The town managers of Snowflake and Taylor are working to form a formal recreation committee in order to discuss potential new recreation areas such as a new pool and recreation center. Although it was discussed at the Snowflake town council meeting on Nov. 5, no appointment was made by the Snowflake town council members. Of Taylor, Councilmen Kyle Peck and Bill Baldwin volunteered to be part of the recreation committee after the motion was approved at the Nov. 7 meeting.
“For the last several months, this has been discussed… the possibility of re-establishing a pool whether it be refurbishing the pool or building a new one and we’ve been discussing a recreation center. I think we’re at the point where we’d like some community input and start to get a little more formal in the direction we hit,” said Taylor Town Manager Gus Lundberg, adding that he has toured some recreation facilities in Utah to get some ideas of what to consider.
Chief of Police Bobby Martin presented the first reading of Ordinance O2019-01, Use of Portable Wireless Communication Device while Driving, which would bring the state statute for handsfree driving into effect sooner than the scheduled January of 2021 for the state.
Currently, the state statute is in a warning-only phase, but Chief Martin is proposing a town code that would bring handsfree driving to Snowflake and Taylor as early as January of next year.
The town code would make it possible for officers to issue a citation for driving while using a wireless device but would not affect a driver’s insurance and would not be cause for a suspended license.
They approved the measure for first reading, with Mayor David Smith dissenting. The Snowflake Town Council had approved the item for first reading earlier in the week. The town code will still need another reading next month to be officially approved. Some councilmembers raised concerns over how it would affect the image of the community to enact a fine for driving with a wireless device before the state.
Chief Martin also proposed three important upgrades to the dispatch and auditing systems in the Snowflake-Taylor Police Department. The first upgrade is one that every law enforcement agency in Arizona will need to make. The federal government would like incident reporting to be a uniform process for the entire country and so will be encouraging law enforcement agencies to make the switch from the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program to National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). Show Low Police Department has already made this change as the beta tester for the state of Arizona.
The second upgrade would be a mapping system which will partner with Fire and Emergency Service personnel to appear on a map to other personnel on duty. This will allow dispatch services to see where all on-duty personnel are at all times, which will create quicker response times from emergency services. The system would also be mandatory to continue the process of consolidation with Show Low Police Department’s dispatch system which is scheduled to be completed by April 1 of next year.
The third upgrade is required to get accredited with the state auditing system. The upgrade would digitalize the auditing process of the evidence room at the Snowflake-Taylor Police Department.
