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For the Week Ending
February 11, 2022
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It is Official! 'Returning to Normal' Coming Soon!
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We watch the covid benchmarks daily and confer with our pre-determined data sources from the State and Maricopa County Department of Health Services, and the CDC. Assuming the current trends continue, starting March 14, 2022 the Town intends to conduct all its public meetings in person.
The Town process to officially 'return to normal (YAY!) is to rescind Resolution 2020-08 unanimously adopted by the full Council on March 17, 2020 . A 20-day transition period is needed so that the Town may begin advertising in the newspaper and providing other public notice, as required by state and local law, that public hearings for the Board of Adjustment, Planning Commission, and Town Council will be held in-person at Town Hall.
After Resolution 2020-08 has been rescinded the wearing masks will no longer be encouraged in the Town Offices...although those who wish to wear them may continue to do so of course.
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Crime Mapping Portal for Residents, Officers, Analysts and Command Staff |
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The PD launched a new software tool called Socrata and trained on it yesterday. Socrata provides different tools for different users.
For the public, there will be a crime mapping portal that will let residents and others search for any call types of interest. It will allow them to search on their own parameters and will provide information that is available to the public.
The same tool is available for our officers, but it will provide more details of any and all call types they are researching.
For our Crime Analyst, it provides a full analytics package that will allow her to look at crime trends over time and help her assist our detectives in linking and solving crimes.
For our Chief and Command Staff, it provides high-level dashboarding to represent what is happening with crime trends over time and displays it in a graphical format for easy evaluation.
PVPD will be testing the product for the next two weeks and will be rolling it out to the public and our full staff shortly after.
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SHORT-TERM RENTALS in the MEDIA |
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PV's STR Ordinance in the News
The Town of Paradise Valley's leadership in the reduction of party houses has been in the news since the Town Council passed Ordinance 2022-03. Check out some of the stories below:
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Community Development Drastically Reduces Timeline on Issuing Permits |
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Recently, two members of our PV Building Department retired taking with them a combined 40 years of experience and institutional knowledge. It seems like a loss of that magnitude would cause a backlog in the issuing of permits, but yet, the remaining staff--though short-handed and seeing an increase in workload--managed to reduce the average plan review time from 6-7 weeks to 3!
Building/demolition permits are not all created equal. In January 2022, 82 permits were issued and in December 2021, 84 permits were issued. It looks roughly the same, but when you compare the value of the work being being conducted (in this case $20,606,822 and $14,441,659, respectively) you can begin to see that the 82 permits issued in January were for larger, more complex projects. These projects require additional time and work to review.
So how did the Building Department staff pull off this amazing feat of cutting the permitting time in half with fewer people? Hard work, for sure, but also through key changes to their process. Much of the application process is now online streamlining the intake and issuance processes. The reviewers looked at their processes and were able to find efficiencies that allow them to review the plans faster with the same level of quality and detail.
The table below (click on image to enlarge) shows the number of permits so far for fiscal year 2022. Click here to drill down into the January 2022 permits to see the types of permits being approved.
Thank you, Team PV Building for your great work on improving the permitting process!
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PV Police Officer Trainings to Keep Their Available Tools and Skills Top in the Field |
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We started our department wide training on Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics (ICAT) this week. ICAT is a training program that provides police officers with the tools, skills, and options they need to successfully and safely defuse a range of critical incidents. ICAT takes the essential building blocks of critical thinking, crisis intervention, communications, and tactics, and puts them together in an integrated approach to training. The department will be fully trained in the program by the end of the month. |
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PVPD hosted a valley wide Taser instructor program. Sgt. DiVenti, Detective Hadley and Detective Jensen became certified Taser instructors. This Taser certification allows officers to train the rest of the department in becoming efficient with the use of the Taser. |
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Town of PV Earns Recognition as a Tree City USA for 2021 |
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The Town of Paradise Valley has received Tree City USA recognition for 2021. The Tree City USA program is run by the Arbor Day Foundation to encourage urban forestation.
Committing to a tree planting, maintenance, and replacement program has several benefits for the community:
- Trees help absorb the sounds of traffic in urban areas by 40%.
- Neighborhoods with trees are seven to nine degrees cooler than those without.
