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The Holbrook City Council approved an ordinance proposing an amendment to the charter go before the voters stating that the dissolution of the Holbrook Police Department can only take place by a vote of the people.
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Councilman Richard Peterson expressed his concerns on the matter stating, “This is the organic document for the City of Holbrook that already includes the option for the citizens to undo anything the council does by referendum. If this were to pass I would expect that within a few days we would have a couple of petitions, one to have a recall for those who voted in such a way and two to refer to the people for them to negate any dissolution of the police department.”
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Peterson added that he did not think he could support the amendment and clarified that he was not at all against the police department. “I just don’t think there’s any imminent threat of the police department being dissolved by this city council or anybody I could imagine being on the city council in the near future. But since this is the organic document of the people I prefer that changes come from the bottom up. I prefer that we have a citizen’s committee that proposes changes to this charter and that it come from the people to us. Rather than us ‘top downing’ a change. If this is so urgent maybe it would put pressure on us to form this citizens committee as we should have done,” he said, adding that the charter says this should be done every four years and it has not been done in over 10 years.
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Councilman Tim Dixon replied stating, “Doing it the way you say would put the citizens and the police department on defense. This is front-loading that to better protect the police department from fickle councils. I agree with having the committee. But the committees here seem to be rather slow, as we have not addressed that as council. Then after they work on that, it’ll have to undergo a review process and then be put on the ballot for the next election. If I’m not mistaken, the next election would be in two years. We could have a change in council at any time; it doesn’t have to be an election. I just want to protect our citizens and our police department.”
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Councilwoman Francie Payne agreed with Dixon, referencing the actions of certain members of the previous council when it was proposed that the police department be disbanded. “I would not have believed this would have happened but I was one of the five councilmembers blindsided and we weren’t the only ones. The police department was blindsided, the citizenry were blindsided and I could not guarantee that would not happen again given the right personalities.”
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Mayor Phil Cobb, and councilmembers Adam Marsh, Dixon, Payne, Mike Nilsson and Earl Kester voted in favor of the measure, with Councilman Peterson voting against. The item will be placed on the May ballot for consideration by the voters.
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The council also approved a resolution for a property tax to be placed on the May ballot to fund fire and police equipment. The tax would not exceed .54 cents per $100 of assessed valuation or $54 on a home with an assessed valuation of $100,000. The City of Holbrook currently does not have a property tax.
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In her report, Interim City Cher Reyes informed the council that a bid has been posted for a used loader and a used backhoe. She reminded council that a charter review committee needed to be formed. The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) project has begun at the city with the concrete poured at the city offices and that cleanup at the airport has been done.
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Reyes stated that the city was awarded the entire $58,702 through the courts for the cleanup costs of the Knights Inn, which burned down two summers ago. Reyes noted that the judge initially only awarded the city $10,000 for all of the cleanup effort and would not allow city personnel back on the property to finish the job. That decision was modified with the additional money and the city was also allowed to finish the cleanup on the property last week. The amount owed will be placed upon the property as a lien.
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In other business, the council:
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*Approved adoption of the revised City of Holbrook Personnel Policy.
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* Approved an agreement with Morgan Black of BioMech Fitness Wellness at a rate of $25 per month for use of the Holbrook Fitness Center to provide personal training.
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* Approved a zone change request made by Ed Heward for property located west of 1800 Buzzard Blvd. at 1800 Diamondback Ave. as C-2, or general commercial. Heward is planning to operate an outdoor swap meet that will eventually move indoors at the address, which is located behind the OK RV Mobile Home Park. The conditions include cleanup of the old mobile homes currently located on the property.
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* The council tabled an award of contract to Precision Sweeping for sweeping services after Reyes recommended disregarding all bids for leasing a sweeper. According to Reyes, the cost for the service would be less than half the cost of the annual lease payment at $4,675 per quarter. The lowest bid received to lease a sweeper was $239,000 and would also require the city maintain the machinery. The services contract would allow for quarterly sweeping that would include before July 4, then again before the Navajo County Fair and before the Parade of Lights. There would also be allowances for emergency sweeping and the city would not have to pay maintenance costs. The council requested that more bids on sweeping services be obtained prior to approval.
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* Approved the purchase of a pump for Well No. 3 in the amount of $36,000 plus shipping from Willis Drilling & Pump Co. It is estimated that it could take up to two weeks to receive the pump. Reyes noted that the city is currently operating on just one well due to a recent electrical outage that has prevented Well No. 3 from coming back online. Well No. 5 is also in need an upgrade.
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* Approved invoices totaling $281,222.
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* Approved special event liquor license applications for liquor for Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church for April 4 and the Knights of Columbus for March 30.
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The next meeting of the Holbrook City Council will be a special meeting held at 6 p.m., on Tuesday, Feb. 19. The items on the agenda include a public hearing for the proposed water, sewer and sanitation rate increase and a vote on the resolution, and discussion/possible action regarding the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) improvements bid results.
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