PRL Director to Council: ‘We need to ramp up our efforts’

A new venue saw a packed house for the city council’s first-ever meeting at the Global Water Facility Tuesday evening. When the night was over, just where and how the City would spend some of its $93 million budget was up in the air.

Parks, Recreation and Libraries Director Marty McDonald came before the council requesting permission to issue an RFP (Request for Proposal) to acquire land or lease commercial/retail space or land for a possible library, possible park, possible aquatic center, possible multigenerational center or other recreational use.

According to McDonald, Pacana Park is too small for a number of events, the current library is bulging at the seams, and there are not enough recreation venues for residents to enjoy.

“We need to be creative and think outside the box in acquiring land or leasing land,” McDonald said. “We need to ramp up our efforts.” McDonald added that while building is not necessarily needed right now, acquiring land in some capacity is key.

Councilman Kelly Haddad said that McDonald’s staff is crippled at this point and needs more money to get a number of desired projects done. “$5 million is a start, but you need a lot more than that,” Haddad said.

Councilman Joseph Estes moved to have council issue the RFP as requested, but Councilman Will Dunn expressed concerns.

“I’m a big fan of Marty, but among my concerns are that we recently approved a $93 million budget, but that doesn’t mean we will spend all of it,” Dunn said. “If we open up an RFP with just parks and the library, I don’t think we’re focused on all of the community’s needs.”

Dunn suggested before going forward with an RFP, a proposal of just what exactly is needed should be put forth. “It takes people like you (McDonald) to get things done… I just think we need a few more people in the discussion,” Dunn said.

Haddad suggested that council needs to get behind Marty, but Dunn again suggested that council spend some more time talking about the exact needs of the department. “We owe it to the citizens as this is a huge step,” Dunn added.

Interim City Manager Roger Kolman suggested a work session be held on the matter at one of council’s meetings in August. Kolman added the Planning Department should be included as all involved try and determine when and where the City acquire or lease land for more parks and library facilities.

In other matters, council discussed opening up the recruitment process for the formation of a Merit Board.

Human Capital Manager Karen Shaffer noted her department’s request for approval to open the recruitment process for the Board, which would consist of five members. Council was asked to recruit for a period of 30 days, beginning July 18.

The members would include non-paid City of Maricopa municipal employees, non-elected City of Maricopa officials and non-appointed City of Maricopa employees. The members would be appointed by a council majority vote and serve staggered terms of two years per member. Council could remove a member for cause at any time other than during an ongoing grievance or appeal process when the removal of a Board member could either positively or negatively affect the outcome of the Board decision.

Resident Carl Diedrich asked for pause before any action was taken on forming the Board, questioning what the legal liability of such a board is. City Attorney Denis Fitzgibbons noted there would be no legal liability since the Board would be insured under the City’s liability policies.

With some debate still in the air on how to form the Board and criteria used to choose members, Kolman said it may be best to come back to the next council meeting and discuss what criteria would be looked for or not have any criteria at all.

Council also addressed the issue of selecting a vendor to provide recruitment services to assist in choosing a city manager. Kolman is presently serving as interim city manager. Rick Buss, who had been city manager since 2004, chose to move recently to assistant city manager, saying he wanted to spend more time with his children.

Shaffer noted that five firms were selected, and the process had narrowed the search down to two. California-based Ralph Andersen & Associates appeared to have the inside track, with Shaffer speaking highly of them.

“They (RA&A) asked me questions,” Shaffer said. “They asked me why we want to do this recruitment, they asked questions about Maricopa. They got to know us first before they sent in their proposal.” Shaffer added that the company has a consultant in Arizona and a former chief of police does their background checks.

Council also approved a resolution increasing the property tax levy by $2,731,572.00 to a total tax levy of $6,181,572.00. It was noted to council that this tax levy reduces taxes in Maricopa by $1.66 per hundred.

Council will next meet on Tuesday, Aug. 7, at 7 p.m. at the Global Water Facility, 22590 N. Powers Parkway.