The Winslow City Council was addressed by Deputy County Attorney Jason Moore who explained why the county is currently discussing redistricting of its supervisorial districts.
“We are required to redraw ours every 10 years if there is a deviation in population of 10% or more between our largest and smallest district. Navajo County is right now at an 18% deviation. The reason for that is because the areas in south county are growing in population much more quickly than those in Districts I and II, where Winslow is. So traditionally, those districts have picked up population by moving their borders further south.”
According to Moore, among the goals of the redistricting committee are to bring the population deviation to around 5%.
It is also mandatory that the redistricting is in compliance with the Voting Rights Act which assures voters it will not be more difficult for minorities to select candidates of their choice.
The proposed maps for the supervisorial district redrawing are available on the Navajo County website at www.navajocountyaz.gov. Citizens are encouraged to study those maps and provide their feedback to county officials. In Winslow, the representative to contact is Sadie Lister who can be contacted through the county website as well, by clicking on the redistricting tab on the right of the page.
Redistricting must be completed by the end of July and there will be more community meetings for public input. The next will be held at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, May 10, at the Dilcon Community School, located 40 miles north of Winslow on AZ-87.
Also on the agenda was the annual fire mitigation update given by Arizona Public Service (APS). Division Manager Neil Traver explained to the council the strategies and contributions APS makes to preventing wildfires during the driest parts of the year. “There is nothing more important to us than the safety of our employees, our customers, our first responders and of course, our communities. Therefore, at APS, we have a comprehensive fire mitigation program.”
The program, Travers said, “Includes vegetation management around our power lines and poles. This means, you will see pine needles and branches and grasses removed near our over 5,000 miles of power lines. This serves dual purposes. It reduces fuel for the fire and the wildland firefighters are able to use those as a fire line, or break.”
He noted that APS inspects 5,000 miles of line by foot, by truck and by drone to make sure all of the equipment is in good working order before there is potential for sparks during the fire season. “On those lines, there is what we call reclosers. They are an actual sensor that can detect when something has come in contact with the line. Like a branch, or a mylar balloon, for example. The sensor will turn the power off in that instance and wait for the line to clear, then it automatically turns the power back on.”
The entire plan is available to view on the APS website, at www.aps.com.
The council entered in to executive session with all members present to discuss use of development agreements and incentives with the city attorney regarding a development agreement with Sam Matyas for a mixed-use development on city-owned land.
They remained in executive session for the annual performance evaluation of the city manager. No public discussion was held following the sessions, and no action was taken.
In other business, the council:
* Appointed Sean Gravier to the Airport Commission until Dec. 31, 2022.
* Appointed members to the Arts Council. Teri Yazzie will serve until April 1, 2025, and McKayla Keams will serve until April 1, 2023.
* Reappointed Ken Evans and Stacey Emigh to the Historic Preservation Commission until May 1, 2025, and appointed Kim Tsosie to the commission until May 1, 2027.
* Proclaimed April as National Donate Life Month explaining, “There are over 114,000 men, women and children across the United States awaiting life-saving organ transplants.” The proclamation encouraged adults to choose ‘organ donor’ on their driver’s licenses.
* Heard a status update from City Manager John Barkley in which he let the council and the public know the fiscal year 2024 budget season begins at 4 p.m. on May 10 with a public input session on capital improvements at the Hubbell Building, located at 523 W. Second St.
* Heard a quarterly report from City Librarian Brandee Leary. Leary outlined some new features at the Winslow Public Library including the “Culture Pass,” a feature that allows library card holders to visit various attractions throughout the state such as parks and zoos at no admission. Details are available at the Winslow Public Library located at 420 W. Gilmore St.
* Heard a quarterly report from Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Bob Hall. In his report, Hall explained this year to date, over $40,000 has been collected in the bed tax. This number, according to Hall is higher than they have ever been, reflecting an influx of visitors from around the world.
* Approved the purchase of a pool slide for the outdoor pool in the amount of $61,011 from Willy Goat Toys and Playgrounds.
* Approved a contract with McCauley Construction in the amount of $953,815 to construct curb, gutter and sidewalks as well as pedestrian lighting along the north side of Mike’s Pike Blvd. The Highway User Revenue Fund (HURF) will fund $607,063 of the cost of the project, the remaining $346,752 is in the capital improvements fund.
* Approved a contract in the amount of $85,040 to Viking Specialty Contracting for demolition of the city owned property located at 1100 W. Second St.
