Maricopa County Board of Supervisors — Formal Meeting

Wednesday, October 21, 2026, 9:30 AM

Supervisors' Auditorium, 205 W. Jefferson, Phoenix, AZ 85003 (doors open 30 minutes before the meeting)

Agenda: https://mccobagenda.databankcloud.com/AgendaOnline/Meetings/ViewMeeting?id=4741&doctype=1

• MARBLE CAKE GOVERNMENT ALERT: Wednesday's Maricopa agenda would rezone about 5,157 acres in Tonopah for industrial use that allows energy-production structures up to 150 feet and battery storage, with no site plan attached yet. Item 17, Belmont 4 (Case Z260020), changes the land from Rural-43 to industrial. Solar panels and battery storage would not count toward the 75% lot coverage limit, and the rules also set standards for data centers. Under condition h, the site plan, including any battery yard, would get "administrative approval" from County staff and would not come back to the Board. The 1,510-page packet says nothing about where the batteries or their minerals come from. Staff reports "no known opposition," but the packet includes a September 22 letter for Toyota's nearby proving grounds raising water and land-sinking (subsidence) concerns and asking for hydrology reports and groundwater recharge as conditions.

• Item 55 would approve a $865,703 Department of Homeland Security (FEMA) BioWatch air-monitoring award through July 31, 2027. DHS pays all of it, with no County match, but the County must accept the full list of DHS grant terms. Those include giving DHS access to program records, facilities, and staff; certifying it will share immigration-status information with federal officials and honor immigration detainer requests; and posting a public privacy policy if it collects personal information. DHS can end the award at any time "for convenience." The program is "federally managed, locally operated," and the award comes back every year.

• Item 56 would let the County's Air Quality Department apply for an EPA Clean Diesel (DERA) grant, estimated at about $672,452 for two years. It accepts no money yet. The Board would vote again on any grant agreement, budget, and pass-through money, and on any voluntary County match for extra EPA funds.

• Item 62 would accept $100,000 from Microsoft so the County reviews and adopts Microsoft's Purview security software. Microsoft pays its partner, Insight Global, directly. The County owes nothing back as long as it signs off that the work matches the statement of work and the work is done by February 28, 2027. The statement of work is not in the packet, and nothing says what the software will cost the County after the free setup.

• How to comment: See the Clerk and fill out a speaker form at the meeting no later than 10 minutes after it starts. Speakers get 2 minutes. You can also email written comments to agenda.comments@maricopa.gov. The agenda does not list a deadline, so send them before the meeting.

• The Ask: Ask the Supervisors to hold Belmont 4 until the site plan is public and comes back to the Board for a vote, and until the water concerns are answered. Ask them to require proof that the batteries and their minerals are not made with forced or child labor. Ask them to explain in public what the County is agreeing to under the DHS terms, and what Microsoft Purview will cost taxpayers each year after the free setup, before they vote.

• Contacts: Chair Kate Brophy McGee (District 3), Vice Chair Debbie Lesko (District 4), Mark Stewart (District 1), Thomas Galvin (District 2), Steve Gallardo (District 5). Clerk of the Board: (602) 506-3766, clerkboard@maricopa.gov.