Bergman Rezoning Approved Unanimously Amid Neighbor Conflict; Council Tasked with Fire-Code and Drainage Reviews

We will be [clears throat] led by Councilman Solar and the pledge by Councilman Heck. Our Father who art in heaven, we ask thee to bless this meeting and endow us with thy spirit. May all our actions and decisions be guided by thy hand that we may be that we may be fair and just to all. Bless the council, our police, fire, emergency medical, military, and city employees, and all of our citizens citizens. We ask that in thy name. Amen. Amen.

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, with liberty and justice for all. Roll call. Mayor Wilson. Here. Vice Mayor Schroeder. Present. Council member Cross. Here. Council member Heck. Here. Council member Johnson. Here. Council member Nesser. Present. Council member Solar. Here. You have a quorum, Your Honor. Thank you. Consent agenda.

As a reminder, all items under consent agenda will be approved in one motion. If a council member wishes to remove an item for further discussion, the request will be made prior to approving consent agenda and will be moved to new business. Do I have a motion for the consent agenda? Mayor. Yes. the consent agenda be accept accepted as presented. Second. Moved and seconded. Roll call. Council member Nesser. Yes. Council member Johnson. Yes. Council member Cross. Yes. Council member Heck. Yes.

Council member Solar. Yes. Vice Mayor Schroeder. Yes. Mayor Wilson. Yes. Motion passes unanimously. Presentations and awards presentation proclamation. Matt. Thank you, Mayor and council members. We have Arizona Water Company here with us tonight to provide a presentation about their upcoming rate case. We'll invite Fred up to take the presentation or whoever else is coming up. Come on up. Go ahead and introduce yourself and I'll pull the presentation up.

Good evening, Mayor Wilson and Vice Mayor Schroder and councilors. Uh my name is Nick Low. I'm the Vice President of Rates and Revenues for Arizona Water Company. Uh on behalf of the Arizona Water Company, I'm here today to provide you an update of our recently filed rate case. With me today is the company's president, Fred Schneider, and a few other members of our executive team and our local Apache Junction division leadership as well. So, before [snorts] Yeah, just click it. Okay. Thank you.

So, before getting to the details of the pending rate case I want to talk to you about today, I would like to provide some background on the company, our Apache Junction water system, and the general rate case process in front of the Arizona Corporation Commission. So, Arizona Water Company or AWC just celebrated its 70th anniversary last year. And our Apache Junction water system's having serving the communities for more than 60 years since 1962.

Our Apache Junction water system currently has approximately about 23,000 customer connections, of which about 8,000 are within the city limit, and serving about 25,000 Apache Junction residents. Our current water rates in the Apache Junction area remain effective on July 1st of 2024. The rates were authorized by the Arizona Corporation Commission or the ACC based on historic data from 2022.

Under the ACC regulation, our rates are used to recover utility plant or our general uh infrastructure investment already placing service at the time when the rates were approved, and it does not fund any new constructions. That's why we're here today to to give you the the foundation of why we need to file the rate case and why we need to increase the rates.

So, I also want to talk about just generally the rate case process in front of the Arizona Corporation Commission because it's a little bit different from how the rates is being set, for instance, like, you know, the Patsch Junction Water District. So, once the rate application is filed with the ACC, it will be reviewed by the ACC string staff of accounting, engineering, and legal professionals.

In addition, there's another state agency called the Residential Utility Consumer Office, RUCO, that also involved in the rate case as an intervener. So, the RUCO was just a little bit introduction on RUCO. So, RUCO was established by the Arizona Legislature back in 1983 to represent the interest of residential utility ratepayers in front of the ACC for any rate-related proceedings involve involve utilities.

So, both the ACC staff and the RUCO, they will review our rate application, and at the at the end of the review, they will issue their respective recommendations of our rate case, and in in in in the format of written testimony and verbal testimony. As part of the rate case process, the ACC will also be hosting some public comment sessions for customers or any interested parties to provide their inputs or opinions on the rate case.

So, currently, those dates are still being set by the administrative law judge assigned to the case. So, once those dates are set, we will send customer notices to our customers to informing them about those upcoming public meeting dates. So, I also put together a rate case timeline to better better illustrate the the process. So, the ACC sets rates, like I mentioned earlier, based on historic data or what they call the historic test year. So, in this case, we're using the data from 2025.

We filed the case We filed the case with the ACC on April 3rd of 2026. So, a little over 2 months ago. And that started the year-long process with the with with the ACC. So, currently, we're in the discovery period, as you can see in the purple in the purple boxes here. So, this is This is the period that will last probably through the end of the end of this year.

And this is where, you know, the the commission staff and the RUCO, they will ask us a lot of questions, data requests, and we'll provide responses, you know, through a large volume of operational data, accounting details, invoices, engineering reports to support our rate application. So, after the review, and the ACC staff and the RUCO will complete their you know, complete their review process and issue their respective recommendation, probably towards the end of this year.

And once that's done, we'll get into uh we'll get into a hearing. The hearing will be conducted in front in front of the administrative law judge I mentioned earlier that's being assigned to the case. And the hearing is probably expected to start, you know, in the first quarter of 2027. So, once the hearing is done, the administrative law judge will actually issue, you know, her recommended opinion order to the commission to consider.

So, basically, even though we filed the rate case now, the rates will not be effective, the new rates will not be effective until it's being finally approved by the commission, and that's going to be expected in the second quarter of 2027, a year from now. So, one of the things I really want to talk to about today is, you know, really the factors that causing the rate increase, or you know, the question, why do we need to file this rate case in front of the commission?

So, as I said earlier, the current rates were based on 2022 costs. And and it's currently not adequate enough for Arizona Water to recover its cost to serve the customers in today's cost environment. We have made substantial capital investments since 2022, including replacing aging infrastructure, constructing additional treatment facilities, and implementing a new customer information system, and those investments were not reflecting our current rates as of today.

Similar to other, you know, water providers in the state, including the Apache Junction Water District, Arizona Water have also has also experienced increases in operating costs, including insurance, labor, vehicle, electric bills, and chemical expenses. So, this rate case will help us to align our rates with those capital investments I mentioned, together with the increased operating costs. So, I do want to talk about what does that mean to our customers?

So, currently, for what we call typical residential customers, a customer using 5/8 inch meter with a medium monthly usage of 3,000 gallons, currently, the customer pays about $41.32. With our proposed rates, the same customer you we with the same usage will will end up with a bill of $51.30. It's a less than $10 increase. But we do understand the increase of increases and you know, we do want to help customers in need.

Currently, we do have a we do have a customer bill assistance program that basically provide a $10 monthly discount to customer qualified customer based on low income or active military members. So what we're trying to doing this rate case like I said we want to help customers in need. We requested the commission to to allow us to continue this program and also to increase the the bill discount with their approval.

And you know, one of the things I I also want to highlight is you know, like I said we made a very significant capital investment over the past few years and I do want to invite our you know, division leadership to come here to talk to you about some of the projects we've done over the past few years. Mayor Wilson, council members, James Wilson, the assistant general manager for the Apache Junction system.

And I just wanted to highlight a couple of projects that we've constructed either within the city of Apache Junction or that directly affect the customers here. I kind of want to start off with our new warehouse and equipment storage canopy. 6,000 square foot. Prior to having this these facilities we kind of had equipment and materials stored at multiple sites across the city.

I am having this new facility really helps us increase our operational efficiency and response times when there's an emergency main break or something like that. I am I am along that with that there's a total of 15 wells and well pumps and booster pumps that we've had to replace. I again just to maintain our system reliability. Um, and then we've also got a tank maintenance program, kind of the same thing.

