Call to order the regular city council meeting of december 1st, 2025. Would
you all please stand for the pledge of allegiance in a moment of silence?
p my pledge allegiance to the latter of the united states of america
and to the republic women stands, one nation under
eye, indi with liberty and justice.
thank you, julie. If we can have roll call please.
council member condi. Here. Garcia
here. Council member solorio. Here. Council member weiss here. Council
member white present vice mayor nielsen. Here. Mayor pineda
here. Thank you. Thank you. Ron s item please. Uh, thank
you mr. Mayor and council up. First we have kim moon, our city engineer, uh, to introduce
one of her new employees.
good evening mayor, vice mayor and council. I have this evening, uh, for
you an introduction, uh, of our new traffic control inspector. We're very excited.
uh, I want to introduce, uh, eddie black. He brings several years
of experience in traffic control industry for the, from the private sector.
he also previously worked with the city of mesa. He's an arizona native,
enjoys hunting and spending time outdoors. Eddie officially starts with us.
he started on the 24th. Yes. And he'll be our first full-time inspector
focused solely on traffic control for construction projects and special events
that impacts our city streets. He'll be involved in the entire process
from reviewing plan sets for traffic control zones to permitting, to field inspections
of the traffic controlled barricades. So I just wanted to, uh,
welcome eddie to the team.
so eddie, uh, you met, they meant, I'm sorry, kim mentioned earlier in regards
to hobbies, hunting. Mm-hmm . So tell us where, where, what part of
the state are you traveling outta state to hunt? Or what sort of hunting are
you doing? Uh, out hunting up north near payson. Okay. 22
north. Okay. We got a couple of hunters around here, uh, on staff I'm sure would
be happy to join you. And as , as far as traffic is controls concerned,
especially with construction related projects, just, uh, kind of give us a, a,
a, a peek, if you will, behind the curtain as to what you're looking for, what, what some of
the projects you're working on. And I know you just started, um, but what's
kind of currently on the docket? Um, just started and I'm looking forward to getting into
it and learning the excel program. From there, I'm gonna start contacting
few companies to pick up their stragglers through the city. I think that's gonna be huge. And then
just in going through and, uh, reviewing traffic control plans and then going out and
making sure it's set to the traffic control plan. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for
being here and joining the avondale team. Thank you. I'm glad I'm here. Thank you.
wow. Only one new employee. Okay. . Very different than last
time mayor. Very different than last time, but that's okay. On next item. Yes,
sir. Uh, next up we have our proclamation for homeless persons remembrance day.
I believe brian planty, our homeless services manager, will kick us off.
good evening, mayor, vice mayor and council. Thank you for allowing me to be here tonight.
before we read the proclamation, I wanna pause and draw attention to the people that embody this
work. Every single day. Avondale is fortunate to have a team of outreach workers
who are in every sense of the word superheroes. And they're sitting behind me
tonight wearing their stoner hat, easily identifiable.
they don't wear capes, but they move through our streets day and night, and they turn
over every stone and follow every lead. They exhaust every possible resource. When
someone in our city has lost their home, has lost their connection to family, or even their sense
of hope, these heroes step in and never give up. I've seen them
track down cousins in other states, contact families across the country. They chase
down birth certificates, military credentials, and piece together medical records because
those documents, those fragile threads of identity, can be the key that unlocks
housing or healthcare. They serve as investigators, advocates, and at the same
time as companions, they walk a lot alongside people who have been forgotten or
who can no longer find the strength to advocate for themselves. And in doing so,
they remind us what dignity looks like. They inspire greatness not only in the people they serve, but
in everyone who has the privilege of working beside them. I can tell you they inspire me every day.
they're the heartbeat of a caring city that backs up the promise to care for
every neighbor with real action. As we honor the lives of those we have lost this year, I want
to lift up, lift up our own sonar team. These are the people who meet suffering
with compassion. They meet despair with persistence, and remind us that in their
daily work that that remembrance must always lead to action.
with that, I will turn it over to mayor pineda to read the homeless person's remembrance.
state proclamation. Thank you so much. And actually, uh, council member condi will
be reading, uh, the thank you mayor proclamation. Thank for asking me to read this. Thank
you, brian. Well, just before I begin to read the proclamation, I do wanna say thank you 'cause you guys really
make an impact on the lives of many. Um, not only your team, but also
our first responders that are out there. Um, and just people in the community making,
you know, people aware of someone's in the park that, um, these people
are somebody's daughters, somebody's sons. So thank you for the work that
you all do. Um, and I'm honored to be able to read this proclamation
today. Whereas homeless persons
remembrance day is observed annually on december 21st, the first day of
winter, and the longest night of the year to remember people who died while
experiencing homelessness. And whereas every life has inherent
dignity. And the city of avondale affirms that the loss of any person
to the dangers of homelessness is a loss to our whole community.
