throughout these many years and I'm still not done as you all know in my service and I love the town of Gilbert and thank you again so very much and I'm thankful for the entire team as well.

Thank you. We love you. Thank you so much for your service. I've got this letter actually to you. So thank you so much and continue. Thank you. Thank you. The presentation from the Gilbert Sister Cities Youth Ambassador update has been postponed to a different date. Before we get into communication from citizens, I'd like to announce that we will be pulling item number 46. It will be removed from the agenda.

And with that item being removed, I'd like to direct staff to work with those parties interested in the public-private partnership to prepare a presentation at a study session on November the 17th. Thank you. Is there anything more we need to do with that, Chris? Mayor, no, that's sufficient. We'll move on to communications from citizens. Mayor Mrakas Thank you, Mayor. Mayor Mrakas We value the participation of our community members and robust exchange of ideas.

However, it's essential that discourse remains respectful and constructive, reflecting the professionalism expected in such forums. Misinformation and personal attacks undermine our collective efforts and do not contribute to the productive dialogue necessary for the town's progress. This is an opportunity for the public to address the town council directly about issues impacting the town.

Accordingly, the town council will not allow for moments of silence for playing the music or other recorded material which could distract the meeting decorum and violate copyrights. While we understand and appreciate the passion our community members bring to this session, we remind everyone that clapping during the meeting is unacceptable. This practice can and disrupt the flow of discussion, potentially intimidate others, and distract from the respectful atmosphere we strive to maintain.

In accordance with state law, we are unable to respond to issues that have not been properly noticed. Therefore, the town council may only listen to citizens who wish to address them, and at the conclusion of the open call to the public, response is limited to individual members of the council responding to criticism made by those who have addressed the public body, Ask staff to review a matter or asking that a matter be put on future agenda.

However, please be assured that your concerns and input are heard and valued. In accordance to town code, speakers may not use this form to advocate for or against any candidate for public office. Town resources including this public meeting may not be used for campaign or election purposes. Each speaker is limited to three minutes, priorities given to Gilbert residents, business owners, and property owners. Public comments will be limited to 30 minutes total at the beginning of the meeting.

The town clerk will notify the council once 30-minute limit has been reached. If additional comments remain, they will be heard after the conclusion of public hearing items with the same three-minute limit per speaker. When you come up to the podium, please state your name and city of residence. Council, we don't have more than 30 minutes of comments today, just to let you know.

I going to call Barbara up Barbara since we not talking about parks do you still want to speak tonight Yes Please come on up My name is Barbara and I live in Gilbert. What this council wants to do are all the nice things. Advocate for all issues. This is not a bad thing to want to do. In fact, it is a wonderful I attended my first town hall on October 14th, 2025, and I've been here ever since. I told you I'd be in your face, and I am, which is just a few days over one year.

I am more dismayed now than my first meeting. I was livid when I attended that meeting with the sorry excuse you collectively as the town council along with the town manager and the town staff gave for the atrocious victory. In the city council meeting, you have handled the infrastructure debacle, the wells and the water treatment plant, and our utility bill.

Now I am more livid with the fact that you think it is in the town's best interest to invest approximately one quarter of a billion dollars for parks you haven't even gotten to phase three and any change orders, and you don't even have all the money to complete these projects. So the fire department and police department are non-essential compared to the life quality of these parks.

The three teenage girls who made their way to the last town hall, I'm sure with a little coaxing, said they love living in Gilbert and are glad that the town is providing a safe place for them to hang out with their friends. Of course they're ecstatic.

I'd be ecstatic if the town council had said they were going to do the right thing by the residents who paid the bills and used this money for the much-needed infrastructure, infrastructure, new wells, and the new water treatment plant, all of which existed because of the negligence and mismanagement from the town staff, town manager, and town council. These three teenagers don't pay the mortgage. They don't pay the atrocious Gilbert utility bill. They don't pay car insurance.

They don't pay health insurance and they don't pay childcare, etc. They have never been to a town hall and probably have never read an agenda. So do you listen to the adults of the town who do pay all these bills? No, you were so grateful these three showed up so you could feel good providing this life quality for them. Let's hope they live in a household that isn't on a budget. You listened to 60,000 people out of 290,000. And Mr.

Mayor, I was really disappointed when you made the comment that you were upset that it wasn't a full count of seven for approving this. And thank you, Councilman Torgensen and Lyons for not voting yes on it. Although we both know or we all know that it's going to pass because these decisions are already made before you enter the room. I'm not saying I'm against parks and amenities. I think they're great.

But if the representatives of this town can't build parks for under $300 million plus, there is something definitely wrong. Your priorities are definitely not what the residents of this town want. You are spending money you don't have. When I was raising my daughter and she asked for something extra because we were on a budget, I had to tell her there's no money. I showed her our income and our bills and she said, if you don't have money, you can't spend it.

And she didn't even have a master's degree. Just because you want, just because it would be nice doesn't mean you can have the champagne of parks on a less than beer budget. Plus, you continue to put things on the table that cost money. Thank you. Thanks, Barbara. Council member, elect Bus Obayami. Now, Bus, you know how to spell your last name. What's the pronunciation here? Good job. I think it's on. Can you hear me? All set, sir. Good evening, Mayor, Council members, fellow Gilbert residents.

Council member, elect Bus Obayami. And first of all, I want to thank the people of Gilbert for the trust they have placed in us. Whether you voted for me or not, my commitment is to serve every resident of this great community. Tonight's agenda addresses important matters. Some include data center development, council procedures, the code of conduct, and significant park investment.

The decision requires thoughtful deliberation, transparency, and fiscal responsibility, but I want to speak briefly about something just as important, how we govern and how we treat one another. We were elected by the people and we must never forget that our authority comes from the people. Public office is not about us, it's about those who were elected to serve. We will disagree. That's normal and that is healthy, but disagreement should never become disrespect.

We must be willing to put aside personal differences and personal grievances to work together for the greater good of Gilbert. We can challenge ideas without attacking individuals. We can demand accountability while maintaining civility. I often say that perception is reality. In public service, perception shapes public trust. Our residents are watching and the example that we set actually matters.

To our current council members and my fellow incoming council members, my comrades in public service, I hope for this sincere appeal. Let us lead by example. Let us listen before judging, seek understanding before confrontation, and demonstrate the highest standard of decorum, integrity, and mutual respect. We do not have to agree on every issue to work together. Nor do we have to compromise our conviction to demonstrate civility.

For me personally, as I prepare to take office, I commit to listening, seeking the fact, remaining accountable, and treating others with dignity, even when we disagree. Gilbert is bigger than any one of us. Let us be remembered, not only for the decisions that we make, but for the integrity and the respect which we make them. It's not about earth. It's about the people of Gilbert. Thank you. Thanks, boss. Nikki Reber, hope I said that right.

Nikki Reber, I live here in Gilbert, right next to the power plant. And I came to address whatever you guys are going to talk about and decide on data centers. I know we need them. I can't get on my computer and research stuff if there's not data centers. By the same token, I don't want to see any more of them in Gilbert. We have one. That's enough. I don't think there's enough land left in Gilbert to build a big data center.

It would have to be little, it would have to be medium, and it would have to be next to somebody's neighborhood. Now, I said I live next to the power plant. Three years ago, they decided that they were going to put in batteries, the kind that you store power in. They're 120 feet away from my bedroom window. And I listen to all those fans over there all the time because they have to be kept cool. Well, the data centers aren't any different.

They will come in and tell you that we can cool it with fans. Yeah, you can. Makes a lot of noise. They'll tell you that we can do it with less water by recirculating. Well, yeah, you can, but you have to keep cooling that water and you have to keep moving it through your data center. So you're using a lot of electricity to do that, so it's not going to save us anything.

I guess if you were going to consider one for Gilbert, I would hope that any, the council coming in is probably the one that's going to get hit with this. And I would want them to have the guts to stand up to a data center developer and say, unless you provide your electricity, you ain't building here. And unless you come with a better way of doing the water, we don't want you here. We already got enough problems in Gilbert with water and we all know it.

I took my opportunity to say my three minutes. I hope you guys, if it comes up before this council, that you will consider that you're going to get told whatever that developer needs to tell you to try to sway you to his side of doing it. I hope you are not that dumb that you will really look into what this stuff does, what it creates, the noise ASU already did. They've put out a report on the noise. I got enough to deal with with SRP. I don't need a data center. Thank you.

Thank you Nikki River Brown River Brown Good evening council members. Before we begin, I have some papers here for you guys to research from the research I have done. I am going to be reading off of my research that I have done and concurred. First off, I want to state that I am speaking as an activist and an activist I am not a part of any organization.

This statement is intended to showcase the harms of effects of AI administrators that have had effects on our community, state and overall nation. I do want to state that overall that I understand that we need data centers. I understand that our world is a digital world and that's how we operate. But the fact that is that AI data centers are harming our environment essentially.

I River Round want to make it clear that I am protesting against AI data centers and not general re-usage of data centers. There's three facts that I want to touch on. First of is going to be within the Navajo Nation. I don't really feel like a lot of people talk about you know essentially What is going on in the Navajo Nation and the water and basically putting about five data centers in the desert. Sorry, I'm a little bit, um, public suite seems not my best skill set, but I'm here.

Um, so I'm just going to read off this. Now think about how it would be to live without clean water and usable water and having to haul in barrels in the desert when it gets 115 degrees. The Navajo Nation people don't have to imagine they live it. Around 30% of Navajo families have to haul water in barrels to have access to water. The Navajo Nation is estimated to have 300k people on the nation itself.

If 30% of people in the nation have no access to clean visible water, then that would mean there are around 210 people have no access to clean or viable drinking water. I'm trying to collect myself. So basically we're just building all these data centers and we are not thinking wisely. We're not thinking wisely where we're putting them. We're not thinking wisely about the communities that are being affected by them and so on and so forth. That is my statement and I resign. Thank you, River.

You did just fine. Charles, want to Negro. Charles, want to Negro. Yes. First of all, I wanted to thank the mayor and town council for your service to the community. I think sometimes you rarely get acknowledged and receive thanks for what you do. So thank you very much. The second issue I wanted to address is, um, I'm not sure if any of you guys, um, access or follow or I'm a news junkie and there's, um, there's a app called the next door.

And, um, there's been an increase of activity of our youth that is sort of alarming. Um, when I was growing up, there were no doorbells. And just you knock on the door. Now there's doorbells, but and now it's called ding-dong ditch, I guess. But now there's that sort of activity has progressed to a little more aggressive knocking on your doors.

There's some videos I want to send out to your council email for you to view, and we need to address an ordinance that deals with this increased bad behavior. behavior. And it's not a ding-dong-ditch issue. It has to do with, um, there's two, I have some videos here I'm going to send to you, um, mailbox, where these two kids were out in after 11 o'clock and, uh, they were, um, came to someone's home and threw slices of American cheese on somebody's car.

So imagine if all of us left the town council today we walked into the parking lot and every one of us had six slices of American cheese on your car That the sort of behavior that we need to address The second issue is there are kids I mentioned Ding Dong Ditch is that there a kid there two kids out at at 110 in the morning and I think there an ordinance that gets against that where these kids are walking up to a door It not a tick tock challenge They actually using their shoulder to bang on the front door of a home That is not normal behavior, especially one o'clock.

These kids or two teens are like 10 or 12 years old and you got to wonder, ask yourself, where are the parents? So a few months ago, the city council had the courage, developed a e-bike ordinance. You guys, I'm sure work diligently on that ordinance and whatever ordinance addresses this sort of behavior, the ding dong ditch or the van Vandalism of cars, regardless of where they are at in the community. We need to modify it or come up with one so we can address this issue.

I'm going to be sending these videos to your mailbox so you can actually see what I'm talking about. And I'm hoping that when we walk out of here today, there's no American cheese on our cars. Thank you. Thank you, Charles. I will turn it over to our town manager, Mario Peninagua, for our consent calendar. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Mayor and members of the council, I will provide an overview of the consent agenda items on tonight's council agenda.

