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During the Holbrook City Council meeting on April 9, City Manager Ted Soltis informed the council of some of the issues that he has been tackling this past month.
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Regarding the Navajo County Historic Courthouse, he addressed the dire need of roof repair. Soltis explained that he has met with Navajo County Manager Glenn Kephart on the matter. “I let him know that the city is ready to partner with the county in getting that roof done. The Historic Society has already raised about $40,000 and the county is going to be putting money in the budget for the roof. I’m looking at funds in our lodgers’ tax to be able to put into that roof. I agree 100 percent; we can’t let that roof leak any longer. They’ve had termites, they’ve had a lot of issues over there.” He added that the county is going to be going out for bids to see what the costs would be for the new roof.
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Soltis also stated that he spoke with the owner of the La Quinta Inn that is scheduled for development in Holbrook. “He will soon be closing with the bank and soon be breaking ground.” Soltis stated that the owner also wanted to discuss ways to better market Holbrook in cooperation with the city, Petrified Forest and Chamber of Commerce.
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As far as infrastructure, he noted that the No. 3 well has a leak, the chlorine line broke on No. 7 and a lift station pump went out. “What I want to say about our wells and our lift stations, is we really need to make sure we have backups. We have issues and we don’t have redundancy on that,” adding that he was working to resolve the issue.
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Soltis also talked with Norm Freeman who handles the city’s water and wastewater telemetry. “We’re really fortunate to have him, we’ve got a really great system in place. However, things get dated and need to be replaced so I asked him to put together a list of equipment and we’ll prioritize what needs to be fixed next and get that into the budget.
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“We really need to focus on our water and wastewater lines. Somewhere around 1994 we had a master plan put together, somewhere around 2012 we had a master plan put together. We have a lot of issues with our lines and we’re really not properly planning for it. The issue in the past is that we have no money, what can we do. Well, you just can’t keep doing that.”
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He noted that one of the issues in the sewer lines is a collection matter that is filling up the pipes. “There are times when our lines are at maximum capacity because of all that matter in there.” He said that he would be reaching out to Winslow as they recently began a project to replace lines throughout the city and see how they went about the process.
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Solits has made it a point to get out and attend various meetings in the area. One of those was the NACOG (Northern Arizona Council of Governments) Transportation Technical Subcommittee meeting.
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“NACOG has access to funds, federal funds. And we are on the list in 2020 to receive some funds. So, I’ll be keeping close tabs on what’s going on in the transportation committee to see what grant dollars are available for our city.”
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Soltis referenced an exchange program where dollar for dollar federal dollars are exchanged for state dollars and then the city accesses the state dollars. The benefit being that it’s easier for small cities to do projects with state funds. Federal dollars have very high standards and a lot of money is used to create the planning aspects. With state dollars Soltis stated, the city will get “more bang for the buck.”
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Soltis also attended an Arizona Public Service Annual Meeting and the Lower Little Colorado River Coalition meeting for the benefit of creating partnerships between the city and local entities.
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He also spoke with David Brown, the city’s water adjudication attorney. “That’s a big issue. That’s the future of communities in this area. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of costs involved, unfortunately the costs are going up and unfortunately the fee that we just put in place is not going to be enough.”
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He invited Brown to come and address the council regarding the water adjudication issue and the finances involved.
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Soltis toured the parks and noted a number of issues with old picnic tables, playground equipment and tree stumps. He said that he would be seeking out grant funds to address those issues. As well as the issue of dead tamarack trees and the fire hazard they create. “They brought in a beetle to kill the trees and so now we have a bunch of dead trees, so we have a fire hazard. Especially by the golf course and by the petroglyph park. So we’ll be looking at how to take those trees out. Perhaps with some grant funds.”
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Soltis is also reformatting the budget to include charts and graphs for easier comprehension for both the council and the public when it comes to understanding how money is being budgeted and spent.
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Councilman Adam Marsh noted that he attended the Navajo County Historical Society Annual Meeting and that the society is currently crowd sourcing through Go Fund Me in an effort to acquire enough funds to replace the roof of the historic courthouse. That address is www.gofundme.com/HolbrookMuseumRoof.
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Councilman Richard Peterson also noted that at one time, when the new jail was built south of Holbrook, plans had been made to tear down the historic courthouse but that it had been preserved. “But it was never a priority to keep it right. Eventually it’s going to get to the point where it’s beyond saving. One of the big things of course is that roof, which is leaking terribly.
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“Why it’s important to Holbrook, is that they average upwards of 2,000 visitors a month. We get people from all over the world. All over the country, to visit that museum.” Peterson recommended for a small fee to sign up to become a member of the Navajo County Historical Society.
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Marsh, who is employed as a paleontologist at the Petrified Forest National Park noted that Superintendent Brad Traver has retired and that an interim superintendent will take over the reins through the spring and summer.
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The council also acknowledged the passing of long time Holbrook resident Sylvia Wright.
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In other business, the council:
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* Heard a report from Colleen Marsh with the Chamber of Commerce. Working on a grant for neon signs that are no longer working. She noted that it costs $30,000 to $50,000 to repair neon and a monthly use bill over $1,000 each month. The chamber is hoping to look to technologies that mimic neon such as LED lighting.
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* Approved the sale of real property parcel 403-05-235 at Ranch of the Golden Horse in Snowflake for the sum of $2001 to Marco and Mindy Castillo.
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* Authorized Paige Murray to lease the community building at a cost of $25 per month plus insurance for dance instruction.
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* Authorized the purchase of fireworks from Firework Productions in the amount of $12,800.
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* Adopted a Fair Housing Policy.
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* Submitted a letter of support for the Cholla Power Plant biomass energy consideration.
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* Approved invoices totaling $146,050.
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