and whereas the city of avondale recognizes the tireless work of local
partners, including phoenix rescue mission and the city sonar
outreach team, along with regional service providers, faith communities,
healthcare organizations, and volunteers who serve people experiencing
homelessness with compassions and skill. And whereas
remembering those who have died while unhoused deepens our commitment to
solutions that prevent homelessness, reduce its harms, and make
episodes rare, brief, and non occurring through coordinated
street outreach, emergency shelter, supportive services
and housing. And whereas the city encourages
residents to join community partners in appropriate remembrances, including
moments of silence and the reading of names, and to support efforts
that save lives and connect people to safe, stable housing.
whereas a community remembrance service will be held in avondale
at avondale baptist church on december 21st, 2025,
providing residents an opportunity to honor people who died
while experiencing homelessness. Now therefore, on behalf
of the avondale city council, the city of avondale, arizona,
hereby proclaims homeless persons remembrance day. Thank you.
thank you so much. Council member condi ron, next item please.
thank you, mr. Mayor and counsel. Up next, I'd like to pass it over to council member white to share a few
words about the proclamation, world aid stay. Thank you so
much, mayor. Thank you so much mr. Corbin. Um, as a young
child in the eighties, I became aware of this mystery illness we know
as, um, that was hiv aids. And since that time,
um, I've wanted to learn more and make more people aware about
it throughout, um, my public service. And ironically, when I
went to college, um, I became very interested in delta sigma data
sorority incorporated because they did a lot of work in the community to
continue to promote that awareness and make sure folks, um, understood that
it was something that not only was at that time thought to be transmitted sexually, but
could be transmitted, um, to women as they had children. Um, and so
today is international aids awareness day, and I wanted to
make sure that we acknowledge that since we are in chamber today on december 1st,
so I will go ahead and read that proclamation.
whereas world day, world aids day observed annually on
december 1st, unites people across the globe in shared commitment to end
the hiv epidemic, honor the resilience of those living
with hiv. And remember, with compassion, those who have
lived lives and were lost to aids related illness. And
whereas since the first cases emerged more than four decades ago,
hiv aids has profoundly affected individuals, families, and
communities nationwide and across the world, leaving a lasting social
emotional and public health impact. Whereas remarkable
progress and prevention, testing, treatment education has transformed
the landscape of hiv care, demonstrating that early
diagnosis and sustained access to medical support empowered individuals
living with hiv aids to lead long, healthy and
fulfilling lives. And whereas continued advancement in
public health, coupled with strong community partnerships and education
efforts are empowering individuals with the knowledge, resources,
and support needed to prevent hiv transmission
and improve overall health outcomes. And whereas
the city of avondale reaffirms its commitment to promoting
health, equity, compassion, and awareness, and
encourages all residents to learn about hiv prevention,
standing in solidarity with those, living with hiv and
working collectively to eliminate stigma in all forms.
and now therefore, on behalf of the avondale city council,
the city of avondale, arizona, hereby proclaims december 1st, 2025
at world aids day and encourages all residents
to observe this day as a time for reflection, education,
and a renewed commitment to ending the hiv epidemic
through community collaboration, public health advocacy, and
unwavering support for those affected. Thank you.
thank you.
thank you. Council member white next item are un
unscheduled, uh, public appearances. Mr. Mayor, we have one more item.
oh, sorry. After seeing everybody sitting in the, in
the, in the seats over there, you would think I'd remember. I apologize. Item d. No,
no worries. Uh, emily, our city, uh, clerk specialist, would like to recognize
outgoing board and commission members.
good evening mayor, vice mayor, and city council. My name is emily
soria, city clerk specialist within the city clerk's office. Tonight
we'll be recognizing our outgoing boarding commission members who have completed their terms,
each having served at least one full term, totaling a minimum of three years
of dedicated service to the city of avondale. In 2025,
we had 13 boards and commissions made up of 60 dedicated residents filling
more than 80 positions. Our residents serve as boarding commission
members make a real difference in helping to shape the future of our community.
while we have members who leave office for reasons such as moving outside city limits,
or scheduling conflicts, we also have a special group of members who leave
not by choice, but because the they have reached the end of their term.
tonight, we are here to recognize those individuals, including a few who
have joined us in person. When I call your name, please come forward to the
podium to receive your certificate of recognition and remain standing.
after the presentation, we will invite city councils to join the group on the floor
for photo fabian rado with the neighborhood
and family services commission.
jan graham with the municipal art committee,
janet beeson with the parks, recreation and libraries advisory board,
larry white with the planning commission,
linda warren with risk management and workers' compensation board,
stephanie robinson with corrections officers, retirement pension board,
and stephanie rodriguez with the parks, recreation and libraries advisory board.
thank you so much for your service to the city of avondale. Your dedication and commitment
to making lives better is appreciated. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Uh,
really quickly, if you don't mind, uh, larry or dr. B, you, would you guys like to say
any words? I mean, we're talking some heavy hitters here who participate in everything.
so this is a big deal, , it has
indeed been a privilege these past years to serve both
the city of avondale, the staff, and the council. Thank you. Thank
you.