As a reminder, these items fall into different categories that advance the focus of the town, strong economy, prosperous community, and exceptionally built environment. So item five is an extension of the intergovernmental agreement with the ASU Project Cities program. It extends an existing IGA through January 31st, 2029, enabling continued collaboration with ASU students on innovative and sustainable solutions for the town's infrastructure challenges.

The cost of each project will vary depending on the scope of work, its complexity, and the number of students involved. Any expenditure over $100,000 would come back to the council for approval per the town code.

There's also an intergovernmental agreement for waste collection and transportation mutual aid on item six, which is an IGA with participating Arizona cities, towns and tribes outlining terms for providing mutual aid to each other during emergencies, vehicle shortages or inadequate staffing levels. There's no financial impact to the town to approve the IGA. Items 8, 9, and 10 are intergovernmental agreements.

Eight is with Higley Unified School District for the town to be reimbursed for up to $274,746 for two school resource officers during the academic year. Item 9 is an IGA with Gilbert Unified School District for reimbursement up to $887,499 for seven school resources officers for the academic year. And an item 10 is an IGA with Chandler Unified School District for the town to be reimbursed for a total of $295,355 for two school resource officers.

Item 11 is a contract with WaterWise Consulting providing residential water efficiency checkup program support services as part of the town's water conservation efforts, not to exceed $75,000 per year over three years funded through the water fund.

Item 12 is a cooperative purchasing agreement with Riddle Painting and Coatings Company for interior and exterior painting services for town-owned facilities, not to exceed $250,000 annually over four years and paid for through the corresponding facilities infrastructure repair maintenance funds.

Item 13 is a cooperative purchasing contract with the Hertz Corporation for car rental services to town employees for travel purposes, not to exceed $25,000 annually over four years and to be used only within the limits of the approved department budgets.

Item 14 is a contract of C and S sweeping for sweeping services to over 40 town-owned parking lots, not to exceed $98,500 for fiscal year 27, and a total not to exceed amount of $591,000 over six years paid through the vehicle license tax funds.

Purchasing agreement with Arizona Electric Supply providing for the purchase of street light fixtures and supplies not to exceed for fiscal year 27 and million over five years via the street lighting operating budget Item 16 is a cooperative purchasing agreement with Gauls LLC for the purchase of firefighter turnout gear protective equipment and tools not to exceed per year by the general fund Item 17 is a contract with Brown and Brown Insurance Services providing for brokerage and consulting services for the employee health and benefits insurance for the self-insured trust fund, not to exceed $95,000 per year for a period of three years paid through the self-insured trust fund.

Item 18 is a cooperative purchasing contract with TI Training LLLC and a contingency for the purchase of TI 180 LED screen system to replace the Gilbert Police Regional Academy's Vertra Training Simulator. The contingency is necessary because the original quote omitted sales tax. The total is not to exceed $275,550, including the $18,000 requested in contingency through the general fund.

Item 19 is an agreement with the Greater Phoenix Economic Council for regional economic development services to support business recruitment, retention, and expansion for fiscal year 27, not to exceed $144,309 via the general fund. Item 20 is a cooperative contract with Milestone Computer Services in contingency for server infrastructure replacement, including hardware, software, and support services as current equipment is at end of life.

This was budgeted at originally and previously at a lower annual amount, and the cost moves to the replacement fund from the general fund, which requires the whole amount to be in contingency for this year. It's for an amount not to exceed $1,795,752 via the general replacement fund contingency with freeing up $350,000 annually in the general fund.

Item 21 is an amendment to cooperative purchase contract with Phoenix Pumps, Inc., providing motor, pump, and well maintenance, repair, and replacement services. It adds $300,000 annually for a total not to exceed $600,000 via the water parks and wastewater budgets. Item 22 is a task order number 22 with Talos Corporation for polymer modified master seal application to maintain streets, not to exceed 1,482,669 in fiscal year 27 via the vehicle licensed tax funds.

Item 23 is a contract with Calgon Calgon carbon corporation providing for granular activated carbon installation and related services at the North water treatment plant, a critical component of water quality treatment for an amount not to exceed $2 million annually and $10 million over a five year term via the rate supported North water treatment plant budget.

The planned quantities are based on the consumption of granular activated carbon from the North Water Treatment Plant pilot studies and pricing is set within the contract for the five year term. Item 24 is JOC 21 with Talos Corporation for design and construction over multi-use path crossing at Heritage Trail and Guadalupe Road, not to exceed 431,326 using general obligation transportation bonds.

Item 25 is JLC 11 with Felix Construction Company and JLC 21 with Sunland Asphalt for stormwater, dry well, concrete, and pavement improvements at Layton Lakes lift station, not to exceed 294,952 by the rate supported wastewater replacement fund. Item 26 is GMP number four with Aiken Gardner Construction LLC and and PMCM services phase two with Stanley consultants for the second segment of the transmission main assessment on Higley Road.

Akin Gardner is not to exceed 7,364,769 and Stanley consultants not to exceed 263,552 by other rate supported water replacement fund. This brings the total historical and projected construction cost project costs to $29,226,726. Item 27 is change order number one with sunland asphalt, The change order number one with our Dura group for the additional scope of improvements at cactus yards that will improve pedestrian circulation and safety around the facility.

Sunland asphalt is for the amount and amount not to exceed 73,074 and our Dura group is not to exceed 26,180 via the general fund and the general replacement fund. I'm 28. Change order with Duke's route control, expanding the existing stormwater inspection contract to include cleaning and repair of stormwater structures when deficiencies are found. It increases the annual amount by 40,000 for a total not to exceed 70,000 for fiscal year 27 and 420,000 over five years by the stormwater budget.

Item 29 is the wastewater replacement fund contingency request for TF Contracting Services, LLC, for emergency repair of reclaimed water line damage during boring operations. The town recovered the cost from the boring contractor, and those funds will be placed in the wastewater contingency fund, creating a net zero expense to the town. This is for an amount not to exceed $125,530 in the wastewater replacement fund contingency.

Item 30 is CIP contingency request for arbitrage rebate payment, providing the required arbitrage rebate payment to the U.S. Treasury related to series 2022 general obligation bonds. As part of an effective investment management program, the town's earned interest on these GO bonds exceeded the IRS limit for tax exempt bonds, so the overage must be paid to the IRS. It's for $135,000 via CIP contingency with the debt service fund as the designated funding source.

Item 31 is an authorization for acceptance of the 12% gaming contributions grant from the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community supporting the town's Native American management internship and victim advocacy intern programs and passes funding through Helping Hands for Single Moms, Dignity Health Foundation, Gilbert, Children's Dental Clinic and Family Promise for an amount of $223,963 in grant fund contingency, which will be offset by the SRP MIC revenue.

Item 32 is authorization for application and acceptance of the Governor's Office of Highway Safety for fiscal year 27 grant funding supporting police overtime and materials for DUI enforcement, Pedestrian and bicycle safety education and selective traffic enforcement program efforts for an amount not to exceed 178,570 with no requirement for matching funds.

Item 33 is authorization for acceptance of the 2025 Homeland Security Grant Program Urban Area Security Initiative grants supporting the Gilbert Fire and Rescue Mass Care Team Enhancement and the Safe Gilbert Bleeding Control Program, including medical equipment, bleeding control kits, and training. The grant allocation to Gilbert is for an amount not to exceed $41,040 with no matching funds required.

Item 34 is a resolution creating a streetlight improvement district for the Willowbrook subdivision establishing a special taxing district formed by developer petitioned and signed by 100% of property owners to pay for street light energy costs through a secondary property tax on properties within the district. The town will maintain the 26th street lights with an anticipated town budget impact of $910 by via the public works street lights maintenance budget.

Item 35 is for the public's works advisory board resignation, accepting the resignation of board of the board member effective October 20th with no financial impact to the town. Item 36 is risk management claim report for fiscal year 27 quarter run. Quarter number one, accepting the quarterly report of claims made against and paid by the town as required by section 2-61 E of the town code. These claims are paid for from the risk management trust fund. Thank you, Mayor and Council.

That concludes the consent agenda items. Thank you, Mario. Council, do you want to pull any of these for more additional information? Seeing none, I'll make a motion to accept 5 through 37. Do I have a second? Council Member Lyons, please vote. Vice Mayor, just a point of clarification, item 7 is being continued. Can we just include that to the motion? Thank you. Yes, so motion 5, 6, 8 through 37. Can I get a second on that again? You got it. Seconded by Council Member Lyons. Please vote.

Vote passes 7-0. Mayor? Thank you. We'll move on to public hearings. items 38 to 43 Council members would you like to have any of those pulled off considered separately And we vote on them as a block Let me know 41 and 43. Yeah, 41. I wanted 41. 41 and 43? 40. 40? 45. 45 is an administrative item. Okay, so I will make a motion to approve items. Let me open the public hearing first and close the public hearing for items 38, 39, and 42. I have a motion to approve. Ma'am, I'm sorry.

I got 43 confused. I'm okay with 43. Anybody else okay with 43 being included? You want to discuss it? Okay, we can leave it there. 41 will be considered separately as well as 40. So I need a motion to approve or close the public hearing. I need a motion to approve 38, 39, 42. So moved. It's been moved and seconded. Please vote. Motion carries 7-0. Item 40, General Plan GP 26-03, Zoning Z 26-04, Hemmingson Assisted Living. Staff presentation. I will open the public hearing at this point.

Mayor Anderson, members of the council, good evening. It's been a few months since I've been before you. I'm happy to be here tonight. My project that I have before you is for the Hemmingson Assisted Living Facility. This project is located in in Coulee Station area. It's located on parcel 7, which is one of the remaining, last remaining parcels that hasn't been entitled, and you can see it, or entitled recently anyways. It's on the map in front of you.

It's at that southeast corner of Williamsfield Road and Somerton Boulevard. The request before you tonight is for a general plan amendment and a PAD rezone for an 88-bed, 53,613 square foot congregate care facility, or what the industry calls it as an assisted living facility, on about a five and point acre site. That's gross acres. So, the first part of the request is for the general plan change.

The current general plan designation on the site today is general office, and the applicant is proposing to change that to general commercial on this 5.8 acre site to accommodate this proposed congregate care facility. The second request is for a zone change from general office to shopping center.

So as I talk about this, the reason they're requesting to change this zoning in General Plan Amendment is because the general office zoning category that's on the site today and land use does permit congregate care with a conditional use permit only on the ground floor of a mixed-use building. This specific applicant, Hemmingson, assisted living development company, builds single-story buildings. They don't build two-story buildings and they don't participate in mixed-use development.

And given the size and shape of the site they want to keep and how close it is to residential they want to keep these buildings to single story which would not be allowed under the current general office zoning today So that why they proposing to change it the zoning to shopping center which there is actually shopping center right next door on a Cooley Station parcel 8 to the east So it kind of mixes fits with that zoning immediately to the east Which we don know what going to be going there yet So as I stated earlier the site about 5 acres building about 53 square feet A 95, 8% of the building is single story.

There is a portion of building two up along Williamsfield Road that will be, a portion of the building will be two stories, but the rest of the buildings all the way to the south end of the site all the way close to the residents will all be single story.

So there's five total buildings about 10 to 12,000 square feet a piece and then there's a lot of open space in between these buildings and courtyards and places for residents to relax and interact and walk around and so forth and a lot of landscaping. So and there is two ways in and out of this development. One entrance off of Williamsfield Road and one off of Somerton Boulevard with ample site circulation and access.

So like I stated before, 88 beds and they're in this use only necessitates 45 parking spaces. And here's the landscape plan that shows you how much landscaping is actually being proposed. 46.4% open space and if you'll pay attention to that south boundary right next to, it looks like there's three adjacent homes to the south.

They're proposing an ample buffer They're about 30 feet wide with double rows of trees and evergreen trees that will allow this buffer and transition to a more commercial type of use to be less of an impact on these residents. So the proposed deviations. The applicant is proposing a few deviations to be able to make keep these buildings single story.

