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During the Dec. 11 Winslow Council meeting, Police Chief Dan Brown also addressed the council with an update on the shooting death of 45-year-old Winslow man, Gilbert “Gibbo” Gonzalez. The shooting took place Monday, Dec. 3, at 912 W. Third St. at the Cornerstone Apartment building. Brown said, “We had been meeting regarding the Cornerstone Apartments at the same time the shooting call came in. We have been in many talks regarding our mitigation plans for that area.”
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Brown then gave some background on the suspect in the case, 34-year-old Matthew Garcia. “He is a well-known criminal with several warrants and has been in and out of jail. He is a dangerous felon with no regard for life.”
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He then thanked all of the partners involved that helped keep the community safe during the very heated police situation. “The regional Special Response Team out of Show Low was very helpful as were our partners the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office and DPS (Arizona Department of Public Safety). We even had the helicopter over town for most of the day.”
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At the conclusion of Brown’s presentation City Manager Steve Pauken added that the Cornerstone Apartments would be closed down as of this week.
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Lieutenant Dustin Cole of the Winslow Fire Department gave a report to the council that was written by Chief James Hernandez. According to Hernandez, the Winslow Fire Department (WFD) crew has undergone 640 collective hours of training this year. Cole commented on the number adding, “Individually, we also take on about 60 hours of training. Whether that is out in the field, taking classes or just at the station during our shifts.
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“In the last half of 2018,” Cole explained, “we responded to 299 fire calls and 432 emergency medical service calls. The fire calls included structure fires, motor vehicle accidents and natural gas leaks.
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“Notable fire calls for this half were the July 1 roll over at the Shell Station on Third Street. Luckily, all of their safety systems were in place and the driver walked away with no serious injuries. We also responded to a structure fire at Kachina Auto Wrecking on French Road. That fire took a business and a home and required Joseph City Fire to assist. Then there was the structure fire at the 1100 block of West Second Street that damaged several apartments.”
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A Winslow High School youth coalition called Elevate, presented at the Winslow City Council meeting last week. Under the direction of Navajo County Health Department Program Coordinator Kim Curley the WHS sophomores speak out against smoking and tobacco use to students from kindergarten through high school.
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Last week, they asked the council for signage in the seven city parks designating them as ‘no smoking’ areas. Currently, the parks have designated smoking areas and visitors are only asked to stay 50 feet from enclosed areas within the parks. Pauken informed the group that they would meet to discuss placing signs in the parks and draft an agenda item for a future council meeting.
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The Elevate coalition includes Madison Estrada, Jessica Aguilera, Madilyn Smith and Kaleigh Martinez. The group travels throughout Navajo County to educate young people on the dangers of smoking and tobacco use.
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Betsyann Wilson addressed the council regarding the services provided through Northland Pioneer College (NPC) at the nine NPC locations throughout Navajo and Apache counties. The college district, of which NPC is a part of, is the second largest district in the United States.
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Included in NPC services are the TALON (Technology to Advance Learning Outcomes at Northland) and NAVIT (Northern Arizona Vocational Institute of Technology) programs that offer high school students the opportunity to attend college classes while enrolled in high school.
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“Some of these kids that take advantage of our programs are receiving their associate degrees before they get their high school diplomas,” Wilson said. “Our distance learning and technological learning systems are getting better and better all the time and students are getting a real classroom experience.”
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Wilson encouraged all high school students to look into taking advantage of the NPC experience. “However, we also offer a lot for returning or adult students.”
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In other business, the council:
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* Approved an addendum to contract with McCauley Construction for Phase 3 of the Apache Avenue Sewer Bypass projects in the amount of $1.4 million to complete the construction of the sewer main.
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* Reappointed Lawrence Kenna to the Airport Commission until Dec. 31, 2021, and reappointed Kevin Coolidge, Rick Morales and Enrique Pacheco to the Planning and Zoning Commission until Dec. 31, 2021.
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* Appointed Jeff Patton to the Airport Commission until Dec. 31, 2021.
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* Renewed the lease agreement between the City of Winslow and E and O Kitchen owners Oscar and Maria Barron. There are no changes to the previous agreement, which provides annual revenues of $4,200.
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* Annexed 265.42 acres of real property east of Arizona State Highway 87 and south of Arizona State Highway 99 into the Winslow City Limits.
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* Adopted the franchise agreement between the City of Winslow and UNS Gas, Inc. The agreement has remained unchanged for 25 years.
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* Authorized the sale of real property located south of Ruby Wash Diversion Levee and west of adjoining Arizona State Highway 87 to Suburban Propane, LP for $2,000.
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* Authorized an agreement with C&S Engineers, Inc. to provide design services for the Taxiway B at the Winslow Lindbergh Regional Airport in the amount of $18,619.
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* Approved the purchase of 20 replacement Axon Body Cameras for the Winslow Police Department. This is a five year prorated agreement, with funds to be budgeted from general funds each fiscal year beginning in fiscal year 2018. The total cost will be $99,235 with the first payment of $14,721 utilized from the current fiscal year 2018 budget.
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The next meeting of the Winslow City Council will be at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019, in the council chambers located at 115 E. Second St.
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