Uh, keeping our tanks maintained basically uh, reduces the need to perform emergency repairs or reduces that cost. Uh, a couple sites here I kind of want to point out uh, that picture in the upper left corner is a temporary tank that the company purchased. This is at our Baseline uh, site just north of Baseline off of east of Ironwood. Um, it's a single tank site, that large reservoir there on the bottom photo.

Um, but uh, purchasing and constructing this temporary tank allows us to take that large tank offline, do the necessary maintenance, and then we can repurpose that tank as it's a bolted tank. We can move it to our other sites and already have plans to go to our Oasis site next, which is the other main facility that provide provides water to Apache Junction.

Um, and then last but not least, you know, there's various uh, main replacements that we've done uh, throughout Apache Junction and and uh, Gold Canyon area, but um, wanted to focus on a couple that you guys are probably most familiar with. The photo on the left, um, I'm sorry. The photo on the left is the main break that the you and I sat on out here in front of the uh, City Hall, okay. City Hall or town hall here about a year ago.

And then uh, the photo on the bottom right is the Delaware uh, drainage and road improvement project that you guys did that we had to relocate a couple of our mains to accommodate. Um, and that's pretty much it from my part. Unless you have any questions [snorts] or Thank you. No questions. Yeah. I got a question. Oh, okay. Do you have plans to improve any of your underground and and service supplies for the rural parts of of Apache Junction?

Um yes, we do have a sub program that whereby we go through every year and replace mains in different parts of the of our system. Right now, we're kind of focusing mostly on some galvanized steel mains that are up in the sort of northeast part of our system. Um I think it's just outside the city, but it it all works together. Yeah. And do you have plans to put any fire hydrants in? Um we do. Um if if we ever request or if we see a need in that area um and the system will support it.

So, like in this case, we're going from um 2-in mains to 6-in mains. So, yeah, we are looking at uh putting hydrants The one I'm thinking of right now is on Hidalgo. That's what we've been looking at and we would be putting a hydrant in there. Hidalgo's not in the city. a little too far north. Yeah. I mean, like there's there's a lot of areas Mhm. in in the rural part in our horse community that do not have fire hydrants reasonably spaced. Mhm. It'd be nice to get some.

When whenever we make an improvement, we do we do look at that adding fire hydrants. There [snorts] you are. Thank you. So, this is my last slide, you know. So, some of the investments I mentioned, you know, those infrastructure within the community, but we're also trying to, you know, improve our, you know, customer service to our customers. So, that's why we we have, you know, invested in this new customer information system. It actually went live, you know, a little over 2 months ago.

It was April 6th of this year. So, this is a system that was used to replace uh our previous customer system that has been purchased by the company back in the the 1980s.

So, we have we've been using the the the old system for quite some time, and this new system is used to really to to keep pace with the growing customer needs and and and you know, and their evolving needs as well, because, you know, nowadays customers are expecting something that's a little bit different from what's in the past. They want more things to be done, you know, kind of a self-service, you know, online. So, that's what this new service will provide.

But, we're also trying to balance, you know, this and our traditional values of serving our customers in the communities. So, we're not, you know, we're probably one of the very few utilities that's doing Arizona maintains a customer walk-in centers in all of the community we serve. We still have have our customer service centers here in Apache Junction where customers can walk in and talk to our customer service representatives, pay a bill, or get questions answered.

So, that's kind of approach. We want to, you know, want to improve our customers' experience while maintaining the experience or, you know, the service they love, because we do have a lot of customers who still prefer to walk in and just, you know, to have that in-person experience. So, that concludes my presentation and I'm I'm available to Yes. answer any questions. Um, could you flip back to your timeline of the process for me real quick? Yes. It's near the front. How do I go back?

I'll do this. Yeah, that one. So, you would talked about that there would be the customers would get a notification for public hearings. That's right. Where in this time frame would I be seeing those? The customer notice. Or the one where you they could you said they'd be have some public meetings. Oh, yes. Where would those be on here? So, there there will be few dates. So, there will be some dates around here in 2026.

So, because those dates hasn't been set by the ALJs, I cannot give you the exact date. Yeah. What I'm trying to find out is are they going to be before the final review? For sure. So, there will be several before the final review. There will be one actually before the hearing starts. So, probably like I said, you know, towards the end of this year in 2026. And also at the beginning of the hearing, the administrative law judge will also have another session to do public comments.

And then when the commission finally get to vote on the final result of the rate case in second quarter of 2027, they will have another chance for public to make comments. So, and also this year depends on what the the administrative law judge will decide. So, sometimes they have one or multiple depends on the the number of customers we're covering. So, just to make sure, you know, all the customers will be able to, you know, to to find the time to make the make make the comments.

They will try to do one in the morning just for the general public. And then for people who have to work during the day, so they normally have another session in the evening. So, but that's up to the judge to decide. Thank you. Yeah. I I have one question, too. Okay. You have a 6-in line, and this might be more for you. 6-in line that runs up just east of Winchester up north. The basically the city line.

Uh but you can't hook a fire hydrant up to it cuz it's too small of a line from what I understand. Do you have any plans of ever updating that pipe to a 12-in pipe or Um outside of our um micro projects where we're looking at aging infrastructure and replacing that. Um it's usually it's predominantly driven by development.

So, if the development were to come in there that needed a higher flow rate, they'd be responsible for making making whatever upgrades were necessary to meet that fire flow requirement. Okay. We just want fire hydrants out there if we do have fires out there, a tanker truck runs out of water really quick. Thank you. Any other questions? Thank you. [clears throat] Matt, do you have anything else? Not about this, no. Okay.

Um [clears throat] regional inter-government meetings and updates from the council. Anyone have anything they want to present? Well, okay. I'm going to do a quick little things in the aspect of that. I had attended two meetings today. And the first one was the Superstition Regional Public Lands Managers uh group. Um and uh we had the Arizona Department of Forestry give a presentation to us.

Um and they mainly were emphasizing the fact of uh you know, how they I would say some of the cities uh to include Apache Junction have been called a tree city and what it takes to become a tree city. And uh Apache Junction's been uh classified as a tree city for uh a few years now. And uh then we had the presentation that was given by Liz as well as uh the dark sky initiative uh we have here in Apache Junction.

And what they did and how they were able to acquire the dark sky uh classification for it. The National Forest for Tonto um they had talk through in the aspects of the uh OHV permits that they're requiring now for uh some of the areas that you're in. And uh they went into effect in January of 2025. And how the funds that are from that have really helped them out in bringing on more staff to help in the aspects of doing some of the work.

There was a huge cutback on employees and they lost a lot of people because of the cutbacks and they were able to replace several of them and been able to move forward in doing that.

And the historic state historic preservation they went [clears throat] through and talked through some of the things and the aspects of what's going on and when you find an artifact and everything and of course I have to raise my hand that I did pick up one that was illegally and I kept it for a while and then brought it back to the area and redisposed of it in the same area.

And it's something that they're they're trying to you know make people aware of the programs and to make sure that we're properly preserving history. And then the final one on that one was the American 250 celebration for Pinal County. You go on Pinal County's website and would type in the 250 in the aspect on it it will come out and it will list over the entire county of what the areas are you know having a an event in the the dates that they're having it and everything.

So it's something that they're using that to help also publicize everything. And of course we have ours in here in Apache Junction as well. And you can go to our website and get that as well. But, uh Pinal County is uh got one as well. And uh if you want to do a little traveling in Pinal County, there's a lot of places that are having the celebrations. Then this morning, early this morning, I was at the Mesa Gateway Gateway uh board meeting.

