During a meeting of the Holbrook City Council last week, the council approved a parcel owned by the city to be placed out for bid following an inquiry to purchase the property. The parcel is identified as No. 109-08-001A, a one-acre piece of land with a value of $5,750, based on similar comparisons. It was noted that the parcel is within the flood zone. “Land is always hard to value, especially when you say it’s in a flood zone. So, no one can actually build a house on this parcel,” stated Mayor Kathleen Smith, who is also a real estate agent but not involved with the sale of this property.
The council received a proposal from Rainie Lunt of Long Realty offering parcels No. 109-19-218 and No. 109-19-219 located on Southwest Center Avenue between South Apache Drive and South Tovar Avenue for purchase by the city. The asking price for the parcels is $29,900. The parcel sizes are .10 acre and .18 acre and adjacent to city-owned property.
Vice Mayor Nilsson noted that currently, the city is collecting tax revenues from the property that it would not if it was owned by the city. “In the future it would be nice, because we could eventually do something in that area,” stated Councilmember Arcenia Pacheco, but no economic development is currently planned there. The council agreed that the price was high, and the city did not need any additional unused property and so declined the offer.
Regarding two other parcels owned by the city, No. 109-19-220 (.18 acres) and No. 109-19-223 (.10 acres), the council received inquiries from interested parties wanting to purchase the parcels for development or investment. Both parcels are on Southwest Central Avenue but not adjacent to one another. The council approved putting the parcels up for bid after it has been assessed and reviewed by council.
The council also received an inquiry to purchase a property of .07 acres identified as Parcel No. 109-19-035, located on West Hampshire Street, owned by the city. The property is in a residential area and the surrounding property is owned by the interested party. The city authorized putting the parcels up for bid after it has been assessed and reviewed by council.
In other business, the council authorized amending Holbrook City Code, Chapter 5, Article 5-2: Uniform Codes and adopting the 2018 International Building, Fire, Fuel Gas and the 2017 National Electrical Code; and providing for repeal of conflicting ordinances and severability. This action was taken because the council adopted the codes last year but specific appendices from the codes were not explicitly included in the adoption process. The appendices include provisions for administrative enforcement, grading standards and specific systems sizing, which are essential for ensuring public safety and sustainable development practice.
Mayor Smith noted that charter review committee has identified areas that may benefit from amendments and were looking for guidance on the next steps. “Anytime we do an amendment to the charter it is legally binding; this is basically a constitution for our city. It’s got to go to a vote of the people.” She noted that the city attorneys explained that each proposed change to the charter has to be separately noted for a vote by the people, it cannot be all items lumped together. City Manager Sharon Jakubowski Wolz stated that she went through the proposed changes with the mayor, as well as the city’s attorneys. Next steps include council review with the attorney in executive session, public review, council review again and then having the changes placed on the ballot in the next available election.
The council appointed Mayor Smith as a representative of the Northern Arizona Council of Governments’ Community Action Board, which meets quarterly. The board acts as an advisory planning board for Apache, Navajo and Yavapai counties, representing various community interest, points of view and fields of expertise.
Mayor Smith thanked Talaina Kor, Linda Kor and Cindy Tafoya for putting together the first New Year’s Eve Tumble Weed Drop. “They’re going to just grow it; they’ve got some good feedback on it. It didn’t get any cuter than watching them put a tumbleweed crown on the little princess and the little knight,” she added.
She also thanked Vice Mayor Mike Nilsson for organizing the Alliance of Charities in the community. “I want to thank him for seeing the need and bringing all these charities and organizations together to work together to solve the needs of our citizens.”
Nilsson added to that and stated that at their first meeting, 30 people were in attendance. “The public sector, private sector, charities, churches, civic groups, were all represented there and about 20 people RSVP’d and said they were so sorry they couldn’t come.” He noted that the alliance will likely meet about six times this year, mainly to work together to share resources and help those most in need.
Manager Jakubowski Wolz noted that there is a vacant admin position at the city offices, as well as the street supervisor position. Those interested can apply online or at the city offices.
Following the meeting, the council entered a work session to discuss the 2024-25 budget overview and the 2025-26 consolidated fee schedule. The item to discuss 2025-26 strategic priorities was postponed for a longer discussion on Monday, Feb. 3.
In that work session, it was noted that the general fund currently has just over $4 million in revenues and $3.7 million in expenditures and is operating at an income of $286,703. Total tax revenues are above projections by $334,677. The administration is at 56.3% of the budget due to two purchases for code enforcement. Addition costs of $54,655 include the repairs for the city office roof and the Patel lawsuit pertaining to the attempted sale of the Howard Johnson hotel by the owner that was denied by the city due to zoning.
The utility funds are currently operating with an income of $178,779. Overall, the fund is $56,553 under projected expenses.
The Highway User Revenue Fund is currently operating with an income of $165,801 and a fund balance of nearly $1.4 million.
The city has $9.8 million in investment funds, the long-term savings account has a balance of $245,836 and Moreton Capital Investments has a balance of just over $9.5 million.
The council reviewed the consolidated fee schedule, with this being the second meeting to do so. This meeting was just for discussion with a proposal for changes to be presented at a future council meeting.