I have really enjoyed my time with parks and recreation. I'll
miss those meetings. . Well, thank
you so much for both of you and all the time you've spent on our boards and
most, most often, just all of the different events that you're at. Just, uh,
you know, thank you so much for all of the support you provided the city, and I'd be happy if council
would join. Oh, one more. Well, oh, sorry, jen, I'm never
at a loss for words. I thought you were on that side, jen. I'm so sorry. .
so what I would like to say, not only have I enjoyed serving on the
board, but I have such a passion for art. I've been on the art committee,
I've served for six years, and
it's not just about making our community beautiful,
but these activities bring community together.
and a book that I've mentioned to people and even at the board meeting is called
your brain on art, a new york times bestseller
by mckesson and ross, and it's research based.
and they have found that just observing or
creating an art moment for 45 minutes
a month can increase your lifespan by up to 10 years.
so what we are doing is good for our, for ourselves,
and for others. So I really appreciate the, appreciate the opportunity
to have served on the board. Thank you. Thank you so much, jan.
sorry. Thank you, mayor. Of course, vice mayor and council. That concludes my
presentation, and at this time, we welcome any comments from council before we join for our group
photo. Are there any comments from council? If I can, real
quick for jan? Uh, apparently, at least according to a bumper sticker, they
say that earth without art is just, eh, so,
all right. It's my bad form of a joke, everybody. All right, let's get a picture. Let's
go get a picture. And then also, uh, if you, um, who am I inviting up for the, the
picture? Oh, some deltas. If you wanna join us for a picture as well after
we take this picture, please feel free to come on up,
somebody.
okay.
okay. Item number three on schedule public appearances. Julie, have you received
any other requests to speak other than what we have here? Thank you, mayor. We
received public comments, uh, from laura gonzalez and cat m and they
were forwarded to you and their comments, their full comments will be included in the minutes.
we do have one speaker, linda jager. Okay, linda.
good evening, mayor and council. My name is linda and
I am a resident of avondale. I'm here because I'm deeply concerned
about the recent allegations involving council member jeanette
garcia. The lawsuit describing kidnapping,
false imprisonment and sexual misconduct
is serious and it reflects poorly on our city.
I understand that these are allegations, but the repeated
headlines and controversies surrounding this council member
continue to damage avondale's reputation and owe
public trust as residents,
we deserve leadership that that upholds the highest standards. So
I'm asking the counsel to take appropriate and transparent action
of the accusations of council member garcia
avondale should not be represented by someone linked to
ongoing accusations of this magnitude. Protecting the
integrity of the city must come first. Thank you.
thank you. Anything you wanna respond?
no, I just really quickly, and I know that this is, uh, something that, uh,
has come across and many people are aware of, but just
wanna put this out there really quickly in regards to, uh,
the council, um, and what we can do about it. Uh, this
is not, uh, issue that's related to code of conduct. It's a civil issue
between, uh, council member and, um, uh, another
citizen that will be handled and litigated, um, a, uh, accordingly.
and so if there's any other comments in regards to us
as a council, me as a mayor, doing something to enforce any sort
of discipline on a council member. This is not a code of conduct issue.
it is going to be a matter that will be, um, dealt with in
a court. And we'll let the court determine, uh, the outcome of these
allegations. And so I just wanted to make sure that I made that comment. Ron, is
there anything else that, uh, I need to add? Nope.
no. Mr. Mayor. Okay. Alrighty. Well, with that, let's move forward
with item number five.
consent agenda. Sorry. Yes. Item number four, sorry.
consent agenda. Are there any members, council members who wish
to have an item removed for separate consideration?
see none. We got a motion from council member weiss, a second from council
member white. If the rest of the council could please vote.
thank you. Item passes. Seven zero. Now we're moving on
to item number five. Ron. Thank you, mr. Mayor and council up first,
we have mark foot, our recreation manager to present an update on
the city's, uh, park recreation library special events.
good evening, mayor, vice mayor and council.
I don't know how to work a desk, apparently. . Um,
I'm here to give my name's mark foot, and I'm the recreation manager for
parks and recreation, specifically overseeing special events and recreation. Uh, here to
give an update on our special events, um, uh, fiscal year to date, as well
as, um, just a preview of what we have coming for next year.
so we'll start back in july and do a re re quick recap. We made some
significant changes to our light up the sky event, which happened on july 4th.
um, we changed the layout. We moved into the midway, and we opened
up the barn area as an air conditioned area. Um, this event was very successful
with just over 10,000 people in attendance for that day. Um, and
we had a four star rating for that event. Again, we talked
about our new layout, air conditioned barn space, as well as added cooling
zones. Uh, and that feedback was, was very positive. So we'll be looking to
expand some of those areas, change our layout a little bit more, as well as provide
some additional food options for next year, um, with the additional,
um, or with the changed layouts. Uh, follow
that in august with our blank canvas summer showcase. Uh, this
is an opportunity for our young residents to show out their art skills,
um, and create something that represents them. And an and avondale. We
had 213 participants this year with a five star rating. We had 135
canvases that were actually returned, and we were able to display here at city hall,
and, and we did awards across three age groups. Again, very successful event,
uh, feedback that we get from this event is, is always very, very positive. It's a free event
for these, these kids to participate in our barks and treats
event, which is our dog based, uh, halloween event happens in october.
uh, this year we had 1,300 people in attendance,
and that's almost double what it was last year. We had significant increase
as well from vendor participation and exhibitor participation, and a
4.85 star rating. Uh, our cute dogs and costumes.