Obviously, they're proposing to make the buildings 25 feet tall where 35 feet and two stories could be built in the zoning district, but they have agreed to keep the buildings to single story except for that one building along Williamsfield Road, which is still at 25 feet, 10 feet lower than what that zoning district typically allows. So we appreciate the applicant for doing that. And that is one of the trade-offs for us approving these deviations or recommending approval of these deviations.

One of the deviations is along that residential boundary along the south property border. They're requesting to reduce the setback from 75 feet to 67 feet. Again, that is so that they can maximize the site area and keep those buildings single story adjacent to those residents. So not a huge reduction there. And then also along that southern boundaries, they would like to reduce the landscape setback from 35 feet down to 30 feet. Again, keeping those buildings single story.

That still allows the applicant having a five-foot reduction to place the exact same amount of trees in that buffer that they would be able to fit in a 35-foot wide landscape setback. So we feel that that is appropriate. The last deviation is for the drive aisle setback along Williamsfield Road at that entrance along Williamsfield Road to be, instead of it being 60 foot throat depth of the entrance, to be 25.

Now the reason for that is is because this site generates doesn't generate a lot of traffic. Congregate care facilities are a lower traffic generating use than what would typically be in a shopping center district. They will not have a lot of queuing at that entrance. A lot of the vehicles are the vehicles at that entrance can take a ride in and ride out. It's a ride in ride out entrance only with a median in Williamsfield Road.

So that means they won't be queuing at at that Williamsfield Road entrance for very long. So the applicant doesn't need 60 foot in depth. That would also impact where they can place drive aisles and things, but they don't need that much depth.

Another factor why town staff supports this deviation is that there is a, the entrance off of Somerton, if you take, go out Somerton Boulevard and you head north, there is a traffic signal at Somerton Boulevard and Williamsfield Road, And that's where we anticipate most of the traffic from this site will go, is to the controlled intersection. So town staff supports this deviation as they just don't need the 60 feet. That concludes the deviations.

The last part of this presentation is that there was a neighborhood meeting in March of 2026. Only three surrounding property owners attended. They just asked general questions and they seemed very supportive of this proposed project.

And staff has received no comments from property owners to the south or anywhere in that Coulee Station area Staff recommendation is that you approve the general plan amendment for Hemmings Sinistated Living and you also approve the the zone change that is proposed as as proposed in the staff report. That concludes my presentation. If you have any questions I'm I am available to answer them.

I believe the applicant is here too and and may have a presentation also if if you deem it necessary for him to give. Thank you. Thank you Keith. Questions for Keith? Councilmember Torkis. So in changing from general office to general commercial and then shopping center, the congregate hair facility is an approved use in commercial zoning, general commercial and shopping center? Mayor Anderson, Councilmember Councilmember Torgeson. That is correct.

It's a permitted use in the shopping center zoning district. Mayor Anderson, Councilmember Torgeson, I don't believe it is. Mayor Anderson, Councilmember Torgeson, it is a use that's allowed, but it's only allowed on the ground floor of a mixed-use building. Thank you. You're welcome. Any questions? Thank you, Mayor. More of a comment, Keith. Thanks for the presentation. This is my jam. I've been doing this my whole life. And I wish we had 100 parking places.

But the reality is, is families don't visit. And with 85, 89 beds or 86 beds, I wish we needed 100 parking places, but unfortunately we don't. I guess what I'm just trying to say is if your loved one is in assisted living or memory care, we should be visiting more. Thank you. Thank you, Keith. The applicant, would you like to make a presentation at this time? Mayor Anderson, members of the council, I am Greg Davis with iPlan Consulting. I am the Cooley family and the senior living developer.

I have a presentation but Keith really covered the majority of it. I would be glad to respond to any questions or concerns you do have. Thanks, Greg. Any questions? No? You got off easy, Greg. I appreciate it. Thank you. I have not received any public comment cards, so with that I'll close the public hearing and bring it back to the council for discussion and or motion. Just item 40.

I'll move to approve item 40, the general plan GP 26-03 and the zoning Z 26-04 with the conditions cited by staff in the package. I'll accept that. And moved by Councilmember Kuprowski, seconded by the Vice Mayor to approve item 40. Please vote. Motion carries 6-1 with Councilmember Torgeson dissenting. Item 41, we'll move on. Zoning Z-2601, LDC text amendment related to data centers. Staff. Sal. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Good to see you all. Sal DeSanto, Planner 2.

And the application we'll be taking a look at tonight is the LDC text amendment related to data centers, Z26-01. Just to begin the presentation, I'd like to just provide an overview of the specific sections of the LDC that we are looking to amend for this refresh.

So first, it's going to be Division 2.0 terms, Section 3.0 based zoning districts and use regulations, Section 5.0 additional use and site regulations, And section 5.10 data centers, which would be the new section specifically for data center development. Looking at this as a whole as to why we are bringing this data center amendment forward is actually for a few different reasons. First is this amendment recognizes evolving infrastructure needs.

Data centers have become essential components of today's digital economy, supporting everything from business operations to cloud computing and everyday online services. While these services operate in a digital space, the infrastructure supporting them requires physical facilities to store, process, and manage the data. Second is we want to balance innovation with community protection.

Although data centers contribute to technological advancement, they also introduce unique considerations such as noise, building scale, utility demand, and visual impacts. These factors warrant thoughtful planning and regulation. Third is this amendment allows us to proactively establish clear standards. By updating the land development code now, we can provide predictable regulations and expectations before significant data center projects are proposed.

Another key objective is ensuring compatibility with surrounding neighborhoods. Our goal is to create standards that allow data centers to operate efficiently while protecting nearby residents and preserving the community character and quality of life that makes Gilbert unique. And finally, these regulations create predictability for both the applicant side and the public.

Clear standards help developers understand the town's expectations of development, while providing residents with the confidence that potential impacts are being responsibly addressed. Providing on this slide is just the two sections of our code that currently address data centers.

The first is the definition you see on the screen and the second is in our use regulations table where you can see data centers are permitted only with a conditional use permit in the business park and the light industrial zoning districts. As part of this code process, we've identified several areas that would benefit from updates and additional clarifications to help address data center development. The first area involves the definition of a data center.

Throughout our research it became clear that data centers are not a one-size-fits-all use and as a result we determined it would be important to establish separate definitions for primary data centers and accessory data centers. Data centers can vary significantly in scale ranging from relatively small facilities to campuses encompassing hundreds of thousands of square feet.

Additionally, data center storage and processing functions may exist as accessory components to larger principal uses, such as financial institutions, manufacturing facilities, medical operations, and technological companies as well. The proposed accessory data center definition specifically identifies facilities that are incidental and subordinate to a principal non data center use on the same site.

Under the proposed standards, an accessory data center would be permitted only when it occupies no more than 10% of the primary building's gross floor area, serves only the operational needs of the on-site principal user, does not provide data storage or processing services to third parties, and is incorporated within the principal structure rather than located within a separate, standalone building. This approach is based on research conducted during the amendment process.

We found that many commercial and industrial users require a limited amount of on-site data storage space to support their operations. And as I mentioned, this is particularly seen in financial industries, medical industries, and manufacturing. Our research also indicated that these accessory facilities are generally much smaller in size compared to the primary facilities. And these can range anywhere from what we've seen between 2,000 and 10,000 square feet.

The proposed 10% threshold is intended to provide the flexibility for these types of users, while ensuring they remain accessory to the primary use and may proceed by right without the need for separate data center review. Here we start to look at some of the specific sections that we are looking to apply for the data center or for data center development.

As I previously mentioned, data centers are currently allowed in the business park and light industrial zoning district through a conditional use permit. However, after further research and evaluation, staff determined that data centers are more closely aligned with heavier industrial and employment development patterns, both in terms of operational characteristics and site design requirements.

Therefore, staff believes it is appropriate to permit primary data centers within the light industrial and general industrial zoning districts only.

Additionally staff is recommending that modifications deviations alternative development standards cannot be changed through a planned area development process And this is just to ensure that developers neighbors and the town are completely aligned in how these development patterns may move forward The next section we have for you is regarding the special use permit. And throughout the presentation you'll see certain sections that are highlighted in orange.

And these were sections that we we heard questions and comments from the study session. So we just wanted to provide some additional information related to these specific topics. So looking at things from a special use permits perspective, as I mentioned, those CUPs are currently the avenue for data centers. But we are recommending a transition to the special use permit process.

The special use permit framework provides greater flexibility during the review process and allows staff to request additional technical information specific to a proposed use. Given the unique operational characteristics of data centers, this process would enable more comprehensive evaluation of potential impacts, site design considerations, infrastructure requirements, and compatibility with surrounding developments.

Ultimately, the special use permit process ensures that each proposal receives a level of review appropriate for the use in the scale of its complexity. The next area we want to look at is setbacks. The proposed language requires that all buildings, structures, mechanical equipment, including transformers, battery storage cabinets, generators, cooling units, all maintain a minimum setback of 400 feet from all property lines.

In addition, if these parcels are adjacent or property lines are adjacent to residential communities, we would like to see these setbacks increase to 650 feet to further help that buffer between residential properties and any proposed data center development. As part of this update as well, it's important to mention that we have had an opportunity to tour existing and under construction data centers throughout the area.

The sites that we visited provided valuable insight into how data centers function and, more importantly, how they integrate with the surrounding land uses. During one of our visits to a neighboring jurisdiction, we observed a facility that provided approximately 200 feet of separation between a residential neighborhood and an adjacent data center.

From staff's perspective, that distance did not provide sufficient buffering to effectively mitigate the visual presence and operational impacts of the development of that scale. As a result, staff is recommending increased setbacks to ensure an appropriate level of separation between data centers and residential uses. These standards are intended to preserve the quality of life enjoyed by Gilbert residents while still accommodating this emerging form of development.

Now we're just going to take a look at the design requirements we are proposing for this section of the code. The proposed design standards read that proposed mechanical equipment and utility equipment shall be fully screened by a structure that is visually and architecturally integrated with both the development and surrounding area.

Alternatively, equipment may be screened through the use of decorative screen walls that meet or exceed the height of the equipment and incorporate architectural treatments such as varying materials, colors, textures, patterns, and public art pieces.

Additional design standards include architectural detailing of all building facades visible from public right of ways and publicly accessible areas, and a minimum 40 percent window or glass treatment in front facades, and 15 percent on all remaining facades. The next piece is enhanced architectural features at primary entrances to create visual distinction and establish a clear sense of entry. And lastly is just compliance with our town's applicable employment district design guidelines.

The rationale behind these standards is unlike traditional office, commercial, or employment developments, data centers are designed primarily to house equipment and infrastructure rather than people. As a result, they often feature large building masses, limited architectural variation, minimal transparency, and highly secured site designs.

While those characteristics may support operational needs, staff believes it is important that developments of this size contribute positively to Gilbert's built environment. Architectural integration not only strengthens the visual character of the community, but also improves compatibility with adjacent properties and surrounding neighborhoods. The next area we looked into was specific building heights related to data centers.

The proposed regulation establishes a maximum building height of 55 feet and this standard is consistent with the town existing light industrial zoning district which maxes heights at 55 feet While this height limitation already exists within the light industrial district the general industrial district currently has no maximum building restriction for height.

Given the significant variation of data center design with facilities ranging from 20 to 30 feet to buildings stretching past 100 feet, staff determined that a clear defined standard The next section we'll be taking a look at is related to parking. Parking standards for data centers presented a unique challenge during the research process. Although these facilities often encompass the The next section we'll be taking a look at is related to parking.

Parking standards for data centers presented a unique challenge during the research process. Although these facilities often encompass hundreds of thousands of square feet, they generally only employ a few personnel for day-to-day operations. From our tours, they told us any given day there's probably no more than 10 employees on on site across, you know, a hundred to a couple hundred thousand square feet.