- Trees reduce energy costs up to 25% by shading buildings and protecting them from winter winds.
- Homes with trees have higher property values.
- Green space plays a major role in improving mental and physical health.
- Planting and maintaining trees absorbs carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, mitigating the effects of climate change.
This is the Town's 22nd year as a Tree City. The application process involves providing statistics on our tree program, meeting budget benchmarks, and this year, an additional requirement of a new tree ordinance codifying current practices. The Council adopted Ordinance 2021-05 at its November 18, 2021 meeting.
Thanks to our Public Works department for all their hard work, especially Arborist Roberto Olivos, Superintendent Jerry Cooper, and Director Brent Skoglund!
Photo Below: Staff and Council plant a tree for Arbor Day, 2019
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Summary of the February 10th Town Council Meeting |
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Study Sessions:
- 2021 International Fire Code adoption and local amendments were presented by Building Official Chuck Ransom. Council consideration of adopting these codes is scheduled for February 24th.
- Overview of Possible Code Amendments was discussed with the Council by Community Development Director Lisa Collins. The possible code amendments are aimed at cleaning up internal code inconsistencies and improving notification and transparency with the public.
- General Plan Overview included a change by change review of the draft General Plan in order to be responsive and inclusive of resident input. The Council will consider adoption of this plan and call of election for Voter approval at its March 10th Council meeting.
- Discussion on whether to make Council meeting dates in November and December consistent with the rest of the year. Council directed staff to return with a consent item for its consideration.
Action Items:
- Authorized the Town Manager to execute a contract with Cleargov in the amount not to exceed $115,000 and to waive the 14-day wait period to sign agreements. This contract furthers the Town’s goal of improving digital citizen services in the areas of finance, budgeting, and capital improvement planning automation. The Council authorized using contingency funds freed up from American Rescue Plan Act funds to pay for the software system.
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Council Interviews Exceptional Residents and Select Few
As was stated repeatedly throughout the Council interviews, we are so fortunate to have the highest of residents who are willing to volunteer to for the benefit of the Town.
Board of Adjustment: Eric Liebsohn
Municipal Property Corporation: Martin Galbut and Jonathan Wainwright
Paradise Valley Mountain Preserve Trust (PVMPT): Steve Evans and George Getz
And, all incumbents who wanted to continue to volunteer were reappointed.
Hillside Committee: Scott Tonn
Planning Commission: Charles Covington
PSPRS: James Van Houten
PV Arts Board: Laura Paquelet-Carpinelli
PVMPT: Joan Levinson
Personnel Appeals Board: Ron Clarke and Deborah Corso
ACOPS: Tim Dickman, Jim Hawthorne, and Mark Winograd
Council Meets with Resort General Managers
In addition to the Council Meeting, this week the Mayor and Council took part in a Zoom meeting with our local resort GMs and Experience Scottsdale to discuss their program of work.
This meeting allowed the Town to continue to strengthen its partnership and good working relationship with the resorts and support the strong Experience Scottsdale team.
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Upcoming Town Meetings and Events |
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February 15th - Planning Commission, 6:00 pm via Zoom
February 16th - Short-Term Rental Ordinance Q&A, 1:00 pm via Zoom (the meeting will be recorded and posted on the Town's website)
February 21st - Presidents Day (Post Office and Town Hall Closed)
February 23rd - PV Arts Board: Student Art Show, 5:30 pm (location: Town Hall Community Room)
February 24th - Town Council Meeting, 3:00 Study Session; 6:00 pm Council Meeting (location: TBD)
March 1st - Planning Commission, 6:00 pm (location: TBD)
March 2nd - Board of Adjustment, 5:30 pm (location: TBD)
March 9th - Hillside Building Committee, 8:00 am (location: TBD)
March 10th - Town Council Meeting, 3:00 Study Session; 6:00 pm Council Meeting (location: TBD)
March 15th - Planning Commission, 6:00 pm (location: Town Hall)
March 24th - Town Council Meeting, 3:00 Study Session; 6:00 pm Council Meeting (location: Town Hall)
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Remember to check the Town's website for meeting updates, changes, and agendas.
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Downloadable/Printable Town Information |
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Quick Links to Useful Resources |
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