we had 43 participate in the dog costume contest, which was a, a big
hit. Um, and this is a great partnership with our brookfield community, um,
and the alamar community, um, there in south avondale. Um, but very, very
popular event will continue to expand and, and grow this event, uh, throughout the years.
um, and, and continue to do it there in the alamar area.
our billy moore days. I'm still tired from this event. Um, but,
uh, it happened october 16th through 19th. Uh, we had just over
27,000 people visit, uh, the billy moore area
over the course of those four days for our carnival and our festival. That does not
include, um, the parade. The parade. We, we count a little bit differently.
uh, but we had a survey rating of 4.85 stars for,
for that event. Um, a little bit lower than last year.
um, last year we had some social media impact, um, from some outside
social media that really boosted attendance in addition to some feedback that
the, the state fair was getting. And so we had a boost of, of numbers,
and we came back to more historical norms for, for this event. Uh, this
last year, our billy moore days parade was another
huge success. We had just over 2000 people in attendance for this parade.
um, along central and along western. We had 41 parade entries
and a 4.85 star rating as well on this event. Um,
and janet, I don't know if she's still here. Janet was our grand marshall.
um, and we appreciate everyone's attendance and participation in this historic,
uh, event that helps us recognize the history and the,
the culture that exists here in avondale. Our creep
in candy crawl, another event that saw, uh, record breaking attendance.
uh, we had just under 5,000 people in attendance for our creep in candy crawl on october 30th,
which is a change. It's been historically a halloween night event.
um, but this year because of the, the day that it fell, we moved it
a day earlier. Um, that's almost a double, um, of the
participation that we had last year. Um, and we came really close to running
outta candy, but we had, uh, some backup that we had to go get. Uh,
this event got a 4.8 star rating as well. We had 45 people participate
in our costume contest. And again, we moved this from halloween to the
thursday prior. Um, which is our intention is to continue
to do that as halloween falls on a weekend. We'll continue to do it that
that thursday before. Um, to facilitate, um, staff at this,
at this event, our medos and
melodies event, this is a new event that was created based off of feedback that was received
during our master plan and our strategic planning. Um, this happened
on november 14th. It was our youth entrepreneur market. We had over
600 in attendance during this event with 43 youth entrepreneurs,
exhibitors, uh, selling their goods and their homemade, um, items
to all the attendees. This was actually our second date.
our first date was supposed to be a hispanic heritage market with a hispanic heritage theme
happening in september. Unfortunately, it was that week that we got all of
that rain and we got rained out of this event. So, um, but super successful. We have
some two more upcoming for this fiscal year, one that'll happen in january.
that is our, um, back to back to the new year fitness,
uh, event, as well as our country night in
march. Um, highlight our run series.
uh, we consolidated our run series this year. We have four runs that happen throughout the
year. I won't talk a ton about them because brittany will hit on them in the next presentation.
um, but we had our dunking dash, which was our first dunking dash that took place at the
aquatics center. This is a unique event, is it's a run and swim,
so not quite a triathlon, not quite a run. It's somewhere in between. Uh, we had
68 participants for this first event, uh, west valley vet run, which
is a partnership with, um, australia mountain community college. And the proceeds
for this event go to, uh, veteran services. There were over 250
participants in that run, and they raised over $40,000 for those
veteran based causes. So very, very successful partnership with, um,
the, um, community college. Uh, we have a couple
more re runs that will be happening here soon. Avon dle dash will
happen, uh, the weekend before christmas. This will be the second year of this event,
which was very, very successful last year. It's a one k 5k
10 k run that happens here in the morning. We turn on all the lights, we pop
on our tree, um, and have just a really good time running and, and running off all
those calories that you've earned all month long. And then hoot and hussle,
which is a partnership with aga high school, will happen march 21st.
a handful of upcoming signature events this saturday. We have our,
uh, avondale avondale winter fest, um, that will happen
here at the civic center complex. Um, from five to 9:00 pm
we'll be lighting our holiday tree, um, and all of the lights will be
on throughout the holiday season. So a celebration of the holiday seasons
in february, late february, early march, we have our trace reels nature
festival, and we're very excited that this is gonna be headed back down to
the basin meridian wildlife area. So the last two years, because of flood damage,
we've, uh, been at, um, the regional park.
and this year we get to go back down into the basin meridian wildlife area.
we walked to the site last week, and construction progress is going well. Um,
and we should be set for those dates. And then in april, we bring back
our kid fest, which is our kid, uh, related special event
in celebration of, um, day of the child, or di de
los ninos. Um, and that's a, a great event and a really large event that happens
at, um, at friendship park. And then saturday may 2nd,
we'll have avon del fiesta, an old town, uh, celebrating our hispanic
heritage and, and some of the great events out there.
we have a handful of community events that'll be happening before the end of the fiscal year as well. We have two
more mercados and melodies events happening in january and march with health and
wellness and country. We have a movie in the park, um, at deconcini in
february. Our extravaganza will happen at both donny hill and mountain view park
right before easter. And then we will follow up the end of the year with our
memorial day celebration and our juneteenth event on june 19th.
