City of Winslow Code Compliance Officer Shane Chatwin presented a report to the Winslow City Council last week, which covered all of 2019. Chatwin explained, “In 2019 we took on 131 cases. Of those, 37 of them went to formal cases, which means those that didn’t reply to their first notice. In the four and a half years that I have been here, that is the most we have had.”
Most of the cases the department took on last year were for weeds abatement. Both residential and commercial properties are affected by weeds in the spring and summer. Chatwin let the council know that he is willing to help people clean up their properties or point them in the direction of those who can. “We have some residents that are unable to remove debris from their properties. In those cases, we like to work with people and make sure they have the assistance they need.”
In 2019, the city, along with the Winslow High School, hosted three city-wide clean-ups. “We would like to thank the high school and everyone that was involved. That has been a great program and the creek clean-up is appreciated as well.”
New technology is assisting Chatwin in doing his job. He said, “We did upgrade to the IWorQ software, which is a cloud based software for public works and community development. With it, we are able to use an iPad in the field and take pictures, uploading them directly to the case file. The software also tells us who the property owner is on any address we are investigating.”
Mayor Tom McCauley asked Chatwin about the percentage of code compliance cases involving absentee property owners. Chatwin responded, “I would say about 80 to 85 percent of our cases are on properties where the owners don’t live here in town.”
Absentee property owners continue to be an issue for many departments within the city. During his status report, City Manager John Barkley mentioned a specific ongoing case.
The property known as 3B’s Truck Stop, located at 2201 N. Park Drive, is owned by an out-of-state entity that is not at this time interested in selling the property. Last year, in response to a high rate of calls for service from first responders and following the death of a transient person exposed to the elements, the owner of the property chose to barricade the parking lot and enforce trespassing laws.
According to business owners in the area, the barricade has affected their profit margins by 33 percent, because over the road truck drivers are not allowed to park in the parking lot. As a result, many conversations have been had by city management, the Winslow Police Department and the owners of the property regarding the situation.
Barkley informed the council in his status report and the conclusion that has been decided. “We want to light it up, remove the barricades and get a more permanent police protection in the area. We now have a verbal agreement. It is tentative to go to a written contract this week where we would pledge some amount of support to the project until such time that the property is sold. The owners have suggested some things that they want to do such as paid parking terminals. We aren’t going to get involved in that. We are just going to open it up and make sure that it is safe. So, that would be a big boost for that area, at the interchange. We will see those barricades coming out very soon.”
Barkley did not state what amount of support the city will contribute and was unavailable for follow up questioning. As of press time, the barricades at the property remain intact.
Also in his report, Barkley informed the council that the independent audit report, performed by Fester and Chapman will be presented at the Feb. 25 council meeting. “We are working with them, it may have to be pushed back to the first meeting in March,” Barkley added.
Barkley mentioned capital improvements once again in explaining that the city is in the design phase of a recreation center to be located east of the indoor pool on Cherry Street. “The recreation center would be presumably incorporated in to a bond issue.”
The quarterly Winslow Chamber of Commerce report was also presented by Chamber CEO Bob Hall. In his report, Hall spoke about the newly engaged social media campaign being used by the chamber and Visitor’s Center. “We are doing more as far as promoting our town on our free mobile app, as well as our Facebook and Instagram pages. We will be revamping our website in the next month, as well.”
Tourism remains steady, according to Hall, “Despite this being our ‘slow’ season, we saw more than 1,500 visitors between October and December.”
City Librarian Brandee Leary gave a report on library usage. In it, she explained that library usage has increased. “Oddly, our Saturday usage is our lowest.”
According to Leary, most patrons of the library are there to use the computers that are available to them free of charge. “We have a lot of people coming in to do research and schoolwork. We also have a number of younger users coming in to play games which has been exciting.”
In addition to regular computer use, the machines are also available for taxes and census submissions. “In preparation for those things, we purchased privacy screens for our computers. It does help since our computers are right next to each other.”
As a new feature of the library, Leary said, “We have microscopes that you are able to check out and use at home. The county received a grant for encouraging science, so we have those available. We are also checking out board games now.”
During the call to the public, Winslow resident Michelle Pennington addressed the council. “The way that the market value is calculated, is a concern. You can only do 50 percent of what your house is considered worth, so if you have a $100,000 home, 50 percent is $50,000. Our city uses the county assessor’s number for market value, which is probably nowhere near what your house is actually worth. By using that number, it hurts the amount of work that could be done. We should be using a brokerage evaluation.”
McCauley directed staff to look into exploring the legality of using a brokerage market rate on property in Winslow.
Eric Brown, a Winslow resident also took the podium during the call to the public, expressed concerns about the Winslow Police Department and Justice Court explaining that he was treated unfairly and with unnecessary force. Brown was arrested on Jan. 15 following a call for service that he had made himself. Brown said he had filed an official complaint with the police department.
The council approved the Federal Transportation Administration/Arizona Department of Transportation Winslow Public Transit Policies and Procedures manual. During the discussion of the matter, councilwoman Samantha Crisp pointed out that the manual contained multiple typographical errors as well as punctuation concerns that could change the intent of the language in the manual. City Attorney Trish Struhan said, “If you are satisfied with the substantive content, we can go back through and proof the document before it is printed and distributed.”
Crisp made such a motion and it was passed unanimously. Transit Director Timothy Nelson announced that the transit program would launch Jan. 29. For information on the program, call (928) 289-1462.
The council also adopted a resolution designating election dates, the deadline for voter registration, dates for candidates to file nomination papers and polling place.
The deadline to register to vote for the primary election is July 6 and for the general election on Oct. 5. The primary election will be held on Aug. 4 and the general election on Nov. 3.
The polling place, according to the motion will be established by Navajo County and will be open from 6 a.m. until 7 p.m. on election days.
Candidates wishing to file nomination papers for the office of mayor and three council seats should visit the City Clerk Suzy Wetzel before 4:30 p.m. on April 6 at City Hall, located at 21 N. Williamson Ave.
The next meeting of the Winslow City Council will be at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 11, at the Hubbell Building, located at 523 W. Second St.
