Oro Valley’s Town Council voted 7-0 to set aside $500,000 to finish the Vistoso Trails pond area, voted 7-0 to pause work on annexing the 888 acres of State Trust Land at Tangerine and Thornydale, and voted 6-0 with one abstention to start a fast-track code change that bars data centers by right in every zoning district. All seven members attended the October 7 regular session.
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.
| Item | Motion | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Executive session | Go into executive session for legal advice on personnel matters | 7-0 |
| Consent items B through E | Approve DEA task force, fifth school resource officer and two traffic safety grants | 7-0 |
| September 16 minutes | Correct the record to show Councilmember Joyce Jones-Ivey attended by Zoom | 7-0 |
| Vistoso pond (item 2) | Allocate $500,000 from contingency for ADA trails, grading, irrigation and turf | 7-0 |
| Land and Water Conservation Fund grant (item 3) | Rework the application, lift the $200,000 cap and report back | 7-0 |
| Tangerine 888 annexation (item 4) | Pause work on the state land annexation and focus on Oracle and Ina | 7-0 |
| Data centers (item 5) | Start a code amendment with special sessions October 27 and 28 | 6-0, one abstention |
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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