so with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions. Um,
thank you for the presentation. Mark. Any questions, comments from counsel?
okay, councilor voy, thank you so much for your presentation, mark.
um, I noticed that the 4th of july event, it got just four out
of five stars and kind of trended lower than the other events. Um,
with the, I guess we're having our 250 year celebration as
a country next year. I was wondering, um, do, what are we planning
to do differently and do you know if we were able to partner with the
state's planning commission? Um, for that event? We have, we,
the, the state committee reached out. We had a meeting with them, um,
and we're talking through how we can integrate some of their celebrations
into our own celebration, um, and what that looks like. Those are still
in the early planning stages of, of how we incorporate their, their
celebration into ours. Um, but we are looking at some of those items.
um, and then on the four star feedback, uh, unfortunately this event because of the
way it happens, but we just don't get a lot of feedback from this event. Um, and
so that's part of the reason that, but we do get some feedback and we're trying to
utilize those to improve the event. One of those being our food trucks this year, moving
it inside. We had many more people participating in
our food vendors, um, and we just weren't prepared for the number of people that were gonna be
looking for food options within the raceway. And so we'll be adding some of those things, um,
trying to add some more cooling, changing some layout and, um, items with
how popular it was to come in the raceway instead of just being out in the parking
lot like we've been previously. Do we have the
ability for folks to come out and kind of like, um,
rv all day there? Is that that open right now? Or is it just open for the evening
fireworks time? Yeah. Right now we've just opened the parking lot at a certain time.
I'm not off the top of my head. I don't remember what time that is, but we do open it, but
we can look for sure into opening the, the lots early.
um, it does require a little bit of security and some parking, but it's, it's for sure something that
we can look at. Thank you. Any other comments? Okay, council
member dy. Thank you, mayor. Thank you, mark. Um, it's great
to see all the exciting things happening in avondale with, with the parks and recreation.
um, I just wanna just say thank you so much for, um, planning
a movie in the park at de canni. You know, it's nice to have the movie nights
in some of our smaller pocket parks where sometimes residents maybe can't
get to friendship park. Um, and I just wanted to share that when
I was on council, when I first got on council, we were at a, we had a movie night at a
pocket park, one of our little parks. And
the families that came out brought their blankets, they brought their
kitchen chairs and they were so thankful. And I
can recall one mother telling me, 'cause she had four kids, and she's
like, I could not afford to take my kids to a movie theater. And she really was thankful that
we were able to provide a good movie, you know, for the kids in the park.
so thank you for having it at decons, and I hope that we, um, are
able to provide a movie in other parks in avondale too. Thank
you. No, thank you. Councilor white, I noticed
that we, um, we used to have a cool couple of cycle events that came
through avondale. Um, anything on the horizon, adding a cycle event. We have
quite a few running events, definitely. Now I like to see the fact that we have more
swimming events and I, I love all of the programming, but are we gonna do
any more biking? This, this might be a question for corey.
I'll try and speak on it. Based off of the, the feedback we got during our, our
master plan, that's not one of those, those things that ranked very high and
participation in, in that event previously was pretty low. Um, and
so the decision would made to reallocate those resources to, to events
and, and items that were, um, had much higher
participation in them. But I don't know if I'm speaking out of turn. Nope.
uh, mayor, vice mayor, council member white. Great. Uh, great question.
uh, the cycle avondale event was not, uh, achieving its registration goals
that, so we weren't seeing the growth or the interest in participation. Um, so it was an
opportunity for us to possibly pivot and attract, uh, a different market or provide services for
a different market of resident. Um, as we develop our new trail system and with
the success of our recent bond package, I think we'll develop a lot more linear
trail and path system for us to take advantage of, which will reduce the cost of us
hosting that style event. Because to really have a cycle that you want to have substantial
mileage, you know, 20, 30, 50 miles, um, for those cyclists
to really enjoy and to achieve that within our city without crossing or crossing
I 10 was becoming very expensive to achieve, um, for a small population of users.
um, so something we can continue to explore as we expand that trail system, or
if there's a desire to bring it back, we could look for alternative funding to do so.
I think, um, one of the things I'll, I'll say just in regards to your comment there, corey, is um,
the appreciation that I have for trying things and, you know, sometimes
they work and they take off and sometimes they don't. Uh, but not for the sake of
not trying. But at the same token in regards to, you know,
working with our residents money, it's important that we are
aware that if it's just not getting the traction that it deserves or that
we would like, that we don't offer it just for the sake of offering. It's gotta make financial
sense as well. And so far, all of the events that we've offered, I believe do that.
and if they don't, we're not offering 'em anymore. Uh, but off, uh, council member
conde's point, just being very mindful and you have been, uh,
the department has been of navigating the different parts
of the city, you know, not concentrating an event in one area over the other,
but really spreading it out, trying it out in pocket parks or smaller
parks. And while it may not be friendship deigning as a park, uh, just as
any others, and so the fact that your department is, is willing to try,
uh, and navigate these challenges or, uh, wins
if you will, um, then I'm, I'm really happy that we're able to provide those to the
residents and especially if they make sense. So there's no other comments.