And uh make a long story short, we had a short meeting. And uh where we ended up uh electing the new uh positions in the board. And uh guess what? I'm now the secretary of the board. So, as long as they don't ask me to take notes, that's fine. Okay. Bring everyone up to date what's going on around us. Uh city manager's report, Matt. Thank you, Mayor and city council. Um just a couple items I want to note tonight. One, uh you'll see noted here. This is just a screen grab from a website.

Just yesterday, Fitch Ratings posted our um annual affirmation of our bond rating. Um they affirmed that the city of Apache Junction has a double A credit rating with a stable outlook for the future. So, this is great news. Um it's one of the highest ratings available to municipalities. In their report, Fitch cited our strong financial position, ample reserves, stable revenue base, and continued population growth uh as our great strength.

They also noted strong debt service coverage and expect the city to maintain solid operating performance moving forward. So, why does this really matter to residents? Uh strong credit rating for us means that when we do, if we ever take out debt for city infrastructure or buildings, we get better interest rates on that debt. So, it shows that we can pay off our debts if and when we choose to use that method of financing.

Um as you recall, the first time we we this rating was for our pension obligation bond, which we're still paying off. And so each year we're required by Fitch to re-up this. They work with staff, ask for a lot of information, a lot of questions, and we get it send it all back and they they make this determination. So we're very excited that we got this affirmation again from Fitch Ratings. Next, um you all should have gotten an invitation to this yesterday from our library.

Um our great library is coming up on 40 years at their Idaho location. Um they're calling it our uh let's see, where's the name of it on there? Our big 40 on Idaho. Uh and so this is an exciting opportunity to celebrate this great asset. We all know and love our library and their staff. They do great job. And so I know it's a little early, but I wanted to get this out in the public mind and uh and they're uh save the dates so they can join us to celebrate this this great accomplishment.

And we'll of course do more reminders as we get closer to that date. And then related to America 250, Mayor, as you mentioned, um I I wanted to share this. We just got these We did several of these America 250 flags in our downtown road street lights. Um you'll see the American flag ones up for this time of year, Memorial Day and July 4th, but we also added some American 250 signs just to to add to that celebration this year.

And as the mayor said, if you just type in Apache Junction America 250, it'll show up on Google or whatever your search engine is and take you right to our our site to show you what activities are going on. So with that, that concludes my report. Thank you. [clears throat] Public hearings, presentation discussion and public hearing and consideration of ordinance number 1576. Hudson. Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, City Council. My name is Hudson Meyer.

I am an associate planner with the Development Services Department, and I'll be presenting the facts for case P-26-6-PZ, which is a proposed rezoning of approximately 1 and 1/4 gross acres located at 275 South Cactus Road, rezoning from RS-10M to RSGR. This property is currently zoned RS-10M, medium-density single-family detached residential. To the north, there are three RS-10M properties. Same thing to the south.

To the east, there is Weaver's Needle RV Resort, zoned RVP, recreational vehicle park. And to the west, there are more RS-10M single-family homes, as well as RSGR properties. This is a site plan of the property currently. The only change on here that will require any permitting is the shipping container proposed in the southeast corner of the property. The applicant has complied with all public notification requirements, including a sign posting, mail notification, and newspaper ad.

A neighborhood meeting for the case was held at the Apache Junction Multigeneration Center on Thursday, January 29th, 2026. 10 neighbors attended in total to discuss the proposed rezoning and how the neighbor of the prop- na- nature of the property would change under the new zoning. Staff has received comment via email from five residents in total, three in support and two opposed to the rezoning.

Two members of the public appeared at the Planning and Zoning Commission public hearing and spoke in support of the proposal. And additionally, staff has received a follow-up from one of the objectors, noting that their concerns were addressed by the Planning and Zoning Commission, and they no longer object to this rezoning. Staff recommends the approval of that the proposed rezoning brings the zoning of the property more in line with that of similar parcels in the area.

On May 12th, 2026, the Planning and Zoning Commission evaluated the proposal and voted 6-0 to forward P-26-6-PZ to the Apache Junction City Council with a recommendation of approval subject to the conditions found in the staff report.

At City Council work session on June 1st, 2026, the Council reviewed the case information and held discussion on the nature of the property's use as well as the public's concern about potential commercial activity at the property in addition to the potential re-inclusion of the previously removed condition of approval two. And now the applicant Kimberly Bergman is going to come up and speak. Hello.

Mayor Wilson, Vice Mayor Schroeder, other Council members, city employees, and I basically went through I do appreciate your time and consideration for this. So, I've had a lot of time for preparation for all of this. I've as Hudson indicated, I've done the letters, the notes, the maps, and everything. I do want to clarify some things as far as the whole project um rezoning because there's some um misinformation or misunderstanding, I'm not sure.

Um this complaint that we received, there was one complaint, one only, it was about the Conex container. I'm not quite sure where it veered off the track so much onto a business related issue, but it has. Um the Conex container, this was going back to 8 5 24. Just to clarify because there was some question the last time I was here when this started. It actually started 2 weeks after we moved onto the property.

Um we had not we'd met all the neighbors essentially and we didn't seem to have any issues with anybody really, but then my husband went on vacation and I went back home and there was a letter in the mailbox. So that's kind of where we started. Um when initially the first the first and only complaint came in from the the I don't know how to I don't know how to address that the plaintiffs I guess, I'm not sure.

Um they Kimberly Wilson was my point of contact in code compliance and she was very helpful. Um she did at that time tell tell me that um they questioned if we were running a business. I'm not sure why they would have thought that. We were moving in on the property. There was nothing really going on other than moving in. Um but she actually had them or they had her verify where our business address is, where our license is, where our bond is, everything. We live at 1860 North Thunderbird Drive.

That's where all of our business related things are. However, there are a few things that have been stored on the property that are business related somewhat. Partly because there's shade there for my husband to work in if he has to, you know, his tools or whatever. And also that um it's funny you mentioned the tree thing because the piece of property that we live on, we're very fortunate. There's probably I don't know, 60 to 75 trees on the property that we live on off of TP.

And so and rather than to rip out all the trees, we put a shade structure in the connex container over at cactus. So when initially this was this whole thing went down, we immediately called planning and zoning and met with one of the I don't know what the term is, but we met with Nick Leftwich. And so, um, it was determined that our best route would be to have it rezoned and we met all the parameters. And, um, so we kind of started on that process. And, um, kind of went from there.

He did at that time tell us that we were maxed out, um, on the property as far as putting anything else on it. And even the smallest shed, never mind a garage or anything. Um, we would have So, the rezoning was the only way to go. Um, so I when I went through the meeting, you know, line kind of like person by person, so if I'm I'm kind of looking around, but I know that I've made a list of some things that people had specific questions on. Um, it's been a sort of I'm not quite sure.

I mean, I guess everybody's perception of things is different, but there seems to be some misinformation about there's trucks coming and going all the time and the the uh the um forklift is running all the time. That That's actually just not true. So, if you are sensitive to noise, then that may be any truck that drives onto the property has been a problem, to be honest with you. I mean, we drive three of the five vehicles that my family drive are all diesel.

So, anytime we pull onto that property, they think it's noisy. And we're just driving in like on a regular day to see our our kids, our grandkids, pick up something at the house, drop something off, or whatever it is. Um, that was the 12:24 was the last time that we had any material dropped off. And that was basically for a weather or shade related thing. We don't have any place to store things that aren't are covered where we live. On Cactus, we built a small shade structure.