Through discussions with industry representatives and observation patterns from site visits, staff found that many of these large-scale facilities often have a handful of employees. Because of this unique operational model, identifying an appropriate parking ratio required significant analysis. Staff ultimately determined that a ratio of one parking space per 6,000 square feet of gross floor area strikes an appropriate balance.

The standard provides sufficient parking for regular operations, accommodates future growth and expansion, and ensures adequate circulation for emergency and service vehicles while avoiding the unnecessary construction of large underutilized parking fields. The next component we took a look at was landscaping standards. Given the scale and operational nature of data center development, staff believes landscaping plays a critical role both in visual mitigation and overall site integration.

The proposed standards are intended to soften the appearance of these facilities, enhance the public realm, and create an attractive transition between development and surrounding properties.

The proposed landscaping requirements read as a minimum 35-foot landscape setback along all street frontages, a minimum 100-foot landscape setback alongside and rear property lines, a minimum of 200-foot landscape setback where side and rear property lines are adjacent to residential land use designations as identified in the general plan.

The next is required landscape setbacks must be maintained regardless of whether utility or mechanical infrastructure is located behind or within an enclosed side or rear yard. The next is along each street frontage, developments must provide a detached sidewalk of at least six feet in width, separated from a curb by a minimum eight-foot wide landscape area.

And the last standard here is that the required landscape quantities that cannot be accommodated within the perimeter landscape areas must be planted elsewhere on site to meet the minimum counts required. The next area we looked at was sound mitigation. Analyzing data center development, there are a few unique nuisances unlike any other developments.

You know, we have scale, we have size, we have architecture, we have water, we have power, and of course we have sound mitigation, which could be from a few different things. It could be cooling equipment, it could be backup generators. So we wanted to ensure that we did have some language that specifically spoke to sound mitigation.

So with that, data centers often contain operational components such as the cooling equipment, backup generators, transformers, and other mechanical equipment that can generate quite a bit of noise. So to address this concern, staff is proposing a requirement that applicants submit a noise study at the time of development review. The study must demonstrate compliance with applicable noise standards and identify any mitigation measures necessary to maintain those standards.

This requirement allows potential impacts to be evaluated early in the review process and ensures that appropriate mitigation measures are incorporated into the project's design before construction occurs. The next area we looked into was lighting standards.

The proposed standards require the use of fully shielded, full cutoff fixtures directed downward towards the site, Light trespass limitations would apply at residential property lines and upward facing and unshielding lighting would be prohibited.

These requirements are intended to minimize off lighting impacts and demonstrate consideration to adjacent property owners The next area we took a look at was fire and safety During this process we had an opportunity to not only work with our building and fire reviewers but we had an opportunity to speak with the fire departments of local municipalities and given their thoughts and expertise and molding it into the the planning process In the planning realm, we've established these standards for development moving forward.

Given the specialized nature of the data center operations, the proposed regulations would require annual fire inspections in accordance with all applicable Town of Gilbert codes and standards. Additionally, facilities must provide clear and descriptive door and wayfinding signage at all applicable locations to assist personnel, first responders, and emergency crews in navigating the site safely and efficiently.

This recommendation stems directly from staff site visits and discussions with fire departments familiar with data center operations. These facilities can be exceptionally large, often containing long quarters, limited staff, repetitive building layouts, and highly secured areas. For responders who may not be familiar with these specific facilities, clear signage can significantly improve emergency response times and operational safety.

With this section, staff also recommends requiring battery decommissioning procedures in transportation plans for damage or end of life batteries. As battery storage systems become increasingly common with data center developments, it is important that operators establish clear protocols for safety handling, transporting, and disposing of damaged equipment. These plans provide certainty that appropriate procedures are in place should an incident occur.

Finally, each facility will be required to provide a fire department smoke control panel and a dedicated fire command center designed and constructed in accordance with all applicable international building code and international fire code requirements. And the next piece here is related to neighborhood notice. Staff is recommending that applicants conduct a neighborhood meeting prior to submitting a formal application.

While neighborhood meetings are already a part of the town's development review process, the primary change involves expanding the notification boundaries for data center applications. Under the proposed standards, notice must be provided to all property owners located within 800 feet of the subject property, and notices must be provided to all homeowners, all homeowner associations located within a thousand feet of the property.

For context, the town standard notification requirement is 300 feet to surrounding property owners. Within our Santan character area, that buffer jumps up to 660 feet because this is a part of town where we have larger lots and really feed into our agricultural history in form of development. So we wanted to bring that similar design to our noticing requirements for data centers.

Because we are proposing them in the LI and GI zoning districts, these properties are not usually surrounded by residential communities. And if we stuck to the traditional 300-foot buffer, we may not get all the appropriate feedback that would typically be heard for something of this caliber. So we just want to make sure that all the surrounding voices and concerns and comments are heard before we perform or move forward with any formal application.

And the last one here, just highlighted in orange, is specific to utility commitment. As we know, data centers can need quite a bit of power for them to operate efficiently. And some questions came up in the study session of, you know, how are we sure that they are going to provide sufficient power where we're not causing issues to our existing residents?

Following that study session, we were able to meet with APS and SRP just to get a better understanding of how substations and power to data center really works. And what they let us know is that they do have quite a bit of a lengthy process before it even comes in for any sort of municipal review.

Typically, a data center will work with a utility provider for a few years until they're able to showcase that they have the ability to power their project without impacting any of the surrounding neighbors or the existing power supply on site or within the community. So what will happen is once their review is completed with the utility providers, they will receive a utility letter of commitment essentially stating that this proposed project will not have an interest in the project.

So as part of our review process and a part of our application checklist, we want to ensure that each submittal does provide a letter of utility commitment showcasing the ability to host the power for the data center. And the next section that we have highlighted for you is going to be our water standards. And we do have Lauren Hickson from our water resources department who is going to come up and go over these standards for you all. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor and Council.

I appreciate the opportunity to talk about the enhanced standards that we're proposing for data centers regarding water service. So one change from what we presented at the study session is that now the town of Gilbert will not provide potable water to a principal data center for its cooling systems, humidity control, and other similar operations. We are going to allow accessory data centers to use potable water.

Now I'll explain some of the other restrictions that will be there, but essentially this is to allow existing businesses or operations such as a hospital to expand and allow an accessory data center without having to extend our reclaim system to their property that may be miles away, would require additional storage on site, pump stations, etc. in order to provide that ancillary service to their primary use that already may exist on a property.

So we're going to, however, still require reclaimed water for principal data centers that that's the primary use on that parcel. So they still may have to require extend reclaimed water to their property, build onsite storage and pump stations to provide that water supply to their cooling systems. We did do some investigation into different types of cooling systems.

We are maintaining the restriction that open loop evaporative cooling will not be permitted, which means they have to use closed loop cooling. We did look into glycol systems and some other types of liquid cooling systems. Some of those still require some amount of water to operate, and therefore we're maintaining this requirement of just no open loop cooling systems. We also looked at some other technologies such as direct to chip cooling.

This utilizes liquid coolants delivered directly to computer processors and critical hardware components, but stakeholders have let us know that this technology is several years away from being a standard. Another alternative is free air cooling, which utilizes outside air to assist with maintaining operational temperatures. But given the heat here in Arizona, that is not a viable option for us.

So, given the evolving technology, again, we're going to keep it at the limitation that no open loop evaporative cooling is allowed. We do believe this is sufficient to protect the water supply. We did provide some examples. There was a proposed data center in metro Atlanta that when switching from open evaporative cooling to closed loop cooling, they were able to reduce the water use by 97%.

So you can see that that is a pretty restrictive use and helps maintain water security for us as a utility. So, and for that specific item, we're seeing that continued the cooling technology to continually evolve. And so we're maintaining that recommendation of just limiting it to close the cooling systems. In addition, data centers of all types will have to develop within with conformance to our existing sustainable water allocation policy and water resources management strategy report.

This is adopted in 2019 and has been effective at providing water security for large water users and buffering our system to what these impacts may be. What this does, I just want to provide some more background into the system. into how this policy operates. It establishes a baseline volume of water that the town will provide to new non-residential development. So of all kinds, not just limited to data centers.

If this development exceeds the base allocation, there are two options for that property in that development. The town, by council decision, may allocate additional water supplies on a case-by-case basis, or the development must acquire its own 100-year water supply and transfer it to the town.

With the reclaimed water component added on this we would also then for principled data centers whatever baseline volume of water we provide would be a baseline of reclaimed water not potable water Just wanted to provide an example of how this has operated and worked in helping out the town in kind of buffering us from these large water users is that we did have an inquiry from a proposed data center that needed 2 million gallons per day for a 1 million square foot facility back in 2021 And the water allocation policy would provide would have provided only 660,000 gallons per day.

The remaining 1.34 million gallons per day would have been required to be acquired by the data center. And that's quite a bit of water at today's rates for new water supplies. That would be a huge cost to them. And in addition to that, we also require them to provide sufficient water infrastructure for their facility. So it was advised that they would have had to add a new well and equip an additional well to provide this service to themselves.

And then they would have also had to upgrade wastewater infrastructure by upsizing existing sewer pipes and treatment plant capacity because the projected flows for these for wastewater infrastructure was five times from the projected demand for that parcel. So not only did the water allocation policy apply, but also water infrastructure, wastewater infrastructure was going to be required. And this still is in effect for all non-residential, all new development.

However, this data center decided not to locate in Gilbert because of these requirements. So just an example of how our existing policy from 2019 does provide a lot of resiliency and protection of our existing system. So with that, just in summary, we're not going to provide potable water to a principal data center for its cooling systems.

We are not permitting open loop evaporative cooling systems and we're recommending, and then data centers will be required to conform to the sustainable water allocation policy and water resources management strategy report. I am also noting here we do have in the ordinance that data centers, whether functioning as primary uses or accessory uses, shall provide a separate water meter for cooling systems. In the ordinance that you have drafted, it does say for reclaimed cooling systems.

And so with any motion to adopt this, we do need to have that noted that that word reclaimed should be scratched out, given that accessory uses would not be utilizing reclaimed water. We still want, no matter what the data center is, whether it's a primary or a accessory use, that whatever cooling system, they have a separate water meter so we can track what water is used for that specific use for the data center. So with that, I'll hand it back to Sal to wrap it up.

All right, so just taking a look here at the timeline of where we started and you know how we've gotten here tonight, the PC initiation started back in January of this year on the 29th. We then had a study session for the planning commission after about six months of research with our first run with these proposed standards. Following PC, we did go to the Chamber of Commerce to present our updated language.

Following the Chamber of Commerce, we actually, it's not in here, we actually met with them one more time with some of their more specific members in the field to help, you know, better understand where staff was coming from with the amendment. And also to better understand from individuals who work in the field. Following those meetings with the chamber, we did go to the planning commission for that formal hearing for a recommendation to the town council.

Following that hearing in August, we met with you all for a study session on August 11th, where we got some feedback and some comments. And here we are tonight with you all again, requesting the recommendation for approval for the updated language for the proposed data. And with that, and with the recommendation from the planning commission staff recommends or staff requests the town council approves the 26-01 the LDC amendment related to data centers.

And I'm happy to answer any questions or comments you, you all may have. Thank you. Thank you, Sal. Questions for Sal or and or Lauren? I do. Council member Lyons. During the study session I had asked about bringing in a third party industry expert to give us their opinion on this. Was that done?

Mayor Anderson Councilmember Lyons We did try our best So following our study session with the town council we did reach out to about 15 or so stakeholders from various companies industries and ultimately we only heard back from two and it was APS and SRP So we did try and reach out to a number of stakeholders to get a better understanding but outside of APS and SRP it did fall on deaf ears Well, there was an email that I got from somebody in industry that did offer to come and help us.

So I don't know, did everybody get that or was it just, you guys didn't get that email? I don't recall it. Did you get it? Yeah. So we had an email come in from somebody the day after. My concern about this is, and I'm struggling with that a little bit, But this particular area is very sensitive from a national security perspective. And when I look at this, there's, it has a feel to it. I'm not going to talk about this when we bring it back to the dais. Okay. So, but that answers my question.

