By Nolan Madden The City of Winslow continues its momentum into this year, with projects co-managed by the federal and county governments moving along successfully to date. The city’s calendar closed last year with the federally approved transition from the feasibility study to preconstruction engineering and design (PED) agreement phases of the Winslow levee reconstruction project by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in November. Navajo County is working on the steps needed to secure presidential funding to prevent delays in the project timeline, according to Public Works Director Eric Oscarson. County officials are slated to meet with congressional leaders in Washington, D.C., later this month, he said. Regarding funding, Oscarson pointed out that both the county and the city have begun collectively saving to subsidize the city’s estimated $66 million portion of the project. “So far, we’ve had very good relationships with Congress on the project. They are very supportive. We had several options to approach this project, and we chose what would really most benefit the county and the city, so that’s been our aim,” explained District II Navajo County Supervisor Jesse Thompson. According to Thompson, the county’s partnership has also yielded notable infrastructure improvements for the city recently, including to date: * Eighteen total miles of roadway striping on city roads, including eight miles on North Park Drive, seven miles on Highway 99 and three miles on Cooperstown Road. * A mile and a half of North Park Drive has been reconstructed and replaced with new asphalt, with two failed culverts and shoulders being rebuilt. * New culverts have been installed, drainage ditches regraded and roadway pothole repairs completed in the Five Mountain and Hopi Hills subdivisions. “Many of you know that our reservation communities depend on Winslow for services and goods,” Thompson explained, also pointing out that new roadway surfaces have been proposed for Route N15 in the Bird Springs community of the Navajo Nation, which connects vehicular traffic from Winslow between Dilkon and the Leupp/Flagstaff area. Thompson noted that county staff members strive to be responsive to citizen concerns and requests, and continue to field and monitor these as they are received. Navajo County recently made a donation of $1,000 to the Winslow Historic Preservation Commission, Thompson related, which the commission requested to fund the purchase of a marker or sign for the historic Winslow Indian Sanitorium Cemetery site. The placement of the plaque will be coordinated through the efforts of Winslow Elks Lodge No. 536 and other local non-profit groups, he said.