Everything is underneath the straight shade structure. It is out of sight 90% of the time 99% of the time, actually. Um the material that's used is actually um it's not it's in a pallet. It's a 4x4 pallet. We're not talking about sheets of drywall. We're not talking about pallets of, you know, drywall mud or whatever. It's a pallet. It's 4x4. It is not flammable. And it then the containers are metal. So, as far as a fire hazard, that's it's minimal at best.

Um the material that we use is not sold to anyone else. My husband is a drywall contractor. He leaves the house to go to work just like all of you do. He drives someplace, works, and then goes home. It's as simple as that. There's nothing sold there, made there, bought there, none of it. So, I'm not quite sure why they I guess just that when we moved in, I mean, it was kind of noisy. It was. There was we were moving in the kids and everything.

So, I knew that from the previous people the previous owners had kind of intimated to us that there was a some issues with them. About a side-by-side noise thing that they were So, I we kind of figured maybe that might be a an issue. I didn't think it would be 2 weeks after we moved in. I'd never met these people until the neighborhood meeting.

So, if they would have come over to us all the other neighbors that many of whom have spoken on our behalf have not indicated that there's been any problem. We're not running a business. We have business things. Might We have a business. I'm the majority owner of Drywall Texture Specialists Incorporated. My husband is the other owner. There are one other employee occasionally. There are not employees all over the place. So, do we have friends there in the trades? Absolutely.

Do they come to our property? Absolutely. So, it's up to interpretation for somebody else who's not in the trades or doesn't know anything about building. You know, you're in a pair of jeans and a safety shirt. Does that mean you're working? I see people at the Ranch Market gentlemen in safety shirts. They're older. They're clearly not in the trades. Still wearing safety shirts. So, as far as the fire department, they did not support or deny it. Um and so, I actually went back through the notes.

And I also spoke to several people and the buildings are metal. And the materials that are stored inside of there, we have some Christmas decorations, some tools, some business records. That's it. I mean, there's really nothing else there. So, they're not flint The drywall material is not flammable, by the way. And I um Let's see. All righty. And you're indeed correct. I heard you mention about a fire hydrant. So, there is not a fire hydrant.

However, um there are two hoses that are relatively close to the existing Conex container and the house. They would have no problem getting onto the property. There is the easement. Never been an issue about the easement being public. Have we ever ever have we discussed that not being public? Um but the fire hydrant we don't have.

However, [laughter] within my own personal my family's personal experience, we did have a fire hydrant at the previous residence we had in Auwahi Juki, right across the street. And when our house caught fire at 3:00 in the morning, then we discovered the fire hydrant didn't work. And we stood in the street and watched our house burn to the ground along with our neighbor's house. And the caveat to it is if it's one another one in uh close proximity, a fire is a crazy thing.

It you can you can think it's going to be, but all you can do is try with the hoses and hope for the best. Um Okay, so I my uh I Mayor Vice Mayor Schroeder, I I'm sorry if I addressed you guys incorrectly, by the way. I've never done this before. Um we are definitely maxed out at the square footage on this lot um for RSM-10. Um that was confirmed with the planning and zoning when it before I even started this. This is what started it actually. Um we don't have a garage on the property.

We have a small workshop. I don't know if any of you have driven by the property or have seen it. But there is a small workshop. The previous owner was a woodworker and he um had all his tools in there. There's another shed, but there is no existing garage on this property. So if we wanted to park a car, we can't do it. We cannot unless we take the patio covers front and back off of the house and take the sheds out, then we could build a garage.

Well, this time of year the those patio covers are pretty important because it was 111° when I walked in here, so um We have made um you had indicated that we had asked if we had um done any improvements. We have done no improvements on the property whatsoever outside of don't doing the connex container and the shade structure, which we will provided that we get the zoning, we will permit those you know, through the city.

Um out the public actually outside of a few people have been very supportive of us. We know most of the neighbors around us. They've been very friendly, very supportive. They had any questions, you know, they came over. Um There was one complaint that I find somewhat I don't want to say problematic, but concerning because it was entered into the public record. And I would like to clarify for the public record um as far as Mr. Hirschman's um letter, which I know he's now rescinded. I I that.

But um it's been introduced to the public record, so I'd like to correct it. Um I when we first moved into the property, Weaver's Needle behind us, we had our fence blow the fence between us blow down. So, I went over there, spoke with Angie, gave her my phone number. We've had a really good relationship since then. I've been over there a couple of other times just talking about the fence or whatever. We repaired it cuz it was a holiday weekend, of course.

And at that time, I gave her my phone number and said, "If you have any problems, you know, the fence is down or whatever, just call me, you know, just call me. That's all I you know." So, in 2 years, I have never heard from her ever, not once. Neither has my daughter or her partner about complaints. So, I'm not sure who Mr. Harshman is speaking to about complaints, but when I spoke to Angie, there she has never spoken to Mr. Harshman about complaints.

There have been no complaints through Weaver's Needle. So, I don't know who is complaining to him and what avenue he you know, was going to go with that. I That was a kind of a mystery to me, but um no complaints from Weaver's Needle. So, um Also, this is a little bit problematic. Um I'm not sure who He lives 3/10 of a mile from us. He doesn't His His space 98 does not back up to us.

He lives all the way around the front of the park or Well, it's not quite the front of the park, but it's towards the front of the park. So, I'm not sure how or why he thought there was noise or dust or any of those things because he doesn't live near us. Additionally, when he sent the letter at the last, I don't know, it was an hour or so before the meeting with and then included the pictures, so we have a 6-ft fence that divides Weaver's Needle and our property.

Pads behind us on Weaver's Needle are very small. There's very rarely anybody on them because the the pads are too small for somebody to be at. So, there's been a couple people camping back there. However, that is not Mr. Harshman's space. His space is 98. So, he did not ask for permission to go on the rest of the property. He also this fence is 6 ft tall. I don't know how tall he is, but my husband is 6'2" and he would have to stand on his tiptoes to stand over the fence.

There's a privacy screen. So, he stood at the fence and took pictures.

Coincidentally, the one day Eric was there and I had called the city and said, "Hey, Eric's going to be there just let to let you know." Um So, he stood on a box, a chair, a ladder, something and took a picture over to into the fence on into our private property from his not private property and took the pictures, sent them into you, and I guess you can I don't know if that's illegal what part of that is illegal or unethical or whatever, but I do know that it was very problematic for us because a grown man taking pictures into somebody's backyard with two minor children in it when quite frankly none of this concerned him.

He could have gone over to the easement, which is public property, and stood in the easement, took the picture, but that's not what he did. So, I just want to clarify that had he come over and spoken to us, we would have been glad to answer any of his questions, had no idea who he was, and I don't know why he rescinded the letter, but I'm very glad he did.

Um but I what I do think it's sort of a little He didn't represent himself to be with the city, but I do think according to the code of conduct for Board of Adjustments, it's a little bit of a um a conflict of interest, I guess. I I don't know. It just seemed really odd, but it it it at the very least it was problematic for us because we have two small children in the backyard and a grown man taking pictures into it.

So, um Miss Nesser, um you had asked about there's got to be you said something as to the fact that maybe there's more to this about us wanting to rezone. It was really a simple thing like Hudson has said repeatedly and it's it was a simple thing. We were trying to share a piece of property with our kids. I don't know how old any of your kids or grandkids are, but it's pretty tough for a younger person to um afford a house.

And so we we chipped in as a family um and worked all together to make sure that that could happen for our kids and our grandkids. That it was that was as simple as it was. That's it. Um we like I said, we have a lots of trees on our property which we didn't really want to tear out. So we built a straight stage structure. Doesn't block anybody's view by the way. We were very careful about that. It's at the back of the property. Um so um It was So as it stands it was really that simple.

