By Linda Kor HOLBROOK — During the Oct. 23 Holbrook City Council meeting, Interim City Manager Cher Reyes informed the council that a preconstruction meeting was held yesterday with airport engineers and electricians for the lighting project at the Holbrook Municipal Airport. She also noted that street crews would be crack sealing the taxiway when the weather gets a little cooler. “Baseboard heaters are also going to be installed in the lobby since there’s no heat in the terminal building.” Reyes said that she issued a memorandum to all department heads to immediately stop taking sand and dirt from the airport property. “They’re leaving big holes that can be a hazard if a plane cannot make a landing,” she stated, adding that certain debris and items will be removed from the airport as well. The crosswind runway will be graded and enough crown will be put on it to keep the water from pooling in the low spots. Reyes informed the council that the street sweeper has once again broken down and the city would have to look at how to possibly finance a new one. “We get it back and in two or three days it’s broken down again. It’s just too old and the parts aren’t available.” Reyes is also working with Arizona Public Service to see about “economically” getting two to three streetlights on Mission Lane. “It gets pretty dark up there and I’d like to see something, even if it’s just dusk to dawn lights,” she said. She is also in discussion with Navajo Sanitation for possible recycling for the city and working with the Arizona Department of Transportation to put a park in front of Circle K, located at the north end of town off of Navajo Blvd. “So that the bus stop is not an island.” She noted that when it rains the water pools around the bus stop. It was noted that there is a new addition at Gillespie Park called the Branding Wall. It is on the east side by Joe & Aggies Café and featuring the brands of some of the local cattle ranches. Reyes met with the architect and the Northern Arizona Council of Governments representative regarding the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance grant with hopes of getting as much done as possible with the $190,000 grant funds. The architect plans will be presented at the end of November and a portion of the work will have to go out to bid. The city workers can do the concrete work but the installation of doors and other installation work will need to be done by professionals familiar with that type of work. It was also noted that the dance studio next to the library, the recreation center and police department would be getting new roofs and repairs as leaks were discovered with the recent rainfall. Reyes reported that Paul Saiz, the new animal control officer, began work last week. He will work with animal control officer Merrill Young until December when Young retires. She also noted that the bathrooms at all of the city parks have been winterized and closed for the winter. If there is a special event at Hunt Park the city will open the bathrooms for that event. Police Chief Nathan Christensen reported that the department lost one of the cadets, Jade Gishie, that was in the academy due to what he called “a poor decision on her part.” He reported that the other cadet, Heidi Hunsaker, is in her 12th week and doing well. Officer Joshua Minnick is in his 10th week of field training. No other applications have been received in the last month. Colleen Dawes Marsh reported on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce stating that the Old West Fest was successful and the chamber is currently looking for feedback in order to make it even better next year. Those who would like to contact the chamber can do so by emailing holbrookazchamber1@gmail.com or by messenger on the chamber Facebook page. She estimated that there was from 500 to 600 people that attended the event and noted that there were two other events taking place in the community that made it a busy weekend. Dawes-Marsh noted that the next events coming up are the annual Festival of Trees and Parade of Lights, which will be held Nov. 29 and 30, and Dec. 1. The festival will be held at the Catholic Family Center and is open to anyone who would like to participate by decorating and setting up a tree. “There will be live entertainment every night and will coincide with our December food truck festival. We will be hosting that in the parking lot that Saturday and that’s also when we will be having our Parade of Lights,” stated Dawes-Marsh, adding that entries are currently being sought. She went on to explain that the chamber is also promoting the 12 Days of Shopping that will start on Dec. 14 and continue up until Christmas. The council tabled two items regarding a request to purchase parcels of land from the city by two individuals. One parcel is located approximately 10 miles east of Snowflake on Concho Road, which is a parcel that was deeded to the city by a citizen in 1990 and the other are two parcels of land on Romero Street. The council decided to table the items until a land value could be determined for the parcels and then will decide whether to approve the offers for purchase or put the land up for bid. None of the parcels have any structures or infrastructure and the property on Romero Street is in the floodplain. Reyes asked the council for direction in the hiring of a city attorney. She informed the council that Dickinson Wright has been the law firm utilized by the city since 2008 with Marlene Pontrelli as the attorney, with the law firm located in Phoenix. “Given the situation with the personnel policy review, I think we should have local representation if we can. I would like the attorney to come to the meetings when we have heated items but I don’t want to have to pay them $1,500 to $1,600 to have them attend the meetings.” The council agreed unanimously to accept Requests for Proposal from lawyers in the region. The council also unanimously agreed to cancel the Dec. 25 council meeting.