Thank you. Thank you. Councilmember Buckley. I have a question. What benefit does this bring to Gilbert having data centers here? Is there a revenue benefit or how exactly do data centers benefit the town? Mayor Anderson, Councilmember Buckley. Just for clarification, are you asking as to why we brought this text in the amendment forward to get the ball rolling on this or more specifically to the economic impacts of data center development. Well, both kind of. Both? Okay, great.

So just from planning perspective and going through this is, you know, we understand that the data centers was a use that has been evolving quickly and, you know, technology's changing rapidly and design changing rapidly. So this was our attempt at trying to get ahead of the game and establish clear and predictable standards, not only for residences, but also for the developers. And essentially what we're trying to do here is actually protect our residents.

And going through our LDC update and comparing it to other communities in the area, ours reads more restrictive than most. So while we are trying to establish clear standards for development, it's also our intent to protect the quality of life in Gilbert. But from an economic standpoint, I can invite our economic development department up to answer those questions for you if you'd like, Councilmember Buckley. Okay. One more question before that.

Does this change have any effect of any current anticipated requests for data centers? Is that why we're doing this or we're just wanting to be, like you said, ahead of the game and it's not anticipated right now that we have people waiting in the wings to do this? Council, sorry, Mayor Anderson, Councilmember Buckley, the latter. So there's no interest right now. I haven't heard from any data center development that has their eye on Gilbert.

It was us just trying to be proactive with this, you know, new form of development that's really come to life the last few years and just trying to establish those clear and protective standards, not only for staff, but the residents as well. Okay. The one thing that I still, and I had this issue in the study session as well, is that we're giving and supplying any water to data centers. I'm not, you know, I'm really not on board with that.

I think that we need to look at this a little bit tighter and a little bit closer and just that if there are data centers here, they need to supply their own, period. And that's just my opinion. So, and if there's someone here from economic development, that'd be great just to have just a few sentences of the thoughts there. Absolutely. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Mayor Anderson, Council Member Buckley, Mike Martell, Office of Economic Development.

So we do have some economic impact that we worked with GPEC on to provide some of the information on this chart here, but kind of at a larger scale, when we think about the kind of the economic impact of these data centers, It usually ties to the construction tax that we get from the actual building of them and then the utility tax So those are kind of the I say the economic wins as Sal noted they aren typically large scale employment centers They aren really active in that capacity So a lot of those tax benefits we don see There is the co-location data center aspect where there is a leasing component.

So there is a lease tax if it was in that classification. I would say traditionally as we've been approached, that 2021 example is a good one. That's where we think to the future and knowing that we have limited land and wanting to be very strategic with that and what the community is looking for.

So from an employment generation and some of those other aspects, this is where data centers don't shine as much as maybe like advanced manufacturing or aerospace and defense or some of those medical clusterings.

And that's where I think an important part of this amendment really hits on is that accessory use and making sure that we have that opportunity to still embrace that component when it is just an accessory use, not the million square foot single use metadata center campuses, something that would be tied into national security if it was a defense contractor that did need to have servers on site and have that sort of data housed at a very high level, that we can still attract those sorts of uses where we are seeing kind of the full gambit of construction.

lease, employment sort of job creation for us. If that helps with that answer, I'm happy to elaborate. Yeah, I like that. Could you send that to me? Just email it to me. Yeah, absolutely. I'd appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. So basically, McDonald's hires more people. Yes. Okay. Thanks for verifying that. Sal, question for you. Feels like to me that, you know, we always plan for the future, which is great.

To me, it feels like we're really late to the game, which is actually a good thing. Because I can count probably, you know, the average person would think of, you know, in their mind what a data center looks like. And I could count probably four, Maybe five properties in town that are big enough to do this in. Maybe I'm incorrect, but I'm thinking four or five. And Mary Anderson brought up in this study session something really interesting about the future.

I believe with him that the future isn't these huge data centers. They're going to be more small micro data centers. I think companies are going to eventually have their own data centers where they are. Hospitals, maybe doctor's offices in a small room. Because I would rather have, and maybe Monty can answer this for a security standpoint, I'd rather have my data near me and not being fed to someone else and X amount of miles away or in another city or town or country.

I think our future is micro data centers and when I say that I also want to go back to I want to make sure and I don't know from the people I've spoken to if we've really reached out enough back to the chamber and back to those companies that would potentially maybe they don't visualize themselves having a micro data center right now but that's part of the reason why I was looking forward to Hopefully with Councilmember Lyons suggestion and bringing bringing in an expert on this to see what the future may look like.

I don't want to create an ordinance for the past when we can do one for the future. Knowing that we're not going to have a lot of room for these huge ones. You know what I'm saying? So I'd rather see us focus on some ordinances for the micro data centers to make it easier for those businesses to create a small data center for their business. You know, trying to bring in non-potable water may be economically impossible for them to do.

You know, a small company that wants to have the data near them. I myself would, and I know you guys put a lot of time into this last 10 months, and I appreciate that. But I don't want to miss the target here. I'd rather see us not vote on this tonight and give it a little bit more time, meet more with the chamber, bring in an expert, and let's see what these micro data centers may look like and how we can make those happen.

Because we're only chasing potentially four or five properties which none of them may even want to have a data set. Okay, or us or the next council may not want to approve a data center, a big one. So let's focus on the small ones where the future may be rather than be behind the game here and looking at the big ones. That's my opinion on this. You know, the last letter I saw from the chamber said exactly that, that we need to be flexible. And I think you're right.

We don't know if this is going to be flexible enough for the future or not. It would be nice to search that out a little bit more. Councilmember Kaprowski. It seems from what Sal presented on with the accessory data centers which would be provided potable water that that does address the concerns that were just brought up.

My concern is that some of these comments sound like we're trying to gild this with gold when the elements of this amendment are reducing our vulnerability that we have right now to data centers coming into Gilbert. This is more restrictive to the extent possible by law. And I'm just wondering whether we're being a little bit too picky when this is getting us very close and we can always amend it at a future date once we have more information if it doesn't work.

But I do see that staff has brought in some of the concerns that were brought in during the study session. So I just want to kind of bring that up that this is actually protecting us and closing, tightening our restrictions that we currently have today. Councilmember Buckland. Thank you, Mayor. Part of what Councilmember Kuprowski said is where my head was.

I totally respect the comments from you and the chamber and I think they're valid, but I think staff has done a tremendous amount of work making this far more difficult and protecting our community in a much better way. So I don't want to just throw the baby out of the bathwater here. I'm more in favor of let's get it done so it's memorialized so tomorrow someone wants to come in, it's more difficult to get it done. And it doesn't mean that there can't be another iteration of this.

I'm coming at it a little differently than the micro potential micro data centers. But I'm not hearing anything about these heat plumes that may be occurring. And our own Arizona State University, In March, it was reported in Arizona's family news that it's the ASU School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning did a study and they did zones around data centers.

I don't know the range distances, but what they did say is that the zones closest to these data centers, regardless of wind direction, The downwind zone had higher heat and in some areas up to two and a half degrees. And for every degree of elevation in a heat crisis is another like two and a half percent fatality risk. So we're already in the desert. We're at 2023, 2024. 2023 was the hottest summer on record, if I recall, and it lasted one year. In 2024, it took it.

This year in May, if the news was right, March was hottest March on record. And so what does that do to our community here where it's already hot, and then now their utility bills go up because they're having to crank the air down to cool them down better. So I don't think there's just a lot we don't know. I commend you guys for the hard work you did. You have made, I think, really, Good improvements here. But I think we need to be looking at that.

Another thing I saw you, I appreciate the getting fire on board. Another concern I have that we're not talking about is these centers use lithium batteries. And I spent time in my career out of law enforcement as a global crisis manager for Amazon worldwide. Five of us managing their crises all over the world. And there were times that we responded to fires and a lot of those centers use robotics and lithium batteries in our fire. Those fire departments got the fires out quick.

Suppression systems actually are what got it out quick, not the department. But our but those agencies resources were tied up for a lot longer because of the hydrogen fluoride, that very toxic corrosive gas that they emit.

And so I really interested when data centers especially primary having 50 to 200 plus batteries in a facility and there a fire there risk there that we want to make sure we mitigating How are they off gas in that What is that tax on our resources if that happens I realize it could be really rare but I been on enough crisis as a police commander and SWAT commander that were rare and when they hit bad things happen So again, kudos to you guys.

Wonderful job getting us to the next level, but I do have interest, Mario, in what's next. Can we look at some of those other things? But I do think we can say yes to this, get it memorialized, and then do that as a second iteration. Mayor, if I might for a second. To Councilmember Lyon's question about some third-party folks and some of the research that we've done. The Arizona Data Center Alliance, I believe is maybe where that email came from. Andrea Clinton, I just found the email.

Yes, they invited us to come to a forum which Sal did attend and so we have been in communications with them. As we did our research, we also looked at different things like the Urban Land Institute, American Planning Association. We researched a whole bunch of other communities within the country as to what they were doing. There's a lot of different information out there and it's one of those things, the more you look, the more you always find.

It just seems to get bigger and bigger and bigger and there's both sides of everything, you know. So we have done a lot of research on it, but did we ever sit down with like a data center developer? No, but we did go to the data center alliance forum and communicate with them. And then the other research we did was all best practices and things across the country.

Did that forum provide you feedback or what did they give you to because she drafted a very long email the day after the the August meeting. What was it that was in that presentation? Was it worth the time to go look at or was it very high level? Mayor Anderson, Councilmember Lyons. It was great to actually attend this meeting.

So there was one earlier in the year that we did not attend but the second one we went to was actually a workshop where it was more focused on the water systems associated with the water. with data centers. And that's where they told us about all of these emerging technologies in the industry with, you know, direct-to-chip cooling, you know, moving coolants through small little tubes directly to these chips.

They talked air-free cooling, but it all seemed like these systems were a few years away from actually being the norm in data center development. But what they really honed in on was the difference between the open loop versus the closed loop systems and how the closed loop systems were significantly less, were much better on the water supplies than the open loop systems. And just trying to better understand, you know, the different types of water systems.

But it was eye opening, definitely informative, but definitely focused on the water aspect of things and cooling. Did you guys even talk to her about the alliance about what you were proposing to see if they had any issues or risks associated with what we were doing? And the reason I ask this, and this is critical for us to understand, that data centers are a national security issue. This isn't just processing our stuff to play on our computers with.

Okay, so this has major implications from a national security perspective and a quantum computing perspective. I agree with you, they're probably going to be shrunk down and stuff, but I didn't feel like we had enough information to understand. When I looked at all of these changes and restrictions we're putting in, I just felt like we were not thinking about those particular implications of it. And I was uncomfortable with that. That's all I'm saying.

So when you guys went and talked to them, did you present what you were doing and say, would this create any problems for somebody trying to bring that in? Council member Lyons, Mayor Anderson, it unfortunately wasn't a forum where we could, you know, showcase what we're working on and, you know, work back and forth. It was preset workshop. There was a lecture about the different forms of water systems, open loop versus cooling, or closed loop, direct to chip cooling, direct air cooling.

But unfortunately there was an opportunity in that forum for us to have an in-depth discussion about all of the standards we're proposing with our amendment. But what we did end up doing is we did forward our proposed ordinance to the data center alliance, SRP, APS, and we really didn't get too, too much feedback. They seem to really all be on board with the proposed standards we had in the proposed ordinance.

And yeah I mean there wasn too much pushback on the language that we did draft for this LDC tax amendment Okay Councilmember Torres I'm going to have to reiterate having someone else come in and take a look. Is there a way to bifurcate this so that we can take care of the large centers at this moment and deal with the small accessory ones at a future date? Mayor Anderson, Councilmember Torgerson, it would actually be probably easier to do the whole thing at once and then come back and amend.