We can't use it for anything else at this point. And I don't don't even know if we can actually sell it because of the the that on top of the fact that we were just informed fairly recently that it's now in a flood zone. We asked that question before we bought the property, but that wasn't we weren't told that. So between this and the it's definitely a little bit of a quandary. So the city attorney actually he would out actually talked about diminished value.

I don't know if that that speaks to this, but um we can't even put a larger home on this property at this point. So there's two toddler well, not two toddlers, one toddler and a almost 6-year-old. And then my daughter and her partner. So there's three bedrooms. So if anybody wanted to have any any more children or a guest room, we can't do that because we can't put a bigger house on the property. So that that it definitely is a little bit problematic.

I guess the house is about 1,100 square feet, which isn't a gigantic house, but it's not small either. Um Mayor Wilson, um commercial activity is not occurring. I don't don't know how to make that clear. My husband gets up at 4:00 in the morning, gets in a truck and drives away. That's it. He's not driving away from this property, although he has been to this property. We've house sat and things like that, but not on a regular basis.

Um anytime we drive on the property with a diesel or any vehicle, we are surveilled across the street. There are five different cameras on the property. Um we did put some things on the property to block that due to the fact that we have two minor children. It's a little bit uncomfortable, we'll say, to have somebody video taping you every time you go in or out of your property, you know. Just that's just me.

I realize privacy is is a rarity in this age, but this is a little bit um uh Bambi, we are not selling anything. We are not selling anything. We are not buying anything. We are it it's a 4x4 pallet, basically, that um you know, there's there's nothing to sell. My husband goes in and sprays drywall on walls. That's all he you know, so it's not something he does on site. Um the footprint is maxed out. I think I've gone over that already.

So, if I'm skipping around a little bit, you kind of it was I did watch this meeting several time. Um and most surrounding homes do already have a garage either on larger parcels or smaller parcels. So, um the other parcels that had already been divided up, I guess they're all a third of an acre. Um I don't Let's see. Mr. Heck, um just to clarify for you, um and I stated all of this in the narratives.

And I realize everybody's really busy and there's so much going on that it's hard to remember all the details. However, um my father is not a old pops is not he doesn't have anything to do with this property. Did he help us acquire the property? Absolutely. He's not a part of the business in any way, shape or form. He is not part of the property in any way, shape or form. He's 86 years old. He is not driving the forklift around anymore.

Um I don't think I don't think I would I I would not be a good idea. So, anyway, the forklift when it has been used 5 minutes, it's the same decibel as a lawn a lawn leaf blower or a lawn mower. It runs for 5 minutes when it runs, which is rarely to be honest with you. Um I I'll see I think I think that's pretty much I think I've kind of I've just covered everything. Um I did like I say the one day that Eric was over there um working on something.

I called Hudson and said he'd be there, you know, for an hour or 2 hours, whatever it was in the shade. And that coincidentally was the day that Mr. Harshman decided to take the pictures. The one day there was something sitting out. And we're just like terrified to be honest with you to to make noise or just live normal lives because we don't want to disrupt these people anyway. I'm just just we like to live and let live. I mean, it's just as simple as that.

It's not really was nothing more to this than just that. So, um I don't I don't know if you have any other questions for me. Have you Have any I don't know if you any of you if you want to see a picture of the like what it looks like. I have a picture that I could provide, but outside of it's just a basic house with a connex container. There isn't stuff everywhere like it's sort of been portrayed in the documentation that other people have sent in. So. You don't have any questions?

This is what what This is what we're talking about. Go ahead. I'd like to see that. And where at does this other gentleman live that's looking over your wall? Huh? He lives in space 98. In the RV park to the east? If we go back a couple photos and bring up the picture of the lot. Right right there. He lives in by Weaver's Needle Drive. in Weaver's Needle in space 98. So, in Weaver's Needle there's like a a drainage ditch that goes through it and a dog park. He lives on the other side of that.

So, he lives up in the northern area? He live Oh, terri- Yes, you are right. He lives in the north. East. Eastern. He lives in between two other I went over and spoke to Angie and I asked for permission and you know, I wanted to make sure I thought it was odd that you know, somebody would take pictures when Eric was literally in the backyard. Yep. Um and so, I thought it was curious. I thought if you lived right behind us or whatever, it's still not noisy.

We're still not doing business, but somebody who lives completely someplace else I I thought was kind of interesting. And also, I don't have any idea. I I tried I did my best and did all the documentation when I was supposed to do it. Everything was turned in in a timely fashion. And it was a little bit of a to have them letter like that dropped an hour before the meeting, I thought, you know, I had to adhere to a time frame. That would have been kind of nice to know that that was happening. So.

But we I was honest with the city when Eric was working over there. It wasn't like, you know, it was a a surprise. The letter was a surprise, but Just you one question. I do, yes. Yeah. Um I did drive by the property earlier, so I have a I think a pretty good sense of it. So, you would in the in all the narrative for this indicated that there is a there are benefits to rezoning from RSM-10 to RSGR.

Um is one of those that it will allow you to remain and have that container, that cargo container still? We could build a garage. I mean, it's not Pardon? We could build a garage instead of having a That is not connex container. Honestly, when we looked at the property and before we bought this property, we had looked at other properties and several of which we had looked at said no connex containers.

So, I really honestly didn't know I that we weren't supposed to have one until I got the letter. Um but we need to have something on the property in order to park a car, you know, those types of things. We have it It That piece of property, if you look at it, is huge. And there's hardly anything on it. So, I don't want to We don't want to use the whole piece of property. We just want to put something at the back of the property that's a garage you can put a car in or something like that.

That's all we ever really intended it for. saying that making it the RSGR, you could keep the cargo container and then build a garage. Well, one or the other. We wouldn't do both, I don't believe. Yeah. Yeah. So, no. We just want to be able to have someplace to put stuff. Yeah. You know, I mean, a car You can't get a car into the even a small, tiny car you would Did you want to say something? You looked like you Miss Nesser, you looked like you were going to say something. Okay. Yes.

So, in your you know, basically your introductory letter, you know, the I think what's caused a lot of this confusion is right in your second paragraph at the end, you say the storage container to store our business material. That could be true. throws up the red flag. So, I I understand from your conversation tonight that some of that business material is is records. Or tools, or right I mean things that you have in your garage. And and and Exactly.

I I mean at any given point in time, I may have a couple pieces of pipe on my property Yeah. that may or may not get used for a job. And so I get that. Mhm. [clears throat] Um I mean, if the the perception was is that you're having like um lifts of drywall, you know, full sheets of drywall delivered to your property offloaded from a semi No. delivered to the back of the property and stored. And if that's not the case My husband's been a drywall contractor for 40 years.

My husband and I been together for 40 years. At no time has my husband ever hung drywall. The only thing he's done is spray it. We've never had sheets of drywall anywhere. That is So, based on the pictures that I saw, it looks like it's um it's dry powder mix. That's correct. And I mean I don't know if that's specifically an issue for a pallet of drywall powder mix being stored at the facility right at your property. Or if there's another place that you could store it to alleviate the issues.

Well yes, but the problem was underneath the the one day it was out when Mr. Harshman took the picture when Eric was over there working on something. It's always covered up or away or you don't we don't buy pallets and pal I mean, there's not pallets and pallets stacked up on the side of the Conex container. We're talking one or two pallets. That's it. And most of the time they're in the back of a pickup truck. They're not sitting out visible to the community or anything like that.

