The Fountain Hills Town Council unanimously voted to authorize staff to apply for federal aid funding for an urban trail along Glenbrook Boulevard.

The Maricopa County Association of Governments (MAG) would provide $700,000 to complete the McDowell Mountain Urban Trail plan. The Town would pay $250,000 for the project, which would follow Glenbrook Boulevard.

One consequence of the completion of the trail along Glenbrook is to slow traffic.

Glenbrook Boulevard, according to Town Engineer Randy Harrel, carries about 2,000 cars a day. The pedestrian walkway off the existing roadway would result in the narrowing of Glenbrook, therefore slowing traffic. The walkway will be detached from the roadway at a distance of four to 20 feet. No timeline was given for when the grant may be awarded.

Preserve

In another action, the council voted to continue the McDowell Mountain Preservation Commission.

It had been considered to consolidate MMPC with the Community Services Advisory Board.

After discussion, it was unanimously decided to allow the MMPC to continue as its own entity.

The proposal to consolidate the two entities occurred during a period when staff was duplicating effort with both groups. However, MMPC has a very clear mission, according to Town Manager Grady Miller.

Bill Myers, chairman of the MMPC, said the commission has 23 objectives for 2017, which includes other items outside of trail building.

“We are improving our 911 coverage, we have new map updates and fire updates,” Myers said. “And we will continue our trail building.”

He added that MMPC has a number of contacts throughout the Valley that enables the commission to utilize a number of resources.

Walter Maywald, a member of the audience, remarked that keeping MMPC as is would be in the best interest of the town.

“They keyword is preserve,” he said.

He recommended the council let the deadline pass to consolidate MMPC and Community Services. The council voted unanimously to keep them separate.

The council also appointed two Planning and Zoning Commissioners to serve two-year terms beginning Oct. 1. The commissioners are incumbent Susan Dempster and Chris Jones. Both were thanked for their work as P&Z commissioners.

Park Place

The council adjourned to executive session at the end of the regular meeting. Two members of the public implored the council to carefully consider its decisions regarding the Park Place project.

Gene Mikolajczyk made a presentation asking the council to consider what instructions the council would give to the town’s staff and legal advisers on the Park Place developer’s non-payment of required fees.

Former Town Councilman Mike Archambault also addressed the topic of development fees and asked what message would be sent concerning future developments if the development fees for Park Place were waived.

“I have seen these scare tactics,” Archambault said. “You have the idea that a project may sit idle while parties work out the problems. But projects will be restarted. Just don’t bow to that.”