That way we've got the entire pie there and we can come back and make changes to that pie in the future rather than try to bring in something that handles the large ones but still leave us vulnerable or risk with the accessory ones. I would say that if we'd seen a lot of these, if we were having developers at our doorsteps frequently about accessory data centers, I would say, yeah, maybe there is something that we could handle there. But we really haven't seen a lot of pressure on these.

So I guess in staff's opinion, it would be better to have everything put in place at one time and then come back in the future and amend it. And to Councilmember Kaprowski's point, we can always amend this in the future if we see it's not working. We've had great success with that when we did the community preservation ordinance. We came back to council several times as we put that in place and found out that certain things didn't work.

So this is one of those things where we know we don't know everything, but it's kind of based on our research and what we've done, it's kind of our best guess at this attempt. And we're more than happy to continue to amend it into the future as we go. But as you do amendments, what is the typical timeframe? To bring a LDC text amendment to council is probably about six months, because we've got to initiate it.

So if we started to amend it tomorrow, it would take us six months probably to get there? Probably so. Somewhere in that neighborhood. But to deal with it and discuss things more on the micro level could take us a couple meetings. Yeah, we'd probably want to take it back to the Planning Commission as well. So you're still going to be months away from having even that discussion at the micro level. It has to go to planning?

It doesn't have to, but they recommended approval of what you have in front of you. Yeah, but we are the policy makers, right? That is correct. I wanted to check and make sure I still had some power up here. You had mentioned the chamber twice in there, and the chamber is concerned about, I believe, the smaller units. Correct. And I can see that. Let's say you're a hospital and your campus is growing.

There's certain limitations, and there's some others that aren't, but I would understand wanting to have access, to want to have control of your own information, as much back in the day as just having a server on site. I have questions about power and micro-nuclear reactors for some of these things that are massive power draws. And as Councilman Bon Giovanni said, there's only five or six properties that can probably handle these large ones.

So I would think the actual risk, unless people are just frothing at the mouth to run down from the hills and put data centers in Gilbert next week, I think that if we could extend this a week or two to address the specific issues on micro ones from the chamber, just the specific ones on that, not anything else.

I'm not upset about what you've done with large facilities and protecting this community, but I don't want to start going through a process that could take months or a year when we could probably handle it in a month and we don't have to go to planning for it.

My suggestion is that we put this off for a month and put the wheels to the asphalt and get it done in regards to smaller facilities, because it can get done, and it can get done shortly, or we go through a process where maybe we're limiting things. And what the rate of technology is these days, if you remember, there was an Apollo, And it took a building of computing to get it up to the moon, yet this phone has more in it than that did. And we're moving it every 18 months.

We're doubling capacity on that. I mean, just in the time that we'll be talking about it for the next month, there'll probably be a 15% increase. So can we, I'm going to suggest that we delay this for just a month to see if we can get a few more things handled before we've, before we make a final decision that will take us a year to modify.

P Kenza member Puckley I have a question So if let say someone comes in we get what you have taken here and you guys I personally think you done a great job and it not you guys that I have the issue with it the water that they use that I mean that always been my issue But if someone comes in and they talk to you and you guys want to recommend something, does that, is there a way that any data center that comes in can come to council?

Because if we can incorporate making sure somehow that if there are data center requests, whatever those are, that they have to come to council for approval. And I think if we could satisfy that, I would probably be okay with that, or incorporate that if we're going to end up waiting on this. Mayor Anderson, Councilmember Buckley, we did have those conversations coming out of the study session with the council.

There was some optimistic thought that maybe that would be something that we could write into this in visiting with our legal team. The concern was that we are now treating uses completely differently as it comes to processes, and our processes should be consistent throughout.

And so it was on the advice of the legal department that we not change the special use permit for data centers to require council action, but to leave it as it is with all other special use permits where it ends with the planning commission. Okay. So what, and I do recall this, so, and that's why I wanted to bring it up because no one mentioned it, but what would constitute them coming to council? What would they have to ask for to come to council?

Mayor Anderson, Councilmember Buckley, special use permits can be appealed to council. So let's say a special use permit for a data center went to the planning commission, and the planning commission voted it up or voted it down. Either way, it still can be appealed to the council for their final decision, for your final decision. So there is a process and an ability to get it in front of council. It would just take that next step of somebody appealing the decision of the planning commission.

And who would do that? It could be several people. Somebody impacted by it. It could be a council member. It could be staff. There's several different ways in which a special use permit could be appealed to council. Okay. I think that answers the answer. I have one last question, Scott. Thanks, Mayor. Kyle, I want to get my math right here. We haven't been approached by a big data center in five years. Unless there's been conversations I'm not aware of, that is correct.

At least we definitely have not had any applications. It was asserted tonight that we already have one. I think we have a very small one. And it was before the use permits? Yeah, I've been to it. It's small. And we've had no small ones coming to us saying we want to open up. Correct. Okay.

I mean, I'd rather myself go back to my first initial thought was I'd rather not vote on this than vote no tonight and just give a little bit more time to work with the chamber and with the potential expert to look into what the future may look like and focus a little bit more on the smaller ones. Since we don't have the land for the big ones. Councilmember Kaprowski.

Since a couple of the council members have brought up wanting to continue this to have some additional additions or considerations added, I just want to make sure we are giving enough direction to staff on what that is or means because I haven't really heard that full definition yet. I've heard you talk about smaller data centers.

I'm assuming that is not accessory data centers, or could you elaborate on more specifics so that we can define what we want staff to do within a very limited time frame? Probably accessory meaning where, we're using the terms wrong, let me know, hospital, you know, if we want to, you know, move our own police, you know, data ahead of small, small accessories. I'm not going to have the country data center here or any other companies that don't need a It's huge.

You don't want to have the security risk going to a larger one. But that looks like it's included in this. It is, but there's things in here that I know the Chamber wasn't comfortable with. I'm not comfortable with the water situation either. So I'd rather just go back to the Chamber, go back to some of the stakeholders that could potentially see an accessory or smaller, however I want to call it.

But also where Councilmember Lyons brought up something to talk to another expert or two about it too. Mayor Anderson, Councilmember Bonjivani. I want to make sure I understand too. So the accessory data centers that we're talking about are a part of a larger building. It would be something that's in there. I think part of what the chamber had some concerns about was allowing some standalone smaller data centers on a campus someplace. Correct. Yes.

Mayor Anderson, Councilmembers, we're very happy to continue that conversation with the chamber about their concerns. I'm not sure staff shares the same concerns, which is why we didn't make a lot of changes to our ordinance when we came forward. As we thought about the security of these standalone data centers in the campus, the way the buildings look, the architecture, everything about it, we were a little bit more concerned, I think, than they were.

So, again, happy to continue to have those conversations. Not entirely sure we'll end up at the exact same place, but we can continue this. Councilmember Buckland. Thank you, Mayor. So I hear what the council's or several members are saying, and I get, yeah, we haven't had a big one come in in five years, but anybody that's got anything on the horizon, listens to this meeting, says, time to get it done in this gap. And that would be Murphy's law.

So I also think that it's a little optimistic to think that we can table this a couple weeks, have these conversations, bring in to talk to a consultant, which takes longer than that, and a staff that has lots of other jobs and projects they're working on, so it has to fit into the schedule. I appreciate the fact that we have the authority to bypass the Planning Commission, but we are the policy makers.

If the policy is we go to the Planning Commission, then we need to stick to our own policies that we created. That's why the policy is there. I don't want to go varying from that. I don't think that's a good look. I appreciate the need for expediency and trying to…all good intentioned. But we should not be not adhering to our own policies.

So I just go back to I think it's more prudent, get it done, then Mario can direct staff for a second iteration based on clear direction from the council that we want to see. Our code, just as our policies, like our police department general orders, are really living documents that need to be looked at and changed as society changes and AI is moving so fast, way faster than we can keep up.

About the time they hit a second iteration, there's going to be a new change and we're going to be looking at a third iteration. So I just think that we need to slow down and get across the finish line. The really good work that staff did. And then let's see what else we can do. December 15th, would that be council member Torrey? That's what I want to say. I don't really feel that it's out of our process, because we reject thoughts and votes of planning all the time.

And we modify those things, and this is simply a modification of what's previously been done. It's nothing unusual, it's nothing disrespectful, and it's nothing out of order. This is what we do. And we have an opportunity to modify this. And if it can't be modified, if we can't find a good sweet spot, it'll go up for a vote up or down. But I want to respect the general public's thought on some things, whether it's totally correct or not. It doesn't matter. I want to listen to it.

But the thoughts of smaller businesses with accessory sites, we were talking about those.

If you're, let's just say Deloitte, and you wanted a ceremony, I think we need a separate building to handle it To make it aesthetically pleasing all those things is fine but we need to make sure that that consideration is in this code and not wait a year to address it to be done I mean I think this can be done fairly quickly I got all the confidence in the world everybody wants to get this across the finish line and be done with it quickly But if we can look at some of those things and just give it a month that I think it just a fair quick there no reason to slam the gavel in I don think anybody watching this meeting thinking oh boy I better act tomorrow because I want to have a large data center in Gilbert Certainly there Murphy law but it very unlikely So I really do want to continue this, even for a month, so we can have a more thorough discussion about handling the concerns of businesses here that will want their own, not for public use, not for selling, but to handle a hospital, to handle things like that.

I think it's important that we have a thorough understanding of that. That's all I'm asking. I'm going to close the public hearing, and thank you for the presentation and bringing it to you.

it back to the council for discussion and or motion and I would I would tend to agree with council member Kuprowski let's be if we're going to postpone it we better be very specific of what we want the staff to do and that's what I want to hear in a motion if we're going to do that I'd rather see I mean if a month isn't long enough I mean we can go two months I mean I mean whatever staff feels appropriate I don't want to put too much on them at the same time.

So, you know, if it's a month or if it's two months, and I think we should be focusing more with our stakeholders in the chamber and talking with an expert like Councilmember Lyons suggested. Mayor Anderson, Vice Mayor of Council, if I may, just for internal deadlines to get things on the agenda, I just want to remind the Council that Because everything's published eight days in advance.

So if the council were to move to continue to November 17th, what that means for staff is they need to have their staff report by October 26th, which really gives them, you know, not much time, zero time. So I would recommend if the motion to continue is to look at December 15th, that would give about five weeks or six weeks of time to get stuff done, or otherwise you push it longer than that.

I want to make the motion that we push this to December 15th with specific directions to look at the chamber's concerns about on-site accessory dwellings, things that are not for public use, the smaller site and floor plan options that we've discussed, and see what we can do to mitigate problems and water use on those, especially potable water. I will second that. Before we vote on that, I will ask staff, do you know what we are asking of you? Kyle?

Mayor, yes, we have a pretty good handle on it. We will go back and watch this again to make sure. And if we don't and we have questions, we will make sure to reach out to council to clear up any confusion or questions that we do have. Okay, there's a motion on the floor and a second. Please vote. Motion carries 6-1. Councilmember Buckland dissenting. Thank you. And we will be coordinating with staff. Okay.

Let's move to item 43, Code of Gilbert, conduct hearing consideration and adoption of ordinance number 3005, amending the Code of Gilbert. The staff person has been working on this, and we have council members that were working on this also. Council member Kaprowski. Yes, Mayor, this initiative was led by council members Buckland, Lyons and I.

We brought this to a meeting a couple months ago and then discussed it during our meeting and then met with staff to identify opportunities to improve the efficiency and structure of our council meetings. These recommendations that are presented here today also respond to some feedback we recently heard from residents and stakeholders about meetings running excessively late and then we've experienced those ourselves.

So I just want to quickly summarize what we proposing what came out of those conversations and what we would like to move forward tonight We are proposing that our regular council meetings begin 30 minutes earlier at 6 p which would force our student of the month recognitions to move to 5.30 p.m. when those occur.