So, I don't know if that Yeah. kind of I mean the company truck I drive is full of material. Exactly. Anybody who's in the trades, your truck is never empty. The backseat's got stuff in it, the floor's got stuff in it. I mean, that's just the kind of the way it is, but it's There's never been a time outside of the one picture that Mr. Harshman took that there was you know material that it was literally. And Eric didn't want to turn the forklift on because he didn't want to make the noise.

Because when anytime we make noise, the neighbors come out of the house to address us or address each other, I should say, not us. Regarding the um comments made by Superstition Fire Medical District needing a fire hydrant, you know, you talk about spigots. That's just a garden hose hookup. That's not for fighting fires. No, I'm not Yeah, yeah, you could Yeah, but uh you know, small grass fire out or if you're Johnny-on-the-spot. Um I'm not concerned about that.

You know, you the the accesses um to the property made clear that there's plenty of access for uh fire fighting equipment. Even the back part of the property, while there's not a gate, it's the the There's never anybody There's two or three campers and that's it because those pads are too small. So, the fire department can access it from the front, the side, and the back. Well, kind of what concerns me, you know, they sit in there saying they would prefer to have a fire hydrant close by.

And there's not. But then, number eight, Superstition Fire Depar- um and Medical uh cannot enforce fire codes on residential properties. So, adding additional buildings on a residential property is not ideal for fire suppression activities with a limited water supply in the area. But God, the very first part of that sentence. They cannot enforce fire codes on residential properties. So, why were they even consulted? They have to be They all are Every department goes through every department.

But But you know, just just that statement alone. Yeah. Why were they even consulted if they don't have enforcement authority? I'm across uh Sydney Risedon Development Services Deputy Director. Great question comes from across. When Development Services receives an application, we route it to all applicable agencies and departments for review. They provided that comment, and so we because they provided that comment, we have to note it in the in the official record.

Wouldn't it be nice if that was comment number one and zero comments afterwards? Anyways. Um thank you for your explanations. I appreciate it. You're welcome. And what else? Thank you. Yes. Thank you for your time. I appreciate it. There may be Okay. I will now open the public hearing. There's a 5-minute time limit with 1-minute warning indicated by yellow light. Please state your name and address for the record. Anyone like to speak on this? I'll sign. Um My father's Paul J.

Abrahamson, and I'm Paul W. I'm his son. He owns 303 South Cactus Road, right across the street, and next to the complainants. Um 1226 East 4th Avenue and 1250 East 4th Avenue. In fact, we were one of the first trailers there on that open parcel when it first got split up. So, dad's been there since the beginning. [clears throat] We're in favor of the zoning change. We don't see any problems with it. I mean, it's to us, I'm a contractor, too. I I have paint in my truck.

I I drop my rigs off with the truck, the sprayers. I clean them on the property. I put them back on the truck. I have a diesel. It makes noise. I mean, uh FedEx makes noise. Uh Amazon makes noise. They have the electric cars, you know, electric ones, but they still make noise making deliveries. Uh apparently, if they you know, deliver next door to their neighbors, it's too much noise. I I I really don't understand it.

But, I've been here for just as long as I'm a son, and I've never met them personally because they're not that sociable. The only one I know is Sparky, their the brother of one of the ladies, and he's renting the trailer that they have on the property, the little travel trailer. And he's constantly complaining that in the heat of the summer, he can't go into the air conditioning. But, uh he keeps the oleanders really tall so he can shade his trailer at the same time.

Um now after we've been in favor of this, we've been flipped off. We've been We've had stuff you know, spoken to us in disrespect. We had a key that they used to be able to use to trim their oleanders that they used for privacy. So, being good good neighbors and appreciating good people, we are now probably going to be in front of you guys for zoning violations of some sort. I've been accused of not being on the property when I am. I mean, we both been on the property. The noise isn't there.

I'm not sure. I mean, I get woken up at 5:30 in the morning when the guy on Cactus Road starts his Harley, warms it up, and tries to limp it down the block to be respectful, but it's loud. I mean, it's just what happens. I mean, it happens for 10-15 minutes and life goes on. I mean, if all you do is going to live in a trailer and pick apart for 15 minutes what somebody does with their own property, three or four times a a week, I mean, what type of life do they have?

I mean, it's making us miserable and making Argumans miserable. And it's actually nice to have a neighbor that actually talks to us. So, I mean, I have a whole thing here that I could read off, but basically, we're we're under constant surveillance. They've got cameras everywhere. They've had fights with all the neighbors. They've driven people out of the neighborhood.

I mean, the ones next to us, they've had three dogs removed from constant complaints with the cops showing up at 2:00 in the morning asking my father to sit there and add complaints in at the last minute. Just like they probably had that guy taking pictures over the fence the moment Eric comes onto the property with his pickup truck. Wow, it's awfully nice to have that last second picture come in. They always ask my father to try to do the same thing.

It's just the way they are cuz they can't sit there and just go and talk to somebody if they have an issue. We need more people to just talk. That's what neighbors are about. We shouldn't be here arguing about stuff like this. I understand two cargo containers might be an issue. But if you go up on the junction, less than a half a block from where we are, there's two 40-ft conex containers sitting on a lot with no houses.

So, if they're going to have two 20-footers that are desert color, that blend in, that store and are clean, the property is clean, and they're trying to be respectful to the rules and the laws that we have, it's better than somebody that's over here complaining about everything that's got a trailer or travel trailer that's got a rental sky paying rent you know it's hiding from everybody and and then they're breaking the rules.

Used to be a thing where is you don't throw stones if you live in a glass house. Well, we've actually been very nice and not said a thing all these years. But it's getting to the point where it's miserable when we have to sit here and try to defend good people because two people that decide that the only good part of their life is making other people miserable is the point of their their existence. So, we are in favor of having the zoning changed. We don't see anything.

We've been both there when the delivery came in. They drop off one pallet and it goes out that day because they missed it. Just like dad's FedEx deliveries comes with stuff that he does prospecting with that we go out into the desert and dig and have fun. So, I mean I don't understand. Thank you. One of the things that I noticed is sort of like the Hatfield and McCoy situation with the cameras and the bright lights.

Um that I I brought up before is when you get a neighbor who chooses to turn you in at every corner. I mean I haven't even turned my neighbors in for poisoning three of my trees because they shaded her orange tree. Um the thing is this, I know that the city is the homeowners association when you don't have a homeowners association. And but they don't show up unless they get a call from somebody who's complaining. And usually it's somebody that they just don't get along with.

But back in the day I was a tree trimmer. I owned my own business, and when I backed my truck into the yard and I had buck boards on the side and it was full of palm leaves. Nobody complained. When the cops bring home their cars, and they can bring their gun home, bring it into their house, nobody complains. But, if someone has drywall products, I mean, come on. You're going a little bit overboard about listening to people And give people a break.

You know, some people actually are trying to work for a living, and not sit there and mooch off the system. Thank you. Andre Meek, 1327 South Berleara Road, here in AJ. Mr. Mayor, Council. I think that these people need to be given a break. You know, how many ADUs could they throw on there without your control? Um, and you know, really get the neighbors riled up. And I think the zoning would be great. Uh, they you know, one thing that always sticks in my craw I hear Conex.

You know, you can throw some siding on a Conex, you don't even know it's a Conex. So, you know, we need to really revisit that whole premise of what a Conex is. It's a storage unit, whether it's a shed or whatever. Now, I think the zoning would be the right thing to do for these people. Uh, you know, they want to expand their house, they want to put up a garage, you know, garage goes up, then the you know, the nasty ass con- connex goes away. So, um another thing is noise.

