Voice of the Council: October 7, 2026

Disclaimer. This report was created from the Town Council recording of October 7, 2026, with help from the agenda packet. Some parts of the recording were garbled, so a few names, quotes, and details may be incomplete or inaccurate. Those spots are marked in brackets. Please check the video or the Town Clerk’s official minutes for the final record.

Votes at a glance

Council went into executive session at 5:02 p.m. and returned at 6:18 p.m. Mayor Joseph Winfield apologized to the audience for the late start. No action was needed on the executive session follow-up item.

Vistoso Trails pond

Council voted 7-0 to allocate $500,000 from contingency to finish the ADA trails around the pond plus the grading, irrigation and turf. Vice Mayor Melanie Barrett made the motion and Councilmember Mary Murphy seconded it.

Public Works staff had put the added cost at about $425,000 and suggested $500,000 to leave a cushion. Unspent contingency would go back to the budget. Chief Financial Officer David Gephart said the money should come from the capital fund contingency, because the project is already paid from that fund. The motion kept the word “contingency” and staff said they understood the intent.

Ten people spoke, most of them residents, and all urged Council to finish the project. Several said stopping would cost more later and leave the site looking abandoned. Joe Bell asked Council to finish grading, irrigation and trails now and save the grant for extras like benches and ramadas. Matt Wood, chair of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, said Bermuda sod does best when laid in spring. Rosa Daly said residents would work to donate plantings.

Staff updates

• Schedule. Public Works Director and Town Engineer Paul Keesler said the project was on track to finish January 31, 2027, before a recent storm. He now expects mid-February. The contract deadline is May 11, 2027. Sod would go in last, around that date.
• Liner. The old liner turned out to be plastic, not clay, and the new liner’s supplier wants more of it removed. Kiesler expects a change order for that work. He told residents the pond project is not stopping.
• Budget. The original scope is about $17,000 over, with a $176,000 change order still under negotiation. A contractor bid for grading came in at $82,000 against a $72,000 estimate. Turf adds about $130,000.
• New grant. Assistant Town Manager Karl Shaddock said the Town was accepted for a $55,000 Tohono O’odham Nation grant [grant name garbled in the recording] for restoration work and interpretive signs. He also reported a $136,000 invasive plant grant that the Town matches with volunteer hours.

Parks and Recreation Director Rosalyn Epting said the finished area will have a pond, a trail loop, turf, plantings, six ramadas, benches, trash cans, and two added trails. She described a Sonoran Desert look, not a golf course. Barrett told the audience that no one on Council meant to delay the project.

Grant for preserve amenities (R26-43)

Council voted 7-0 to send the Land and Water Conservation Fund application back to staff for changes. Barrett moved to rework the application to match the pond vote, avoid capping next year’s match at $200,000, and return with a report on the new version and any other eligible features. Councilmember Josh Nicolson seconded. The recording does not show a vote on the resolution itself, so the application has not been authorized.

Barrett argued that the grant is a 50-50 match, so a larger Town share attracts more outside money. Epting said the 0.8-acre pond lawn will come out of the application and that costs for trees, the pond trail, and restroom work have gone up. She said she will build in more room for price increases, since the 10 percent already included was not enough.

Epting also noted two grant rules. Nothing on the list can be started before applying, and the whole project must be finished before reimbursement. Councilmember Elizabeth Robb asked about exercise stations along the trail. Epting said they would qualify.

Rosa Daly asked Council to speed up the restroom near the former driving range. It has no electrical service and needs ADA upgrades. Epting said Public Works has plans and needs to update the costs. Roy Hoff signed up to speak and said he had no need to after the pond vote.

Tangerine 888 annexation

Council voted 7-0 to direct staff to pause work on the state land annexation and stay focused on Oracle and Ina. Barrett made the motion, and Murphy seconded it, according to the recording. Part of the motion’s wording is garbled in the recording, so the exact text needs confirming against the minutes. The vote pauses the effort. It does not reject annexation.

Council took a short break and resumed the item at 8 p.m. Three people who live in the unincorporated area near the property spoke against annexation. Miriam Kirsten, Diana Barnes and Trevor Kruzmer [names garbled in the recording, spellings unconfirmed] cited wildlife corridors, heritage saguaros, groundwater use and the loss of open desert.

Principal Planner Michael Spaeth said the town has been the applicant since 2018. Later in the discussion, a staff member (speaker unclear in the recording) told Council that staff are neutral and that members who are unsure should not proceed, since neighborhood meetings would draw strong opposition.