thank you so much for the presentation. Appreciate it.
ron. Next item. Thank you mr. Mayor and council. Up next is brittany, your recreation
manager. She's gonna give you an update on the aquatic center.
good evening mayor, vice mayor and council members. My name is brittany shamsky
and I'm one of our recreation managers for parks, recreation and libraries department. And
today I'm going to be discussing our 2025 aquatic season.
just a quick overview before we dive into some of those details. Um, some things to highlight
now that we have two years worth of data, we're currently earning a 4.2
star review on google. Our swim lesson ratings are 4.7
out of five, which is up from 4.5 star from last year. We've
increased significantly the number of swim lessons and program offerings at the aquatic center.
and our room rentals and facility rentals have been so popular.
um, they've been busy every weekend and so we're looking at different ways to explore future
opportunities, beginning with
our swim lessons classes and teams. We had an astounding number
of participants this year. Just over 2,300 participants.
that includes the infant parent classes, our youth classes,
adult classes, fitness programs that include things like our paddleboard,
yoga, river fitness, um, our recreational swim teams,
and a new program of water polo this year. This is a huge accomplishment,
um, not only for our team to go from 1500 from last year,
but to 2,300 from this year, but that's a huge, um, opportunity
for our residents to get an additional 800 participants into a swimming lesson
program this year. Um, we also had our fire medical
department come out and teach adult cpr classes a couple times this
summer as well, um, which was a great opportunity for, um, some parents that
were kind of hanging out while their students were in the swim lessons themselves. They
actually took a cpr class
during our regular, um, swim hours. We call that our resident rec swim. We
saw over 58,000 purchase or swimmers, um, at our
facilities. This is about the same number as what it was last year. We saw
just about 60,000 last year, so it's a tiny bit less. But I do wanna
point out that although our weather has been beautiful this september and october,
we've gotten tons of rain. Great for arizona, great weather outside
doesn't always mean great weather at the pool. So we did see a little bit lower attendance,
um, in september and october than last year, but to be expected just due to that
weather. And then a really cool offering that we do have is that
we have the day passes that they can purchase in advance online
and we saw about 25% of our day passes being purchased in
advance.
the aquatic center is in a kind of unique situation in that it's the
bulk of its main season runs over two fiscal years. So our
main season opens to public in that april and then ends in october.
so we kind of see the end of one fiscal year and the start of the other. So looking at data
can be kind of funky sometimes. So I did wanna show, um, the last two years of
data, but it is, is broken into three fiscal years. Um, what we're seeing
is roughly $300,000 worth of revenue from last summer
and also from this past summer as well. If you look at fiscal year 2026,
which just started this july, we're already at $129,000
towards our 205,000, um, for annual revenue that we're
expecting. Some ways that we're hoping to continue to achieve
this and also to increase those numbers is to look at increased rental opportunities.
we know that our room rentals and our facility rentals are very, very popular. And so
we're looking at, um, potentially adding in some ramada rentals
throughout the facility as well for maybe some of those smaller parties to get more
families an opportunity to have that shared party space at the facility.
some of the events that we hosted this year was our annual wave fest event. So it's our
second annual, this is our kickoff event, um, for each season.
we typically start it in the morning with our fire department and also our police
department and our lifeguard team. This is something that they do internal where they run
a drill and they really get to see what that lifelike response is. And then
our actual public event is, um, with the
agu freea food and clothing bank where we had participants bring items for donation.
um, we worked with avondale toyota to help sponsor and of course our council
members as well to greet, um, our residents serve food and welcome
everybody to the kickoff of summer dive in movies were
added into our events as well. They've been super popular. We were
able to do three this past summer, um, and I think by the last one we were sold
out on tickets on there. So very, very popular. We love having those and we look
forward to having more this next year. The arizona lifeguard
challenge is a challenge, um, that unfortunately kind of paused when covid
started there, but we were able to revive it as of last year and we were fortunate
enough to host that event both last year, um, and for, sorry, 2024
and 2025. And we're looking at hosting that event this coming year, but
it's an opportunity for all the different cities and towns to come together
and, um, have a lifeguard challenge and just get to see kind of what other
cities are doing and to share that camaraderie for, um, our lifeguards.
um, one of the events mark mentioned as well was our dunkin dash. It was our first ever
dunkin dash. It was a swim and a run event. Um, this event got lots of great
feedback, um, for being hosted at night. It's our first night run that we've ever
done as well. So cool opportunity there. And a fun fact about that one.
um, we did receive a 4.9 star evaluation on that
one, although it is a first event. That's great. We got 4.9,
but 4.9 for anyone. We were super excited, so huge kudos to the team for
that one. Um, and then our last event I wanted to highlight was our
hispanic heritage slash bash. We did host this one, um,
in the mid-october and it was starting to get a little bit chilly, but we had tons of
festive music, we had crafts and our poolside laia. We are looking
at moving this one just a tiny bit earlier just in case there's some weather that happens again,
so that way we can get more people to enjoy that event.