During our regular council meetings, the changes that we're proposing is that on the consent calendar, Like tonight we had over 30 items on our consent calendar and tonight we didn't have a lot to pull, but on other nights we've had several items be pulled and it would help staff significantly with their time.

If we had council members identify the items that they want to pull for separate discussion by noon, the day before the meeting, it would give us an idea of what needs to be pulled and what remaining consent calendar items can be moved and approved more quickly.

We are proposing to eliminate the routine presentations of the consent slides and replacing those with the funding transparency to identify the funding sources in the meeting agendas themselves so that residents can easily understand how projects and expenditures are funded. We also recognize that we want to make some changes to study sessions to allow more feedback from residents during those study sessions. And so we wanted to add public participation and public comment at study sessions.

And because of that unknown in time that that may take, we are proposing that study sessions be held on Mondays as needed, rather than immediately before regular council meetings where it would all bleed together and really create a very long evening without breaks for the council. This would move executive sessions right before council meetings as needed, but we can control and understand how long those take a little bit more.

So ultimately, with those changes, we believe that we can make our meetings more effective, predictable, and respect time of our residents, our staff, and ourselves while we conduct our business of the town. May I add one thing to that, please? Yes. What this also does is staff has to have a presentation available for everything on that consent calendar. If we get this to them by that day, that frees people not to have to do that and they only have to focus on the items that we want pulled.

And I think that will open up a lot of opportunity for staff to get other work done, take some of the load off of them. That was one of the reasons behind that. Chris. Mayor Anderson Council, if I can also add one thing. One other thing on the consent item it would do is if there was an item pulled from consent, You would then vote on consent and that consent item would be pushed after the public hearing. So it would be discussed at the same meeting, but just later in date.

The purpose of that is to allow the staff members that are not involved in that, they can go home and not have to stay through that. Mayor, point of privilege on that. Not just that purpose, but it also helps our residents. We tend to have a lot more engagement on the public hearing than we do on consent items, and so it allows, and it usually brings larger crowds, so it allows them to go home not at 11 o'clock at night after sitting listening to a bunch of stuff.

So it does serve both our public, more respective of their time, and our staff respective of their time. Councilmember Torgerson? I just want to make sure this still gives some clear the consent agenda, although it's replaced with some different things. I want to make sure that it's still presented in a way that the public sees it.

I don't want it to be something that's just buried because the public, they don't see it like if you looked at our consent agenda items online, it doesn't give the information that Mario gives us. And I think it's important that people get everything, that they understand everything.

And the other part of that is I do agree that it should be a policy that everything in advance for pulling it I get that because I the problematic child here I pull things because I want to make sure everybody understands But at the same time if there something last minute would there be a problem for somebody that really saw something Thank you for asking that question Councilman Torgeson One of the items that these proposed town code amendments make is that if there was an item that someone forgot to pull or somehow needed to be discussed and it wasn requested by that deadline we could still discuss it with a majority vote from the council Councilmember Buckley?

I just want to bring up, I had an issue with changing this time last time, and I still have the same issue. And the reason is a lot of people work. A lot of people, if they're working 10 hour shifts, they might not get off until six o'clock. And I don't like moving that from 630. 630 has worked for all these years and then to change that. And especially with people that are working four days a week, ten hours a day.

I don't want us to eliminate any resident that wants to be here, but maybe can't get here until 6.30, 6.45. They don't miss much if they're here at 645. But that's, you know, I have a definite issue with changing that. But otherwise, I think I'm probably okay with. And I think that's one of the reasons why it was only a half hour shift versus a full hour shift. There was an evaluation of the public meeting times for other agencies in the region. and the average time was closer to 5 p.m.

so we overall felt like making these changes would be beneficial to the people that we have seen at these meetings understanding that hopefully a half an hour isn't a barrier for people to come and and still speak at our meetings but we also don't We'll want them waiting here from that beginning of the meeting until midnight like we have in certain instances. Well, but also it's rare we have the midnight meetings.

Unfortunately, we've had two of them during this four years, but I'm not that concerned because sometimes, and that doesn't mean that's still going to cut it out. Instead, we might finish at 1130 instead of midnight. But so the long meetings, I don't think we can anticipate those. And they are few and far between. So I don't know. I still would rather see. And I'm assuming that you guys checked with other cities and stuff with the same number of residents and we're equal with what we are.

If I may, I can address that because I'm the one that did the research on that. I evaluated all of them, took Maricopa County Board of Supervisors out because they're 930. They're an anomaly in the morning. And it was, I think it was a 515 average start time. We also considered the fact that, same as you, we want to make sure our residents can show up.

And we have technology now that we didn't always have, and that is the ability to live stream while they're driving here to listen until they get here. But the other thing we're not talking about was even if we're not going until 11 o'clock at night, people sitting over there that work for these residents have been working since at least 7 a.m. And this is a pretty short meeting right now, and it's going on 14 hours for them. So any little thing that we can do to help shorten it helps.

Helps get them home, get them rest so they can come back the next day and perform with strong legs and shoulders. So there was a little more input into what went behind it. Yeah, I don't have, you know, an issue with shortening the time for the meeting. Just the starting, the beginning, and I know that's where you're trying to shorten it, but that's just that's where I am in that because I and as we all know, Gilbert is unique. We're different and our residents are different than most residents.

They're very active. They want to be here and I personally, I don't want to do anything that would keep them from being here, you know, just to make us be able to go home earlier. And I like what we're doing so that the staff can go home. I think that is a great idea. And, you know, rather than have them sit here and not know. And to bring that up, I actually I think when I was vice mayor, did my best to do exactly that, but it just didn't work.

And hopefully it will work better with the incoming council, because they're not used to doing it the way we were used to doing it. So anyway, that's just kind of my take on that. Thanks, Mayor. I want to commend the council members that worked on this. It solves the problem. I don't think we were there when you guys first were talking about it, but I think you guys spent a lot of time on it and I appreciate it. I like what you guys have. Councilmember Torgeson?

Councilmember Torgeson, My only concern, I wanted to understand the two-minute speaker limit, 20-minute time off that particular caveat. That would only apply to the new public comment period that we are adding to study sessions. So we're not making any adjustments to the regular council meetings, but because we're adding it to study sessions, we defined a different time period for the study sessions. Just wanted to confirm. I appreciate it. Well done. Thank you.

I move to approve the proposed town code amendments to sections 1-86, 1-91, and 1-94 and provide council concurrence with the modifications as presented in the packet. Second. It's been moved and seconded. Please vote. Motion carries 6-1 with councilmember Buckley dissenting. Thank you. Move on to administrative items. Councilmember Torgeson, boards and commissions. I just wanted to discuss this so people can hear each part of this and how we're changing the code of conduct for No, no, no.

We're talking about item 44, more year appointment to the redevelopment commission. Sorry, I'm looking at 45 right now. I jumped the gun. Fantastic. Show's a long day for me. Item 44 is regarding boards and commissions. I had to consider the appointment to the redevelopment commission of Clay Richardson and Darren Roberge as regular members with a term beginning November 1st, 2026 and ending October 31st, 2030.

Edward Chris Maroney as the alternate member beginning with term November 1st, 2026 and ending October 31st, 2027. Second? I'll second that. It's been moved and seconded. Please vote. Motion carries 7-0. Now we're on to item 45. Policy number 2023-03, consider approval of revisions to council policy number 2023-03 regarding the code of conduct. Thank you, Mayor. Earlier today, Councilmember-elect Bustle Biamme spoke about civility, and I appreciated that.

With civility sometimes comes rules, and you have to have rules in order to create civility or civilization, shall we say. We are considered a weak mayor council system, which means we don't run the town. Mario and the staff run this town and we're kind of like board members. And I think that it's important that council and council members elect understand what a board and a board member means. We're not elected to the U.S. Senate where we have full investigation powers.

We're elected as town council members, as a board, to oversee the employees that we oversee, mainly Mario.

So I have a problem with what's been happening lately, which is why I brought this forward forward and had council member Torgerson and Lyons make it better I have seen in the last couple of months some behaviors that are potentially creating a toxic environment And I have seen staff members leaving I heard rumblings of other leaving There are loss of hundreds if not more years of not only experience but absolutely expertise And I think something has to be done about it, which is why we brought this forward.

You know, we have council member elects that are wanting to tape record meetings. That's not transparency, it's intimidation. And it shouldn't happen. No council or no staff member should have to sit with a council member with a tape recorder in front of them with them drilling them on questions. Shouldn't be that way. We need to work as a team.

I have two council member elects that are going online that are making statements about our police department, our police chief, police administration, police themselves. There's one of them even asking people to send her emails about how the police are corrupt. That's not leadership. It's weakness. It's an impotency. And I'm sitting here today with the rest of the council and everyone in here. We're being protected by the SWAT team who is here right now.

And I respect them and I appreciate them for all the four years that I've been here, knowing they've got my back. Because these days you never know who may come in that door angry. Lord knows we have enough people angry about water. You never know. And they're better men than I am because I don't know that my reaction time would be fast if someone came in this room and I was calling them corrupt. They're better men than I am to protect me. I wouldn't call them corrupt to begin with.

But I commend them for being here and protecting us. And I commend the police department for what they do. And it sickens me when we have two council member elects who haven't even sat in a seat up here yet asking the public to help me prove that they're corrupt. It's just wrong. There's zero evidence and it should not be happening. I'm going to protect staff way past January because I believe we have the best staff anywhere. We have the leanest staff anywhere.

I have worked for corporations, companies, my own companies, and I have never seen a more dedicated staff in my life. In four years, I have never met a staff member who I feel was just doing their job. Never. And I went out with people in maintenance. I went out with all, you know, with a lot of different departments, and they throw their heart and soul into their job. And they are all absolute experts at what they do. And everything they do is tough.

And everything they do is like two times more than their counterparts in other cities. Because we don't have the money to staff appropriately. And I don't want to lose another staff member. So that's why we're looking for the ordinances that we want to bring forward. Chris, if I get these wrong, please let me know. Unless, Monty, you want to jump in. I'll mention the first one. No tape recording of any meetings with staff.

No tape recordings if you're a council member and you're with a resident somewhere, even off staff. Now, some people are going to say, well, Chuck, you're not really transparent. You don't want transparency. That's not transparency. It's intimidation. It's not transparency. You shouldn't throw a recorder in front of a staff member or a resident and say, let's talk. It's not transparency. It's intimidation. Monty, if you want to jump in, go ahead, buddy.

I just want to put a fine point on this, on something that happened to my family this evening.

A gentleman followed my son into his neighborhood in a gated community and accosted him or got in his face at his house in his driveway and explained to him that he hated politicians and started threatening him and had informed him that he had been watching and monitoring his house for quite a while and really liked it which he has a pregnant wife right now at home which kind of unnerved him a little bit And police are investigating this in another community in town But I have been followed in this community I moved because of some very uncomfortable situations going on around my house in this community And it a direct result of people saying things they shouldn say And this gentleman who confronted my son tonight said Hey I hate politicians My son's not a politician.

That happened right before we walked into this meeting. And it is that type of rhetoric where you accuse somebody of corruption when there is no evidence of corruption. You may not like how they're doing their business. You may not like the speed with it. But to leverage or to level an allegation like that without something to back it up allows an unhinged person like the gentleman that accosted my son tonight. to be able to do that.

And I think that creates an environment for some very bad things to happen. So I think these ground rules that we're looking at can help bring some stability back to this situation. So that's the period I want to put on this. Councilman Torquas? The unfortunate thing is that we have to have the discussion. There's one councilman-elect that's touting that he's responsible for shedding the town of an employee, which is awful, because people are people. People are human.

You don't know the effects you have on people. But I want to say something that nobody really talks about. People that leave the town of Gilbert, really, it tends not to really happen, but the ones that do are being headhunted because they're good at what they do. It's because they've got a reputation for, let's say, building Gilbert's credit rating or building their water portfolio or whatever it is that their particular expertise is. Headhunters aren't going after the average person.