• Plan. The north concept has about 628 homes and roughly 35 percent open space. The south concept has about 1,140 homes, roughly 173,500 square feet of commercial space and about 41 percent open space.
• Money. Staff estimated about $24.5 million in one-time receipts and about $3.2 million a year in recurring revenue at full build-out. Road maintenance would cost about $1 million over ten years. Police modeling found no new officers needed, with up to two if calls run high.
• Water. Water Utility Director Peter Abraham said the state’s July 2026 assured water supply decision counts the 888 acres. He said full build-out would raise Town water demand about 7 percent. He also corrected last year’s statement and confirmed a reclaimed water main runs along Tangerine Road. He said he needs to run rate models before saying whether existing customers’ rates would change.
• State Land. Staff said the State Land Department will not split the property, so the town cannot take only the south half.

Members pushed back on commercial viability. Winfield said many tenants at the Oro Valley Marketplace, such as tax preparers and insurance offices, do not generate sales tax. Nicolson questioned how much of the revenue is impact fees, which pay for growth-related infrastructure, and noted that state shared revenue comes with the cost of serving residents. Barrett said she was more interested in the south half and that State Land pressed the town to take the north half. Murphy suggested waiting for the new Council to be seated. Jones-Ivey said she saw no clear benefit.

Data centers

Council voted 6-0 with one abstention to start a code amendment making clear that data centers are not allowed by right in any zoning district. Barrett made the motion and Murphy seconded it. The abstaining member’s name is unclear in the recording.

Barrett said gaps in Town Code could allow data centers in several zoning districts, and that she wanted to close them quickly. She described a second phase for the next Council, with study of noise, water and energy use alongside Tucson and Pima County.

The motion sets the pace.

• A special session of the Planning and Zoning Commission on or before October 27.
• A special Council session on October 28.
• A moratorium while the work is done, to the degree possible.

Community and Economic Development staff raised the notice period. The Town must post properties and notify owners of C-1, C-2 and tech park land, which takes about 20 days.

Consent agenda and minutes

Council voted 7-0 to approve consent items B through E. The Mayor pulled item A, the September 16 minutes. Barrett noted the fifth school resource officer is covered by an Amphitheater School District grant.

Jones-Ivey said the draft minutes listed her as absent, though she attended by Zoom after a long delay getting connected. Council voted 7-0 to correct the record. The recording does not capture a separate vote to approve the minutes as corrected.

Proclamation

The Mayor read a proclamation honoring Colonel Timothy G. Tarris and the U.S. Army Air Corps Commemoration Flight. It marks the Air Corps’ 100th anniversary. Tarris, a retired Air Force pilot and longtime Oro Valley resident, flew a replica World War I Jenny trainer from Marana Regional Airport in June. A landing accident in Colorado ended the trip after 10 states. Tarris thanked those who helped him along the way, as well as his wife, Vicki.

Community notes

• Spotlight on Youth. Jones-Ivey honored an eighth grader at Leman Academy [student’s name garbled in the recording] for volleyball, church youth group service and giving school tours.
• Project Grad. Canyon del Oro’s panel-painting workday is Saturday, October 10, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Car show. The Rotary Club’s 20th annual car show is October 24 at Gregory School. Tickets are $10, with a 2026 Corvette Stingray, valued at $40,000, as the grand prize. Part of the proceeds support Project Grad.
• Town events. Movies in the park is October 10 at Riverfront Park. Spooktacular is October 17 at JDK Park. Registration for fall break nature camp (October 12 to 16) closes October 8 at noon.
• Prop 431. Information on the OV Path Forward general plan is at ovpathforward.com. The vote is November 3.
• Call to Audience. No one signed up.

What’s next

• October 12, 5 p.m. Water Utility Commission, Hopi Conference Room.
• October 20, 4 p.m. Budget and Finance Commission, Council Chambers.
• October 21, 6 p.m. Town Council regular session. A member (unclear in the recording) asked to add a discussion of Council pay, citing a recent raise in Marana.
• October 27 and 28. Special sessions on the data center code change.
• The Stormwater Utility Commission meeting on October 15 is canceled.

About this report

This overview is based on the audio recording of the October 7 meeting and the published agenda packet. Vote counts are as announced at the dais. The Town Clerk’s official minutes will be the final record. Passages marked as garbled or unclear could not be heard reliably in the recording and should be checked against the video or the minutes.