Dallas Paulsen takes oath as the newest member of City Council

Dallas Paulsen raised his right hand and swore to uphold the duties of his recent appointment to complete the remaining term of a recently departed member of City Council on Tuesday at the body’s first regular session this year.

He then, along with the rest of the Council members who each attended, voted unanimously to pass every item on the night’s agenda.

Those actions included:

• Approval of a zoning change amendment to the Avalea Master Planned Community being developed by Shea Homes and Fulton Homes that designated less space for higher-density housing and more to single-family homes, while allowing an additional 5 feet in height for higher-density areas for the purpose of proposed three-story apartments or patio homes.

• Approval of the purchase of a mobile water tanker at a cost of up to $330,000 to allow the Maricopa Fire Department to serve all areas, including those rural parcels without fire hydrant access.

• Approval of a cherry picker vehicle designed to maintain traffic signals and street lights at a cost of up to $84,000.

“It wasn’t much different,” Paulsen said afterward, of his first experience being on the other side instead of a member of the audience. “We’ve gotten the packets ever since the city was founded and I read them as much now as I did then. It’s going to be fun.”

Paulsen had been a regular City Council meeting attendee long before his appointment last month to fill the vacancy left when former Councilman Stephen Baker left Maricopa to pursue other interests. He is juggling the assignment with a full-time position he plans to maintain as a manager for a civil engineering firm in Chandler.

In other business, Mayor Kelly Anderson noted that he’d approved an emergency expenditure in the amount of $26,000 to replace exterior doors at City Hall. The purchase was necessary, he said, to bring the building into compliance with the fire code.

Photos by RuthAnn Hogue