Management Analyst Luke Smith presented a draft package of proposed 2026 legislative priorities for the Town of Sahuarita, organized into four categories: active priorities (which the town will actively lobby for), project-specific priorities, general policy goals and passive items to monitor.

Smith summarized the active list: streamline municipal annexation processes, collaborate on workforce-housing policy that preserves local control, seek sustainable transportation funding, protect municipal revenue streams amid state proposals to replace or reallocate taxes, and "support responsible development of mining projects" that include environmental and community safeguards. "We are seeking your feedback tonight on these proposals," Smith said, asking council input to finalize the list for a December adoption.

Council members provided several edits and additions. Several members expressed strong support for modernizing public‑notice requirements (allowing online notices in lieu of some printed notices) and for adding a technical fix to sentencing language affected by changes from Proposition 207 to clarify enforceability in school-zone drug offenses. Legislative liaison Karen (staff) described ongoing statewide discussions around rural groundwater management and Colorado River allocations and recommended adding Colorado River policy to the town’s priorities because basin-state negotiations create urgency.

Members also asked staff to highlight data centers in the priorities list, noting the sector’s competing demands on water and power. Karen said data centers have become more energy-focused as they adopt closed-loop cooling systems that reduce water use but increase power demand; the council asked staff to expand the packet’s language on data centers and consider responsible‑resource‑use language for industrial or high‑tech recruitment.

Next steps: Staff will revise the packet per council feedback and return a final legislative-priority document for adoption at the December council meeting. Council members were encouraged to send additional input to staff prior to that meeting.