WINSLOW — Winslow Police Chief Dan Brown told the Winslow City Council last week that the Citizen’s Liaison Committee (CLC) is hard at work. “The reason for the committee,” said Brown, “is to help breed transparency and to help breed the feel that the citizens have a say so in their public safety needs.” The committee, which consists of 15 members, meets regularly to discuss policing and public issues regarding the police department.
Chairman of the CLC, Dr. Greg Hackler said, “We are the citizens and because of some of the concerns within our city, this group came about.” He then extended an invitation to the public to participate in a discussion at 7 p.m. on Sept. 17 at the Hubbell Building, located at 523 W. Second St. On the agenda for the discussion, according to Hackler is, “Youth and drugs. We are going to have people there from the medical community, the treatment community and law enforcement. People who can answer questions about what is going on.” The discussion will be interactive and questions will be welcomed from the public.
Hackler expressed the plan of the CLC to host these forums on a quarterly basis with varying topics.
The council also heard the quarterly report from Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Bob Hall. The report reflected the number of visitors to the Visitor’s Center as 668 local people, 1,105 in-state visitors, 1,440 from the greater United States and 835 visitors from the rest of the world. Hall advertises and promotes Winslow worldwide through brochures, maps, posters, and interviews he does with various media outlets.
“The Arizona Office of Tourism (AOT) sent us a couple of journalists from Italy recently. They were here to write about Winslow and all that we have to offer. We put them up at the La Posada and fed them at the Turquoise Room. They had a wonderful time and we will see an editorial from them soon.” Hall explained that some of the funding for such projects and the print advertising he does comes from a grant he received from the AOT. “Through this grant, the AOT matches our costs. I applied for and received $20,000 in matched funds.”
In the status report given by Winslow City Manager Steve Pauken an update was given on the applied for loan from the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority (WIFA). The City applied for a loan of $5.1 million to initiate Phase Three of the water district improvement plan. Phase Three includes the rehabilitation and rerouting of a major sewer line that runs beneath Apache Avenue. The update given included the agreement from WIFA to forgive $917,000. “What that means for the community,” Pauken said, “is that with the forgiveness feature, it is like an interest free loan.” The project is expected to begin within the calendar year.
Pauken also invited the public to attend a meeting concerning a resident’s petition in Coopertown for installation of speed bumps. Councilman Ricky Jackson and Police Chief Brown both mentioned the need for speed bumps in that area. “Patrolling there is just a temporary fix,” said Brown. The meeting will be held at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 29 in the park located on Central Street in Coopertown.
In other business, the council:
* Approved the change of time for regular Winslow City Council meetings from 7 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. beginning with the Sept. 11 meeting.
* Approved an agreement with the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office and various municipalities to continue Winslow Police Department participation in the Major Crimes Apprehension Team (MCAT) through the use of monies from the Byrne Grant.
* Approved the quarterly Animal Control report.
* Approved the continued use of blanket purchase orders for regularly used vendors in a routine procedure.
The Aug. 28 meeting was cancelled and the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Winslow City Council will be at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 11, in the Council Chambers, located at 115 E. Second St.
