By L. Parsons During the Good Morning Winslow meeting held earlier this month the City of Winslow presented information on various projects being undertaken. Winslow City Manager John Barkley began, “I will tell you, part of our mission here lately is to open up and become part of the regional dialogue. Winslow can tend to get a little isolated if we don’t stay in the conversation about development and other things we would like to accomplish. I am pleased to say we have a tremendous relationship with Navajo County and with our various regional entities including ECONA that is the Economic Collaborative of Northern Arizona. They do a tremendous job of keeping us in the loop in terms of development prospects.” He continued, “We need residential development, commercial development and industrial development. We are ripe for it, and ready. One of the projects we are hoping lands in Winslow is the Four Forest Restoration Initiative or 4FRI.” He explained that 4FRI is a 20-year federal award from the United States Forest Service to do forest restoration and then have a manufacturing site that takes the trim, the biomass and produce a product. “We do have an applicant here in Winslow and we have heard that that applicant has moved to the front of the pack. That could mean a couple of hundred well-paying jobs being brought here.” The 4FRI contract is set to be awarded in late September, according to Barkley who added, “There is an evolution of our culture as a city, as a community-of people, of jobs, of facilities and industry that we need to rally around and not avoid.” Other projects Barkley mentioned include a residential subdivision beginning construction along Mike’s Pike Blvd. and a four-story hotel set to be built on North Park Drive later this year. Barkley continued, “We have been working on turning around permits faster, meaning, building permits and whatever else we can do to make our city more attractive to potential developers and streamline the process for those who decide to locate here.” He also mentioned various buildings around town being renovated into new uses. “The Tate’s Auto building out on the east end of town is being reused as a residential and industrial hub for Walther Farms, a potato farm that trucks potatoes across the country. We also have interest in the Hopi-owned building on the far west end of town to rebuild that facility into a business venture. It is an exciting thing.” Barkley would not state exactly what may be going into the building, just reiterating that it will be in partnership with the Hopi Tribe, as it is on their land and looks to be a positive for the local economy. Winslow Police Chief Lieutenant Ron Blass addressed the audience at Good Morning Winslow and said, “Our violent crime is down 64% over last year as is our property crime. One of the things businesses and potential residents look at when they are looking to move here are crime statistics and we are doing very well in that department. One of the things we are lacking in, though, (is) our proactive policing and that is because we are down eight sworn positions on the force.” Also sharing information was City Librarian Brandee Leary. She explained her newest project as being a community calendar. “I would like to invite everyone who has an upcoming event or a standing event to email me at library@winslowaz.gov so that I can add it to our community calendar. This will help us make sure we don’t double book things and people can check it out to see what is happening in our community. The calendar will be accessible at the city website, www.winslowaz.gov.” The Cherry Bombs also had representation at the meeting and outlined some of their upcoming projects. The Just Cruisin’ Car Club will host their annual car show in downtown Winslow on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 1-2, and the following weekend a tattoo and arts festival will be held. The Cherry Bombs are looking for sponsors for both events and can be contacted on their Facebook page for more information on all upcoming events. Good Morning Winslow is held at 7 a.m. on the first Wednesday of every month in the Hubbell Building located at 523 W. Second St., with the next one being on Sept. 8. Breakfast will be served.
