By L. Parsons During the Winslow City Council meeting last week, City of Winslow Finance Director Elias Jouen presented the council with a lease purchase agreement for public works equipment, a fire truck and a police vehicle. Jouen said, “This is one of the improvements that is needed. The lease is a 10-year term and the annual agreement is going to be $242,653 in annual (payment). That will be proportionately divided between departments. “First Capital Equipment Leasing Corporation was the lowest bidder on a request for proposal on the financing of the lease purchase. We will be coming back to the council with the procurement when that happens.” The bid responses showed First Capital Equipment Leasing Corp. with an interest rate of 2.315 percent, Bank of the West at 3.05 percent, PNC Equipment Finance at 2.75 percent and Wells Fargo at 2.85 percent. The total price for 14 pieces of public works equipment, a fire truck and a police interceptor will be $2.2 million. Highway User Revenue Funds (HURF) will be responsible for $1 million of that, due to the equipment being related to road improvement. The items include a fork lift at $35,000, a backhoe loader, $110,000; a F350 Service body with crane, $55,000; Regen X street sweeper, $260,000; bucket truck, $100,000; Crafco crack seal melter/applicator, $75,000; Cat skid steer loader, $35,000; Vacon truck, $480,000; 2021 F250 service truck, $43,000; solar message board, $16,000; 2021 F550 dump body truck, $55,000; rear dump trailer, $15,000; two battery powered blowers, $12,000; eDRAULIC cutter package, $25,000; Pierce fire truck, $600,000; a police department Interceptor, $55,282; and contingency funds totaling $200,000. Crisp and Cano voted against the resolution, with the remaining members including Robin Boyd, Rickey Jackson, Peter Cake and Jim MacLean voting in favor, with the resolution passing 4-2. Councilwoman Melissa Nelson was not present for the meeting. Little Colorado Medical Center’s incident commander Christy Ross gave an update on the pandemic to the council. Ross reported, “You hear a lot about this virus in the media and elsewhere and a lot of that is emotionally driven. I am here to present facts. First of all, nationally, cases are beginning to trend downward. That is the same in Arizona and here locally as well.” She explained that Navajo County had faced a high number of cases early on in the pandemic but also seems to be on a downward trajectory. “The thing with this virus, is a lot of people get very sick. So, overall, the hospitalization rate in the United States is about seven percent still. The reason for the lockdowns in our service area, such as the Navajo Nation, were to prevent our hospitals from getting overrun with patients. Hospitalizations appear to be decreasing, however, state wide as well as locally.” Little Colorado Medical Center previously averaged 25 COVID tests per day. According to Ross, that number has decreased due to rapid tests available at other facilities in the area. “We are still testing, just not as much as we once were.” Kelly Joe, a registered nurse at LCMC stated, “Navajo County has administered 6,273 vaccines. LCMC has given 824 and 85 of those have also received their second dose. We are still in Tier 1A and 1B and we anticipate being in this tier for quite a while due to the supply issues that are being faced.” Vaccinations are by appointment only and providers are urging the public to get the second dose of the vaccine at the same location they received the first. Joe said, “If you are unable to register, contact your provider to see if they can help you.” Winslow City Manager John Barkley gave updates on city business including a requested report on CARES Act funding. “Last summer, we applied for CARES Act funding to supplant lost revenues and to help with expenditures. The funding comes from the United States Department of the Treasury. The funding was allocated through the Governor’s Office to municipalities based on population. The larger jurisdictions received a tremendous amount more than other, smaller places.” Due to technical difficulties during the virtual meeting held from the City Council chambers most of Barkley’s update was unintelligible. However, Barkley did mention the application submitted by Winslow Police Department Office Manager Kelleen Haney that resulted in over $1 million in grants that will help relieve some expenditures of the department over the coming year. On the consent calendar, Mayor Birdie Cano asked for clarification on an action item regarding an ordinance authorizing the sale of real property. The property is located in the Winslow Industrial Park North of the Winslow levee and west of South Highway 87. The sale is to Cavan Realty and is intended to be the future location of a housing development. Barkley explained, “We have had an offer on this city property and have agreed to a purchase price of $187,000. It is located at the intersection of Highway 87 and Airport Road. The purchaser intends to build family style homes.” The ordinance was passed unanimously with an added stipulation that the buyer break ground on the proposed project within a reasonable amount of time. The last two council meetings have included an action item regarding a contract agreement with Mountain Fresh Cleaning, LLC for janitorial services that had been tabled due to lack of information and concerns of cost both times. This week, Barkley explained that the contract would be revisited before bringing the matter before the council again. The final agenda item was a discussion and possible action regarding personnel policies and procedures manual including a compensation study, employee salaries and employee organizational chart. Barkley said, “This just illustrates our marketability and our ability to compete with surrounding markets.” Cano pointed out the absence of an economic development position in the organizational chart. Barkley responded by saying the position does exist in the compensation study. Cano also mentioned the discrepancy in employee compensation. “There is a huge difference in what people are making at the city. We need to look in to that more.” She continued by outlining the personnel policies and procedures manual section regarding the powers and the responsibilities of the Mayor and Council. However, because of audio issues, she was inaudible. The manual is available online for review by the public at the city website at www.winslowaz.gov. In other business, the council: * Approved a contract with Pacific Advanced Civil Engineering, Inc. for engineering and design services to update the ultraviolet disinfection system at the wastewater treatment plant. The cost is not to exceed $75,700. The ultraviolet system is vital to the department for disinfecting effluent water discharged by the plant. The upgrade is necessary to meet Arizona Department of Environmental Quality requirements. * Approved the purchase of a 2021 Caterpillar backhoe from Caterpillar, Inc. for $107,042. The backhoe will be used for maintenance and repair of city water lines. The next meeting of the Winslow City Council will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 9, in the main room of the Hubbell Building, located at 523 W. Third Street unless otherwise noted.