um, because of our success of our wave fest program, we did
submit to the arizona parks and recreation association and we
actually won an award. Um, and our team was recognized at the annual a
pra conference for the outstanding aquatic program. This is a really great
opportunity for our team to be recognized for all their work and for you guys as well
and being a part of that, um, that event. And it's our second
year in a row of winning an award through a pra for the aquatic
center. Um, last year we were fortunate enough to win the outstanding facility
award as well, so we're really excited, um, for the possibility of what maybe year three
will bring us some community relationships.
we have, um, is with tulsa union high school district. They currently have
their high school swim teams that practice with us. Um, last year they had
three of their high school competitive teams practice and they increased this year to four.
so we're excited to see, um, the swim team kind of growing here in the west
valley. I mentioned a pra, um, our michael phelps foundation, oh,
I forgot to mention them earlier, sorry, . They, um, also help sponsor the
arizona lifeguard challenge as well. And they do host trainings here, um,
for their coaches and things like that. On occasion, we have our water
polo team, our phoenix water polo. Um, we increased, we're going
to increase from one team just during a summer recreational season. Um, due
to a success, we're gonna host one in the spring, summer and fall next year.
desert paddleboards was a new opportunity for a program, um, that was added
late in october. Um, and it was for our sound bath. So
we had live music, um, lots of calming sounds and it was just a great opportunity
to relax and the outdoors kind of all the sunset was going down and that's something we're
looking forward to continuing next year. And then just a huge shout out to our
food trucks. We did increase those from four participants last year to seven. So
lots more opportunities, um, to get local businesses in our centers and
also residents to get more variation in their food choices.
some things I wanted to point out for our season growth was just from year one,
from year two was just that increase of some lessons. Again, um, adding 800 extra
participants is a huge accomplishment for the team. Um,
we also nearly doubled our swim team numbers and this is our recreational
swim team. So one of the programs that the avenue aquatics center hosts is the summer
recreational league. Um, it's kind of like a learn to swim league. They're
getting the introduction of the four competitive strokes and really preparing potentially
even for high school swim or to come work for us as lifeguards or maybe just
regular endurance as well. But that team number also increased.
um, we are starting an internal program for our lifeguards
in order to help get them ready to apply for that lead lifeguard position.
we have two years under our belt now and we're hoping to always promote within
avondale if we can. We love outside people as well, but we wanna make sure we're providing enough
opportunity to get ready for those next steps. Um,
we are increasing, like I said, those, uh, pool booking options,
some ramada and potentially some additional late night rentals during our night swims since those
are very popular. And then, um, our programs that we're adding in for next
year is that expansion of our water polo and the sound bath
and all of that would not be possible without our amazing team in
green. Um, we were a family of 64 this year, so quite a
number of people in order to make it work. It took over 20,000 hours in
order to make this possible. Um, spread amongst all levels of our team,
ranging from cashier to instructor to our lead lifeguards. Um,
they're just such a phenomenal team. They're so great to work with. Um, I appreciate
them every day and make it fun to come to work, that's for sure . And if you
know anyone, make sure you let 'em know because we just started our recruitment actually this morning.
um, believe it or not, for 2026 recruitment, it did just open up. Today.
we will be hosting interviews in the end of january for training in
february and march for a grand opening in april. So it's a quick turnaround for
us. We do hire as young as 15 years old for a couple of our positions,
um, but most of them are 16 and above, but a great opportunity for
some first jobs out there. And they work really, really well with your school schedule.
some upcoming events, we have our spring hours that are gonna be kicking off
in april. This includes our lap swim and also our weekend hours. So that'll
be the april and may time where we're kind of doing that soft opening.
our annual wave fest. We're moving from the end of april more, um, towards
the beginning of april to give more opportunity to get more residents into that pool earlier
before it gets too hot. We want to give more nice, nice weather outside.
and then on april 12th we have the return of pups plunge. So bring your
pup hang out in the beach front area. Um, and we'll go ahead and have a great time.
it was a super cute event if you're able to make it in 2024 and we're excited
to bring it back this next year. Um,
ours hours will kick off memorial day weekend, so we're gonna be switching from
that weekend only schedule to a seven day a week schedule starting memorial day
weekend. Um, a lot of our guests are in school, but also so is our lifeguard
team. So with more opportunity for them to be out and about, we have more opportunity for
staff availability. And so we do switch from a weekend only to that seven day a week
starting memorial day weekend. We're gonna continue with dive in movies this
year. We have two that we're going to be hosting. I don't have the movie titles just yet, but
I'm sure they'll be fun. Um, and we'll get those started. Our arizona lifeguard
challenge coming up at the end of of june. And then our hispanic heritage
splash bash. We are, like I said, gonna be moving just a little bit earlier during that
hispanic heritage month to make sure we accommodate for nice weather that day.
and mayor, that concludes my presentation and if you have any questions, we'll take
this now. Thank you for the presentation, brittany. We appreciate it. Any council
members with questions or comments? Council member condi.
thank you, mayor. I just have a comment. Um, our family absolutely loves
going to the aquatics center. You know, we're one of the families that rent out,
you know, the room because it's just easier to have the kids there.
