Public art and parking standards were discussed in a joint session with Fountain Hills Town Council and the Planning and Zoning Commission Thursday, Sept. 28.

P&Z Chair Mike Archambault raised the question about whether the public art requirement needed to be revisited.

“We haven’t looked into this in a long time,” he said. “Do we want to revise the ordinance; are there other things we need to look for? Should we talk about hardscape or specialized pieces?”

Former Mayor Jerry Miles, also a member of Fountain Hills Public Art Committee, attended the meeting and addressed the two entities.

“The basic format of acquiring art goes back to when I was mayor,” Miles said.

After a discussion about how art is acquired and criteria applied to art under consideration, all parties were in agreement that the current ordinance affords flexibility to feature a number of different kinds of art.

Town Manager Grady Miller said other cities use memberships in museums to borrow art in a way similar to borrowing a library book.

He added that the town is on target following procedures were established to add to the town’s public art collection.

“There is plenty of flexibility in the ordinance as it is now,” he said.

The Town requires that each new development dedicate 1 percent of the building cost for public art.

Miles said Bart Shea, developer of Park Place, is on board to work with the public arts committee for the public art piece in that development.

CopperWynd, in its expansion, also is looking at opportunities to feature art both inside and outside the hotel.

A discussion about the importance of exposing children to art also took place.

P&Z member Amberleigh Dabrowski noted that she would like to see art with an educational focus.

“STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs are converting to STEAM programs (adding art to the acronym),” she said.

Miles said the committee has always tried to work with the schools.

“We think it is very important for young people to be involved,” he said.

Mayor Linda Kavanagh said there is a program written for children to view the art works in Centennial Circle.

“I think Grace (Rodman-Guetter, marketing and communication coordinator for the town) has taken that over,” Kavanagh said. “But Grace has a lot of different roles. I am not sure where she is in implementing the program for this year.”

Miller said he will talk to staff and consider doing a checklist for art acquisition.

“I’d say 98 percent of our acquisitions have been very well done, but maybe there are modifications that could be made,” he said. “We’ll take a look at it.”

No action was taken on the discussions. Council and P&Z members thanked Miles and the Public Art Committee for their work.

Parking

The other item discussed at the meeting was parking standards. Senior Planner Marissa Moore presented a report on a variety of parking issues, which will be revisited by Planning and Zoning and the Council.

At the end of the parking discussion, the joint session was adjourned, and the Planning and Zoning Commission members met briefly to approve the minutes of their August meeting and to appoint a parking committee to work with Moore. Erik Hansen, Susan Dempster and Eugene Mikolajczyk will serve on the committee.

Archambault

The Sept. 28 meeting was Archambault’s final meeting with P&Z. Mikolajczyk commended him for all the years of service to the town.

“This ends your official service to the town,” Mikolajczyk said. “We know you love Fountain Hills. You are an inspiration, a mentor. We appreciate all you have done.”

Commissioner Howie Jones said he hopes the last meeting doesn’t end Archambault’s service to the town.

“I learned something from my parents that once you achieve something, it’s time to let it go,” Archambault said. “It has to grow its own legs and be out on its own. I did that with my kids. I think that is what I am doing with my service to the town.”

He adjourned the meeting saying, “I’m never very far away.”