Isn't it like 85 decibels at a certain amount of feet is a noise violation? And these people are complaining about a truck that's, you know, like a pickup or something like that. And when they call in and complain, you know, over and over, why aren't they tagged as a nuisance for complaining about something that isn't a complaint, you know, it isn't right? And uh you know, there's so many things here. I've dealt with uh zoning, you know, I've had uh zoning tag me when I moved in here to AJ.

You know, because I rented a connex while I was moving and put it in my driveway so I could store some stuff after I got broken into in the middle of my move, they broke into my house or in my garage and stole a bunch of stuff. So, I figured, okay, well, I'm going to drop a secure connex in the driveway and as I'm moving, cuz it took me over a year to move, I can safely store stuff under lock and key that they're not going to get into.

Yeah, city got me for that cuz I needed a permit to put it in there. So, you know, it was a rental. But also, I've gotten tagged because people complain. And you know, the complaints were easily remedied by me, but the thing is, it's like somebody complains and you know, zoning or whoever like jumps on them. Okay, starts Why is it that you know, you can drive down a street and I could pick out 30 violations of the code in my neighborhood.

But nobody gets tagged for it until one person complains and then all of a sudden it's an issue. And uh it's there's something wrong with the system here, you know, as far as this. Now, these people, you know, beyond just complaining, they're being harassed. You know, noise-wise, camera-wise, this stuff about popping over the fence, taking pictures of all that, you know.

That could be and especially if there's kids there and all that, woo, you know, there's you know, grounds for let's talk to this man. What's he up to? So, uh you know, I'm all for letting these people live their life in peace without being bugged by everyone. And if that's a zone zoning change, great. If you can resolve it without the zoning change, well, that's, you know, save them money. But, you know, they've gone this far, now let them finish. Thank you.

Mayor Wilson, City Council, I'm the much [clears throat] maligned Mr. Harshman and um I I was not going to speak tonight because basically at the Planning and Zoning Commission hearing that was held for this particular thing, I thought that all the issues were addressed very well. I thought the chairman of the committee and the vice chairman of the committee addressed those my issues.

Uh Hudson and his and the folks here addressed these issues and I was satisfied that that this is if there's if there's a problem with noise or with other things it's a code enforcement thing this is zoning change this is zoning change it's two different issues and I kind of convoluted them together a little bit I know but partly I kind of I kind of objected to this basically to begin with because I know that the city refused or denied a zoning change for one of the RM 10 lots or the two RM 10 lots that are across the way that Weaver's Needle had where that they wanted to continue to use that property as it had been used for years and years and years and the city said no and if we're going to maintain the neighborhood I thought originally I just thought well we want to be consistent and so this zoning change shouldn't go through but I've been convinced that the zoning change is okay.

I am not the person who has cameras on them. I'm not the person who's calling the city on them. I do not know what all their issues are with all their neighbors. I only started down this path because I thought the city should be consistent in how we address the zoning changes on Cactus and and uh and again like I said by watching the zoning hearing and seeing that and and having all these issues laid out there I thought it had been it was resolved. I'm happy with their zoning change.

I'm not real happy with having more store you know containers out there but that's just me. I you know they'll they'll they'll be fine I'm sure so but I just wanted to stand up and let you guys know I'm not a pedophile I did I did not stand on some kind of goddamn box Mr. Harshman Mr. Harshman please talk into the mic. I okay I did not stand on a box and take I just walked up to the fence and took pictures of the property the way it was that day. That's That's all I did.

And uh anyway, I thank you for your indulgence and uh [clears throat] and I'm sorry if I caused these people undue stress. I was just trying to uh see that we were consistent in our in our zoning application. Thank you. Hello. Oh, sorry. I am Hannah Bergman. I actually live at uh 275 South Cactus, the property that's in question. Um I just want to speak a little bit to my personal experience.

Uh like has been mentioned, there are about five cameras pointed directly at our property, which I definitely feel like is an intrusion. Uh monitoring our comings and goings from our place. That's not okay. Um [snorts] Sorry. Um The main reason that we wanted to rezone was to be able to add more structures um to the property uh whether it's um Sorry. The only property the the only storage units that we have are really small.

So, in the future, if we want to be able to build anything, the rezoning was the pr- was the path that we were recommended to go. So, we were just wanting the option to be able to do that in the future for our family cuz myself, my partner, and our two boys um live there. So, do you have any questions? No. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Well, I don't see any more movement, so I will now close the public hearing and ask for a motion. Your Honor. Yes.

I move that ordinance number 1576 be read by title only and the reading of the entire ordinance be waived. Second. Moved and seconded. Roll call. Councilmember Heck. Yes. Councilmember Cross. Yes. Vice Mayor Schroeder. Yes. Councilmember Nesser. Yes. Councilmember Johnson. Yes. Councilmember Soller. Yes. And Mayor Wilson. Yes. Motion passes unanimously.

Ordinance number 1576, an ordinance of the mayor and city council of the city of Apache Junction, Arizona amending the Apache Junction, Arizona zoning ordinance by amending the zoning district map, city of Apache Junction, Arizona changing the zoning district classification for the property described in rezoning case P-26-6-PZ.

A request by Kimberly Bergman from medium density single family detached residential RS10M to general rural low density single family detached residential RSGR repealing any conflicting provisions and providing for severability. I do [cough and clears throat] Excuse me. Do I have a second motion to adopt ordinance 1576. Your Honor. I move that ordinance number as read by the city clerk be approved and adopted. Second. Moved and seconded. Roll call. Councilmember Soller. Yes.

Councilmember Johnson. Yes. Vice Mayor Schroeder. Yes. Councilmember Nesser. Yes. Councilmember Cross. Yes. Councilmember Heck. Yes. Mayor Wilson? Unanimous. Yes. Motion passes unanimously in a favor of ordinance number 1576. Thank you. Okay. Now, we'll go on to the public hearing. I'd like to remind everyone the public hearing is a courtesy and not required by law. Yes. It's a time for the public to express requests, communication, comments, and suggestion.

Request to speak forms must be completed and handed to the city clerk before the end of the city manager's report. All issues shall be presented in a professional manner without personal attacks. Under the open meeting law, council cannot engage in a discussion on issues presented, but may respond for to criticism, may direct staff to follow up with the speaker directly, or place this matter [clears throat] on future agenda for council discussion.

There's a 3-minute time limit and a 30-second warning light, yellow, will come on. Uh [clears throat] and I have Your Honor. Yes. I just like to make a clarification on the record that this is for the call to public, not public hearing. Did I say pub- public hearing? Excuse me. It's call to the public, I thought I said. Okay. I'm sorry. Thank you. Pam Bradshaw. My name is Pam Bradshaw. I live at 3405 South Tomahawk Road. Good to see you, Chip, and Vice Chair, and new council members.

Um in regards to a steel building uh at North Apache Trail. It's yet to be built. That would only have bathroom facilities, meant to be a venue to bring many new people out to AJ for weddings, for corporate meetings, and for holiday events, if not all other little meeting things. Why would a builder have to have a fire hydrant put at a facility? I was told that this needed to be done at a facility where there won't be any stoves, there's no fire going to go on.

Uh hazardous equipment's not going to be in the building. We in AJ need a venue like this. Keeping helping to pre uh with previous event attendees to come back and maybe visit some of our other businesses that they've seen on the way out to something that they have attended at this building. Um it would have the Old West ambiance that y'all want to have. It's not going to be something that's stark with just a uh window and a door. It's going to be a nice venue.

