During the Holbrook City Council meeting Thursday, March 23, newly hired city Code Enforcement Officer Barbara Blythe presented to the board upon Councilmember Robert Black’s request.
Blythe, who has been hired to serve part time, has begun collecting information to determine priorities. “I started going through an old book that had open violations from 2020,” noted Blythe, adding that she then reinspected the violations to see where they stand today.
“Currently, I have 18 cases open, two I’m working with in compliance, the rest have follow-up deadlines. There are 14 cases from the previous open cases I’ve investigated, and they’ve been closed. I have 20 additional cases to review.”
Blythe stated she’s also been working with the city’s attorney to come up with more creative ways to help reduce blight in Holbrook. “We found a resource for removal of abandoned vehicles on properties that are no cost to the homeowner,” she mentioned, adding that she has also referred to other communities for best practices and following protocols.
Another avenue Blythe is looking to pursue is community service from churches, jails and trustees to help clean up the community. “You know, the whole idea is to strive for voluntary compliance, not mandatory, and trying to work out ways that we can make it happen through partnerships in the community.”
The council also heard from City Manager Ted Soltis in regard to the city’s street maintenance and improvement plan upon the request of Councilman Black, who noted the street plan created in 2018 for 2019-2023 had never been implemented.
“Due to the lack of funding and equipment, this plan has yet to be implemented,” stated Soltis. “Rather, staff has been working on potholing and annual crack sealing. Crack sealing is an important component of the street preservation program. Unfortunately, that had gone by the wayside, nothing has been done for asphalt for quite a few years.”
Soltis stated the city will start on the repair plan in the next fiscal year, with a projected $600,000 to be allocated for the project. “The problem we had was that in addition to not having any money, we didn’t have the proper equipment, so what we’ll be doing is we’ll be dovetailing with the county, when they bring their crews in to do their roads, we’ll also be doing our roads.” He added that another problem the city faced was that once a slurry seal, chip seal or sand is put down, a street sweeper is needed and that was not available until a street sweeper was purchased, which was done last September.
During summary for current events, Mayor Kathleen Smith encouraged citizens to partake in Happy Holbrook, which is to take place during the month of April. “We are wanting to have you all send us your nominations for our happy citizens. One of my favorite things to do is to see all the good that our citizens do; we highlight somebody every day.”
To nominate someone, email Smith at kathleengardnersmith@gmail.com with a small paragraph about your nominee and the work they do in the community, as well as a photo or two. These citizens will be featured on the Holbrook Foundation Facebook page throughout the month. “I’m hoping that we have so many that we’re highlighting at least two a day.” Smith also encouraged citizens to use Happy Holbrook Month as a reason to help and connect with fellow residents and neighbors.
Councilmember Mike Nilsson announced that a Bingo fundraiser to help support the Holbrook Food Bank will be held on April 15 at the Holbrook Senior Citizens Center, which will also include an auctioning of donated items. Bingo winners can win basket prizes that have been donated, with the price to play at $2 per game.
A motion was made by Councilman Black and seconded by Mayor Smith to enter into executive session for consultation for legal advice and discussion with an attorney regarding an investigation related to an alleged incident of recent employee misconduct. The motion failed to pass with Black, Smith and Councilmember Karina Pack voting in favor, and Vice Mayor Francie Payne, Councilmember Tim Dixon, Councilmember Mike Nilsson and Councilmember Arcenia Pacheco voting against. It was noted that if it pertained to policy, it would be discussed in the future public meeting.
The council approved agent changes for Empty Pockets Saloon, located at 2210 Navajo Blvd., to Cynthia Banks.
Following the regular meeting, the council adjourned and entered into a work session to discuss the general plan.
In the council meeting held earlier in the month, Councilman Dixon had stated that he had the sole copy of the city’s general plan, which despite months of discussion had not been presented to the mayor or council. In this meeting Soltis stated that he took what Councilmember Dixon said as a joke, but then noted that he himself did have a copy without explaining why the document was not presented during previous discussions or meetings regarding the creation of a general plan.
“We’ve been talking about it the last few months and this was the first I’ve seen of it,” stated Mayor Smith. Despite the late introduction of the document, Smith expressed gratitude that at least they would not need to start from scratch as was originally anticipated.
Soltis stated he was able to do some digging and found the company who created the original general plan, and the company agreed to provide him with all of the files. Soltis added that getting electronic files reduces the workload greatly, rather than typing it all out.
“This is a citizen driven general plan and public involvement serves as an essential component,” stated Smith, adding that there was once a technical advisory committee that will need to be recreated. “I feel like we need to make sure we create that technical advisory committee to maybe overview it. That kind of takes some pressure as well off the council and our manager, administration, and we’re following state laws.”
The council decided to thoroughly go through the previous general plan, then have a few members create a survey for citizen input and notify organizations that are required to participate. “Our school districts, our county, our planning and zoning, they all need to be involved in this process, and they need a chance to take a look at it and set their input as well,” stated Smith, adding that community invested business owners should be included as well.