and I love it. We have a pool at our home, but we're always outside having to watch the kids and
making sure they're okay. This facility, I love it. The lifeguard, the jackets are there,
so they're for our little ones, put them right on. And so every time we're there, the
lifeguards are so kind, they do such a great job. And, um,
I just wanna thank you all for the work that you do every time we go. We've had a fantastic time,
so thank you. Thank you. Council member. Other
comments? I mean, what can I tell you? 58,000 visits,
that's quite, uh, the number. I'm so proud and happy to see that
many of our residents are utilizing the facility and I know that they've been after
one at least they've communicated to us that they've wanted an aquatic center for quite some
time. So the fact that we have one now, uh, just really helps out. And as you can see,
it's very, very busy. Uh, and I am, uh, definitely not opposed to shameless
plugs of of hiring, uh, new, new lifeguards, especially
his first jobs or as you mentioned, it works really well with their school schedules.
so if anybody knows anybody who is interested, you know, make sure they contact, uh,
parks and rec. But more importantly, it's just giving the residents an opportunity
and just another diverse amenity to utilize. And with the new park coming
across the way, the civic center park, I hope that that'll be incorporated in one way
or another, uh, as well. So I'm just all around happy with this amenity
and just look forward to more and more usage. And while the numbers may
have dipped in october for obvious reasons for weather, you can see that, um, attendance
has has not really been the issue. And so if there's no other comments,
oh, council member weiss yeah, thank you brittany for the presentation.
one of the things that I just love is the fact that you guys, um, did programming
for parents while the kids were doing the swim lessons and it was life
saving. And I also wanna, uh, thank the fire and police for also
working with you for the lifeguard training. I just think that's amazing. Um, you're
giving our residents what they deserve, safety, and I just appreciate it. Thank
you. Thank you. One last comment and that is water polo. That's
gotta be really cool. I have to go out there and check this out at some point. But who would've thought
that we'd be offering water polo in this part of the valley, but more importantly that it's gaining
some steam? So that's really good to hear. Yes, . Awesome. Okay.
thank you so much, brittany. We appreciate the thank you mayor council. Thank you.
okay. At this time, summary of current events
we have. Okay, council member solorio, uh, council
member white and myself, um, had the opportunity to be, uh, two weeks
ago in salt lake city, utah for, uh, the national league of cities,
um, which is just a wonderful conference that went over so many things.
and, um, I was in a, in the running, as I had mentioned to a few of you guys,
it feels like I've been in the running for the past six months on a position on a national
level. So I did fortunately get in and it is
a huge thank you to current mayor, past mayor
and prior mayor, uh, for providing letters of recommendation. You
get your state league's permission. And then I also had an amazing dual
letter from senator, uh, mark, uh, kelly and senator ruben gallegos.
that went a huge way. Avondale is, has been part of
national league for many, many years, but we haven't had representation on the board
since 2013. So I'm very excited for that position.
very good. Any other council members updates?
okay, council member pany, I don't have an update, but I do wanna congratulate, um,
council member white and council member, um, solorio,
um, for your elected, newly elected official, uh, positions at
national leagues of city. And thank you guys for your time and your dedication. I know you both
have jobs and you guys have family, so to take the time to
go fly out and represent avondale, um, you guys both do it well. And I
just wanna thank you both personally and congratulate you. Council
member white. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. Thank you, um, as
well. Um, council member condi, thank you so much. Uh, council member solo
for your support. I did win, uh, reelection. I was the only person elected to
a second term, um, and the national, uh, council, uh, the,
the black council local elected officials. So I was very proud to have won that election
with 40% of the vote. And it's a pretty competitive role in the room.
so, um, I was very honored to do that. And I wanted to also, um, thank
liz barker for being our support person on site and also coordinating, um,
with myself and council member solorio to prepare our applications to,
um, submit to nlc. But I'm very proud to serve nbc leo
for a second term as their parliamentarian. Well,
I had the pleasure, uh, last week of joining, and I see martina
back there from ks heart, uh, serving, um, thanksgiving
lunch at the mercy house, uh, my second year being able to
participate. And I, I just first, I, I appreciate the invitation, but more
importantly, just what they all do, a lot of it you can tell, uh, is truly from the
heart. Um, you know, it's, they're not huge organizations. They're
still deeply rooted here in avondale. And so the impact has definitely felt and
much appreciated. Martina, thank you so much. And in addition, uh,
going and attending the thanksgiving lunch at the senior center
last week, I mean, if you want a, an ego boost, and
I'm sure you're all aware that all you have to do is go to our senior center and they just make
you feel so welcome. They love to take pictures. I was watching them
compete in a, um, corn hole competition.
uh, and just, it's just so much fun. And thank you, uh, to the, uh,
rotary, uh, astraya mountain, uh, rotary for participating
and, um, giving meals as well. It was just an overall great time. So chris
and staff, thank you for the hospitality and, and more importantly, thank you for
their service you provide to our seniors. Uh, it was a great time. I look forward to the next one.
any other council members, if not okay with,
with time to spare, if we can get a motion to adjourn?
we got a motion from council member solorio, a second from council member white,
please vote. Thank you so much. Thank you everybody for
being here to drive safe and we'll see you at the next meeting.