Um I'm asking that you please stop throwing uh roadblocks at Mo and let him build this venue. He's already talked to you about the noise that might happen. He's going to make sure that doesn't happen. Um this would give AJ tax dollars. Am I correct there? That we're going to get tax dollars from this venue? Uh it doesn't obstruct the view for anyone to see the mountain. So, that shouldn't be a problem.

It wouldn't be in use every dadgum day, so water usage wouldn't be a problem here as I can tell. So, why would this gentleman need to have a fire hydrant in front of a steel building that would only have chairs and bathroom facilities? And by the way, who would pay for this fire hydrant?

What's I don't understand, but I just wanted to bring it to y'all's attention that this building and this venue that's trying to be put up would bring other people to AJ that would maybe use the restaurants somewhere else. They've seen maybe an antique store that they might want to shop at. So, please help Mr. Mr. Mo get this done. I'd appreciate it. Mo. Mo, 2 3 4 1 North Apache Trail, Apache Junction, Arizona. Mayor, city councils, manager, attorneys, all the staff.

I want to thank you to development services, especially Rudy and Sydney. They work very hard on this one to make this happen and everybody excited about it. Now, we have the problem with the fire department. Their their fire code is 2018 international code require a fire hydrant. We are willing to put the fire hydrant, but the problem with this one, the pipeline is over there is only 6-in.

Even if put the fire hydrant over there does not meet the code for the 1,500 gallon per minute flow water flow. And there are we have been fire protection engineer, we talked to them and all that stuff. The code this fire code in 2018 the some municipality they amended the code before even they adopted it because the rural area does not provide that kind of stuff, the water or sewer or that stuff area. They amended it. And I'm not sure city of Apache Junction adopted that code.

And then now we're looking for different options. Hitching Post has a fire. Hitching Post has a fryers and all that stuff over there. But the fire department recommended it if we can put the security system and monitor by the security company and they will allow to open it up. That's another option. And that event center we're building it up there is no kitchens. There's absolutely nothing else to be there in the steel building. No food product, no nothing on it.

Maybe we can sign a contract when the water arrived, we will attach it. Maybe the city can force them or ask them to maybe change the code or I'm just asking to help me out. That's all I'm asking for it. City worked very hard, spent a lot of hours to approve that building. Now we are stuck for 6 months discussing all that stuff going on. And see what we can do or you guys can do to help to start the new business over there.

And that's going to help everybody in the town, city, Apache Junction, everybody else. We are already worldwide known people coming in. We already got the award for the best of 2025 in the city of Apache Junction, the first restaurant. Got the award from the nationwide or internationally reviews and we are going to do some more stuff. And just asking requesting if you guys can look into it to help me out to do this this one resolved, we can start the construction. Thank you very much.

Appreciate your looking out. Kathleen Campton Did I blow your last name? Campton. Okay. I'm here to speak on behalf of Good Shepherd Horse Rescue and Learning Center located at 288 West Smoke Tree Street. We're asking that the city seriously consider the potential quality flooding impacts created by the massive commercial-size building masquerading as a barndominium currently under construction adjacent to our property.

This structure is approximately 5,000 square feet with four commercial-size gutters on each side. During monsoon storms, every square foot of that roof will collect and channel water into the existing wash that already struggles to handle storm water runoff. We are gravely concerned that the additional runoff generated by this structure will overwhelm the existing drainage path resulting in flooding not only on Smoke Tree on the street, but also on our property as well as others.

The wash already floods during heavy rains, and Smoke Tree Street can become difficult and impossible to navigate safely. Having thousands of square feet of impervious roof surface raises serious concerns about increased water volume, erosion, property damage, and public safety. The question remains, where is all that water going to go? At Good Shepherd, we have invested significant time and resources to be responsible stewards of our property.

After taking over the rescue, we had the property laser leveled and installed proper flooded footing and ground materials to promote drainage, reduce erosion, and protect both the horses and surrounding properties from storm water issues. We took proactive steps. So should everybody else.

We respectfully request that you allow us to reclaim the existing easement and require the new property owners to complete a professional engineering drainage study and install any drainage improvement necessary to safely manage the increased storm water runoff generated by this building. The burden of solving this problem should not fall on the neighboring residents cuz we did not create it and our tax dollars should not be used to fix it. At Good Shepherd, we we serve our community every day.

We have 29 rescue horses, 70 to 85 active volunteers. We host educational programs, clinics, youth tours, and opportunities for seniors, low-income individuals, and those living with chronic illnesses. We are creating something Apache Junction can be proud of. And when I hear somebody say that it's we're saving the the west. There's a warehouse sitting next to us now. We understand that growth is inevitable, but growth must be planned responsibly. We are not asking to stop development.

We are asking that proper engineering, drainage mitigation, care for neighboring property values, and public safety measures be required before neighboring properties use community resources and public pathways and put us at risk. Losing our view of the Superstition Mountains and the loss of our property value was disappointing and preventable.

However, our primary concern today is not the loss of the view and the loss of our property value, although that is concerning, it is the very real possibility of flooding, property damage, and safety hazard for our residents, the visitors, volunteers, and the animals that are entrusted to our care. We ask that you help protect existing residents, preserve our safety, and ensure that the responsibility drainage suits are in place. Thank you. Thank you. Donna Carr.

Donna Carr, Apache Junction resident. Um North Carolina just got done passing a bill 730, which limits the amount of data processing centers going in due to the power they use and the water that they use. I think we need to get a bill passed in the state of Arizona to take care of that problem here as well. Now, I was listening to Arizona water and they want to increase it by $10, when actually that's 24.7, almost 25% increase. You know what Social Security got last year? 2.8.

So, that's a pretty damn big increase in a water bill. Um I'd also like to thank Bambi for mentioning me to Resolution Copper. Um I do have a uh tour with them on the 29th of this month, and I'm bringing some other people with me as well. So, I appreciate that. And the only other thing I have to say is, cuz I'm not going to see you before the 4th of July, is happy quincentennial. Happy quincentennial. [clears throat] Andre. Excuse me. I'm trying to give you a new name. Andre Meek.

Uh 1327 South Bellaire here in AJ. Uh going to kind of take it a different direction. Politically. Need everybody get out there and vote. We got some crazy elections coming up. And uh just want to say your ballot means something. And on that vein, Mark Lamb, where are you? A lot of people wanted to vote for you, still want to vote for you, but we got to hear from you. And you're being Mr. Incognito. Do I have to vote for the other guy? Please come out of your hiding and address your public.

Or send me some pictures. Thank you. [laughter] Okay, any comments from the council? Um I I go ahead. looking at that situation at Good Shepherd? Yes, please. Which one, I'm sorry? Good Shepherd. that We will get you a staff update on that. Please give us an update. Yes. On the fire hydrant issue, can we have the city look at I if there's no water out there, how are you supposed to put a fire hydrant in?

And can we have a contract done that if 12-in line does go in, he has to pay to have that put in uh promo uh cuz there's no water out there. There's a 6-in line. You can't fire hydrant off through 6-in line. You'll collapse it. It's strictly an issue with the fire district. But it's our But but we can get you an update on that as well. Right, but the code is ours. They're using our code. We adopted the International 2018 fire code. We can have a staff write up and get you the information.

Yeah, cuz it says right in there it can be modified. We'll get you an update. Yeah. Okay. What? Yes. In similar regards to that, um you know, the I don't see why if the fire department can tender services to residential neighborhoods in the rural area, they surely can tender to our commercial businesses in the rural areas. Thank you. Okay, I'll adjourn. Thank you.