They're not going after subpar employees. They're not going after corrupt people. Headhunters come and take good people, and those good people have a work environment that needs to be stable and needs to be respected. Disrespectful. Almost everybody in this room has worked for a boss that was terrible, couldn't wait to get out, couldn't pay you enough to stay, probably took a job somewhere else for less if you could because you had a terrible boss.

Disrespect of the people that helped build the very structure of this town, I'm not saying to be in awe of them. I'm saying to show common courtesy, And some people lack that common courtesy. These people, I like Chuck, have not met one person on the staff that I think is just clocking it. I may disagree with some of them on what they think or what they present or whatever, but there is not one human being that clocks it.

And in fact, I think the thing I'm going to miss most out of leaving council in January are some of the great people that I surround myself with here, Because it's inspiring to see people that love their work and care about a municipality and do it really kind of for no thanks. I was talking with Taylor and Monica at a meeting and it actually started to get a tear in my eye because I really recognize how different it is to be around people that love what they do.

And for them to be diminished, these people that just love it and aspire to be the best people they can, and really do work for less in Gilbert than other communities offer them, we do need to protect these people. We absolutely do. And what Monty said, my house has been vandalized five times. There's been a culture of hate that's grown in this community. It's been spawned by social media. It's an addiction. I've been vandalized five times. Think about that.

Your home, where you come home to isn't safe. And I don't know exactly who did it. I have my thoughts, but I don't care to share those because it's not fair. But when you've created that kind of culture and now you're bringing that culture into the very building that houses what's created the roads and the parks and everything else, And whether you want to call it a failed sewer system or finally some people stepped up and decided we needed to fix it, it doesn't matter.

These are the people that are executing the needs of this town. And I just cannot walk away from this, allowing people that I have grown to have an immense amount of respect for to be brutalized, to be diminished, to be spoken poorly to. I have many employees.

And you know what Even the bad ones I don talk to like that They find a way to go somewhere else at some point but I don really have bad ones because I try to be kind to them I try to encourage them I definitely don come in and say you corrupt when I think they stealing signs out of the back door It just important that we do this It important that we recognize we get a pretty good deal out of our staff and we do have a sparsely staffed community And personally, I mean, I love that.

I know that it's a weakness to some people, but I love the fact that they do more with less. And the people that do more with less should be cherished. They shouldn't be insulted. And that's why anything we do here I support, because the future of this town depends on some institutional knowledge. And if it blows out of here too fast, we have none. And I believe Chris were asking for what a true weak mayor council system requires. Am I correct? Would you be able to read the changes please?

Mayor Anderson, vice mayor of council. Are you looking at the changes vice mayor on the recording or just the limiting contact? Yeah, so what's being proposed on the first item, and this is on the code of ethics, so it's not a council ordinance, right, it's a council policy. The first item would be to add a new section to section two elected and appointed public officials' contact with each other, and it's recording of officials, staff, and others.

And what it says is, A council member or member of a board commission committee or task force shall not make an audio or video recording of another council member, another member of a board commission or committee, town employee, or any other person while that person is acting in an official capacity, unless every person present at the time of the recording has given prior consent.

The prohibition would not apply to the official recording of a public meeting, like this one, made or authorized by the town for purposes of town records, minutes, or compliance with the open meeting law, nor does it limit the right of the public to otherwise record a public meeting. For example, someone standing here recording this meeting, that would be permissible. That's the first section on recording.

The next section proposed change would apply to section 3, elected and appointed public officials conduct with town staff. And so to your question, Vice Mayor, the way our code is set up, this is, and I'm going to pull up, if you give me a second, let me just pull up the town code, the relevant provision. Let me just find it real quick. Give me one second. I wanted to cite the town code, which is not being modified by this, but it's town code, I believe it's section 144.

The council should act through the manager. And so what that says is, and this is again the town code that's not being modified, except for the purpose of inquiry, the council and its members shall deal with the town employee, with town employees solely through the manager and neither the council nor any member thereof shall give orders to any subordinate of the manager. And so that's right. The code, that's what the council operates under.

This is the code of ethics, which gives more guidance, but that's the general code. General principle, and that's the, I believe, the intent of what's being proposed here. And so that section, let me get back to that. What's being proposed is there is an existing section in the code of ethics, the code of conduct, that talks about, expounds more on that section that I just read in the town code. And what would be added would be some provisions on section two.

It's limiting contact to specific town staff. And what it says is questions of town staff, and a request for additional background information. This is coming from the council. Shall be directed to the town manager, the town clerk, or the town attorney. The three appointed employees of the council. What it did say before would also added assistant town managers and department heads.

That would be just shortened right to the three appointed employees that you have outside of of course Judge Cutchin. And then it's also adding some new language that says public Public officials shall limit unsolicited or uninvited contact with town staff, requests for information assistance, or a meeting shall be directed through the town manager who shall determine the appropriate staff response.

Public officials shall not initiate unsolicited or uninvited contact with town staff members outside of those listed above. And the last section here would be a public official who wishes to raise a matter with a specific staff member or department shall first coordinate the request through the town manager.

So I can't walk into someone in the water department, give them a 10-page thing saying I need answers for all these kinds of things without going through Mario when I can't demand a meeting with them without going through Mario. Is that correct? That's what the code of conduct would require, yes. Okay, thank you. And just the final section, and there's an existing section that's been there that says do not attend meetings with town staff unless requested.

What's been in the code, even if a public official does not say anything, a public official's presence in a staff meeting may imply support, show partiality, intimidate staff, and hamper staff's ability to do their job objectively. That's been in the code. What's being proposed to be added is this additional portion that says, Public officials shall not demand expect or request a meeting with town staff unless the meeting is initiated or invited by the town manager or the authorized staff.

A public official who wishes to discuss a matter with staff shall direct the request to the manager. So I can't walk by a meeting upstairs, you know, and see staff in there and I can't just walk in and sit down and join the meeting. Correct. And that's been what's been in the code of conduct is that and what's being added is just saying, If you want to have a meeting with staff, just go through the town manager. Town manager will figure out who needs to be there. Okay. Thank you, Chris.

Any other comments? I'll entertain a motion. I'll put a motion to approve policy number 2023-3. Item 45. It's been moved and seconded to approve policy revisions to number 202303. Please vote. Motion carries 7-0. Thank you for the work on that. That was very helpful. Um, I'm 46 was taken off the agenda. Future meetings. You can read those at your leisure communications report from the town manager.

Thank you mayor I do have a report uh to share on some recent accomplishments of staff This is one of the favorite aspects of my job is sharing how well our teams are doing and the great work uh that that is going on by the town staff So I start with our economic development team who has been recognized as the 2026 Golden Prospector Award in a special event category for their work on the harvest in the heritage district.

It's a great event and the Arizona Association of Economic Development recognizes that excellence and recognized them with the Golden Prospector Award for 2026. So So great accomplishment by the economic development team. I also want to recognize Trinity Donovan, who is the town's advocacy director, who will receive the Tracy Washington Spirit Award for her outstanding services as a CEN's CEO for 16 years before coming to work for the town.

Her dedication to serving the needs of our community throughout her career is deeply appreciated. We love having Trinity on board and want to spend some time congratulating her and look forward to being with her as she receives that award very soon. We also want to recognize our solid waste and recycling team for the work that they've done. The Arizona Solid Waste Association of North America has named Gilbert as the municipality of the year for its glass recycling program.

This award recognizes the solid waste team's work in waste diversion, recycling, cost efficiency, and rate stabilization through the glass recycling program. The program has resulted in more than 545 tons of glass being recycled and includes partnerships in collaboration with our Parks and Recreation Department and the Office of Communications and Engagement. So a true team effort in winning this award for municipality of the year from the Arizona Solid Waste Association of North America.

And finally, I want to recognize our Parks and Recreation team for the second consecutive year. We're a national gold medal award finalist in 2026. So it also happened last year in 2025. This is by the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration. And them being a national gold medal finalist is a very significant accomplishment from that team. And we are very proud of the parks team and all the work that they do to get to that level. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Reports from Council.

Vice Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. I'm ready for our Parks and Rec report from our Freestone Recreation Center. Boo Bash. Yes, it's a Boo Bash. Come show off your costumes at Freestone Recreation Center's Boo Bash. Engage in arts and crafts, carnival fun, inflatables, and rock out with a DJ. Stop by and say hi to your local police officers. Gilbert Police Department will be passing out And then we also have Growing Up Gilbert in Real Life Teen Fishing Clinic Oh, that sounds cool.

The town of Gilbert is inviting teens to learn how to fish at the preparing preserve. This clinic will provide fundamental skills needed for a day of fishing, from assembling a fishing pole to reeling in the best catch of the day. Participants will be provided with a fishing pole, bait, The council, Bait, and the town of Gilbert staff ready to get them hooked on a new hobby. That's also February, October, February, Friday, October 23rd at the Riparian Park from 5 to 7 p.m.

And that's what's going on in Parks and Rec. Councilmember Buckland. Thank you, Mayor. I can't emulate that enthusiasm, but well done, Chuck. I was Saturday and thank you to council member O.D. Harris over in Chandler. They asked me to attend the mental health month walk and just support those meeting for improved health and wellness.

So at that event I was really fortunate to meet some actual business leaders in Gilbert and found out that some of our businesses are rallying doing some really cool things for our children. So Hayden Janus, the general operations manager over at the main event, let me know that and it's being advertised on the Chamber's website where you can find more information. But a safe, fun event on the 30th from I think 6 to 9. They've already got 14 businesses lined up on a trunk or treat.

They're wanting 28 to come out, love on our kids, give them a safe place, trunk or treat. And businesses collaborating, working together, and everybody just loving on each other. So I wanted to shout that out. I think it's wonderful that our business community is joining hands to take care of our children. And thank you to Hayden for organizing that. Council member Kapurowski. Well it is fall and event season here in Gilbert. I just want to highlight the Gilbert Symphony Orchestra.

We had a concert a couple weeks ago but we have another one coming up on Sunday, November 1st at 3 p.m. at Haley Center for the Performing Arts and the theme for the November 1st concert is an American song song book featuring the Gilbert Symphony Chorus. So it should be a real treat with a Gilbert Symphony chorus joining in and a variety of music in their program. And then you can also mark your calendar for Monday, February 15th, where it's going to be at 7 p.m.

and it's going to be music from video games. So it'll be interesting to see how that one turns out. Thank you. Council member Lyons Let get our slides up here We got a couple things for the Veterans Advisory Board T are going on sale right now You can see the design up here This is for America 250 We did something a little bit unique. We've got some really good positive feedback. So scan the barcode there. They're available now. We encourage you to get a hold of them and support the VAP.

Coming up, We have the banners that are going back up for the Veterans Day period of time, and we would encourage everybody to take a look at that and go see the veterans that we have that are being honored in our community. These are folks with ties to our community, and it's a really good deal. The display period will be on Veterans Day, so I encourage you guys to go down and take a look at that. And finally, we have the Veterans Day celebration, November 11th.

There will be a car show at 3 p.m. and then a ceremony beginning at 5 at the Gilbert Water Tower. I would encourage everybody to come out and support our veterans. Thank you. Councilmember Torres. I just want to say, Young, as long as you're involved with that symphony, I will continue to support it. The report from the mayor, I have a couple of slides also. I'll highlight a couple of things. First, the 17th annual multi-faith gratitude gathering will take place Sunday, November 1st at 7 p.m.

at Life Community Church. This year's theme is Grateful for 250 Years of Faith and Freedom. Doors open at 6.30 and the program will be followed by cookies. and a community service project. Secondly, on Thursday, November 5th, 4RTown Gilbert will host its quarterly breakfast at the Gilbert Community Center focused on supporting foster families and youth in Gilbert. We'd like to thank our 4RTown Gilbert, everybody that lends assistance with that organization.

Thank you so much for what you do and their strength to the community. Lastly, thank you for the card and thoughts on my birthday. Was it my birthday? 29th. Thank you so much. Is there anything else? If not, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. We are adjourned. Thank you.