At last week’s meeting of the Winslow City Council, the council approved the increase of numerous fees pertaining to the city.
These include an increase in public records request documents per black and white paper copy page from 15 cents to 25 cents. There will also now be a $15 a week fee for non-produce vendors and $20 a week canopy rental at the Farmer’s Market. There will also be a new Transient Merchant Daily and Annual License fee set at $10 and $50, respectively.
The public library’s lost item fee has increased for hardback books from $20 to $25, with new fees for paperback books at $10, and kits and games at $35.
For Winslow’s Animal Control, the Animal Care impound fee changes include licensed animals first time impound fee from $35 to $50, second fee from $45 to $100, third time from $55 to $150, fourth and subsequent times from $65 to $200. Unlicensed animals first time impound fee from $50 to $65, second time from $60 to $100, third time from $70 to $160, fourth and subsequent times from $80 to $210. Animal Care also revised adoption fees for puppies and kittens aged two to four months to include male puppies from $40 to $150, female kittens from $60 to $100, female puppies from $50 to $160, and male kittens from $50 to $75.
The council also heard many presentations and updates from different sectors of the community. Most notably, Betsyann Wilson from Northland Pioneer College (NPC) addressed the city council to speak about the new developments at the college. The first is that in spring 2024 they will begin offering a Bachelor of Applied Science in Early Childhood Development, which will certify students to teach up to third grade.
Another new program at NPC is a partnership with Arizona State University (ASU) that will make the transition between the two colleges as easy as possible and even guarantee admission to ASU upon graduation with an associate’s degree. This program will ease a lot of the confusion that comes during that process and prevents students from accidentally taking credits that will not transfer when they decide to pursue education passed community college.
Another program that NPC is beginning is a partnership with a nonprofit called Earn to Learn, which is run by volunteers that want to help as many students graduate debt free as possible. The students must be enrolled in NPC full time (12 credits) and be continually meeting with a success coach, to determine which program helps the students in the long run.
They are also required to pay $500 into a savings account when they begin the program and Earn to Learn will match that money eight to one, meaning students will receive $4,000 to pursue the degree of their choice. The success coaches will also help the students in using that $4,500 in the smartest way possible and help them take advantage of any scholarship opportunities to further help them stretch those dollars.
All three state universities in Arizona also participate in the Earn to Learn program so when students transfer, they will be able to take advantage of those colleges’ programs as well. There are even ways the Earn to Learn program will help students with the first $500 to make sure that every student has this program within reach if they are willing to put in the work.
City Manager David Coolidge gave his updates to the council about different projects going on around town. There was new fencing project on First Street that should be finished in the next two weeks, including fencing near the gazebo and around the city hall. Coolidge also announced that they are officially seeking bids of the new library after several months of planning for the project. In addition, various streets around town will be updated in the coming months.
Fire Chief James Hernandez also spoke and gave his final quarterly update to the council before his scheduled retirement next week. There will be a retirement party held at the Hubble building on Tuesday, June 27, in honor of his long dedication to the City of Winslow. He noted that the fire department has changed the foam that the fire department uses for fires that involve gasoline and other flammable liquids that can tackle both class A and class B fires. This new foam also makes the air much cleaner for the firefighters to see and breathe better during these dire situations and will help to fight fires more effectively in the future. This was able to be done through a grant that the fire department received.
In other business, the board:
* Approved the first amendment to an agreement between the city and Northern Arizona Council of Governments for the utility assistance program.
* Approved the job order contracting agreement with McCauley Construction, Inc. for general horizontal construction services.
* Approved job order contract services for street pavement rehabilitation of Mike’s Pike and North Park Drive, and approved the associated payment.
* Approved an ordinance that will allow for a permit to be applied for that will allow businesses to turn parking spaces adjacent to their businesses into public or private non-permanent dining or seating areas.
The next meeting of the Winslow City Council will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 27, in the meeting room located at 523 W. Second St.
