Holbrook City Manager Randy Sullivan advised the city council last week that two wells went down, but staff was able to resolve the issue before it became critical.
“I was going to come into this meeting and announce that we’re having a water crisis and that everyone needs to be careful with water, however we got well No. 3 online today (May 23) and it’s pumping, so we are keeping up with demand right now,” said Sullivan. A meter panel was ordered and the meter was expected to be back to regular operation by this week.
The other panel for well No. 5, which also went down, was purchased last fall and remains under warranty for replacement.
Sullivan also asked the council to approve new fees for Hidden Cove Golf Course due to an ongoing problem at the course.
“We’ve been having a lot of problems with the golf carts out there and that’s always a point of contention at the golf course,” began Sullivan.
He explained that to address the problem the city built a pad at the course that provided 10 storage spaces for regular players to store their privately owned carts at no cost. Despite that effort there are still problems as the carts are available for use and people who do not pay the fees come to the course and use them, leaving paying golfers with no carts to use. After speaking with several of the other regular golfers and those belonging to the men’s association, they suggested implementing a fee to help control the situation.
The fee is currently $30 per month for unlimited golfing and unlimited cart usage. Sullivan suggested changing that to $30 for greens fees and an additional $30 for cart usage. Currently the carts are available for use by anyone who comes to the course, but Sullivan would like to lock up the cart keys and provide paying customers with a key fob that would allow access.
The pad built by the city is full, and Sullivan stated that he would like the city to build another pad to encourage golfers to purchase their own carts and eventually eliminate those provided by the city altogether.
The council approved the item, with Councilman Tim Dixon requesting that if players utilize the cart storage an agreement be in place that ensures that only golf carts will be housed in the storage facilities.
The council then approved a one-year agreement with the City of Phoenix for access to its software that efficiently analyzes the sales tax figures each month for better tracking capabilities. The initial cost is $1,500, with an annual maintenance fee of $275.
The city also entered into a new agreement with the Navajo County White Mountain Regional Special Response Team.
Police Chief Mark Jackson explained that this is an existing agreement that has been amended to include as members the Apache County Sheriff’s Office, and the St. Johns, Eagar and Springerville police departments. The Show Low Police Department is the lead agency for the team, which allows the police departments in the region to combine resources in the event of a major incident without each department having to foot the entire bill for that response. The cost for each department is the training, overtime pay of the officer on the team and the cost of their personal equipment, which belongs to the municipality that purchases it.
Chief Jackson also reported that the replacement truck for the vehicle totaled in an accident last year was received and is now in Phoenix being outfitted.
He informed the council that there is a new officer on the force. Michael Kennedy was formerly with the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office and is currently in the training program at the department. “That’ll fill one of the positions that we have. We have one waiting for the academy in August. We are looking to do backgrounds on some others, but we can’t hire until after July 2,” he said.
Chief Jackson also reported that vehicle computers have been received. “We’ll be rolling them out one at a time,” he said.
He noted that the department gave out citizenship awards this month to four Holbrook High School and Holbrook Junior High School students. “At the junior high school it was Dalton Nardy and Amy Nilsson, and at the high school it was Chance Yazzie and Jadiana Perez. All got certificates and medallions to go with that,” said Jackson.
In other business on May 23, the council approved the canvass of the property tax election ballots, which showed that there were a total of 343 ballots cast with 152 in favor of a property tax and 171 against. There were 20 ballots rejected, as they were either blank, not signed or not filled out properly.
The council also approved the consent agenda, including invoices totaling $105,338 and a special event liquor license for the Holbrook Elks Lodge. Councilman Earl Kester recused himself from the vote, as his name was associated with an item listed.
Sullivan reported that with the failure of the property tax measure, he would be taking that item off the budget, which would also remove the funding for a new police officer. “I think we’ll still be able to maintain staffing level because the main thing on that was to pay the ERE’s (employee related expenses) for somebody that’s not ‘green,’” said Sullivan, noting that the city’s contribution would be significantly less than it would be with a lateral transfer.
The next meeting of the Holbrook City Council is scheduled at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 13.
