BUCKEYE — The Buckeye City Council only needed about 12 minutes to get through Tuesday night’s short agenda.
There were no hearing or action items on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting, so the consent agenda was one of the only items to approve.
The consent agenda, which was approved unanimously, included a set of grants for nonprofits in the Buckeye area. A committee reviewed 10 grant applications and recommended council fund eight of them. Council accepted the committee’s recommendation.
The grants will be awarded to All Faith Community Services, which will receive $25,000. The nonprofit’s emergency food assistance and resources to individuals, families, children, and seniors who are at risk of having food insecurity.
Also receiving funding are the Buckeye Police Foundation ($11,000), the Homeless Youth Connection ($5,000), the Meals of Joy program ($5,000), Sounds of Autism ($5,000), the Southwest Lending Closet ($6,000), the West-MEC Alliance ($2,500) and Youth4Youth ($10,000).
Some of the nonprofits received less in a committee recommendation to council than the total they initially requested. Two organizations are set to receive zero of the dollars they sought.
Village Community and Recreation Center asked for $47,000 for their program that provides compensation to teachers in its summer tutoring/mentoring program and supplies teacher kits to classrooms in the city of Buckeye. The committee recommended zero funding for this grant.
Summit Community Church asked for $7,500 to help put on “Family Hope Fest 2023.” That’s a family health and wellness event focusing on mental health. It offers families connections to local fire, police, health and safety resources. The committee decided to recommend council not fund that program.
Other items approved by passage of the consent agenda Tuesday include a $600,000 system water meter purchase and a $500,000 engineering contract.
The Engineering Department requested the $500,000 contract with Michael Baker International, Inc., for civil plan review services in the second quarter of 2023. The firm will assist with civil plan reviews and other project-related services.
The council also met in executive session Tuesday to review applicants for the vacant city attorney position.
Tuesday afternoon, council attended a workshop that included a presentation and discussion by city staff and the Olsson Studio about the Buckeye Downtown Specific Area Plan. This will be covered in an upcoming Independent Newsmedia story.
Jason W. Brooks is a News editor for the Daily Independent and the Chandler Independent.
He covers the Chandler area for both yourvalley.net and the monthly print edition while writing for and assisting in the production of the Daily Independent.
Brooks is a well-traveled journalist who has documented life in small American communities in nearly all U.S. time zones.
Born in Washington, D.C. and raised there and in suburban Los Angeles, he has covered community news in California, New Mexico, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska and northern Arizona.
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