During a meeting of the Navajo County Board of Supervisors last week the board approved an intergovernmental agreement with the State of Arizona, Department of Transportation (ADOT) for the Shumway Road at Silver Creek Bridge Project. The work proposed under this IGA consists of replacing the existing bridge at Shumway Road with a cast-in-place reinforced concrete box culvert or an equivalent structure type. The project cost is estimated at nearly $6.2 million, which includes federal aid funds and the county’s matching funds. The share of county’s matching funds for the initial project development administration costs is estimated at $2,565 and the share of the project design costs, estimated at $31,350. The construction costs are funded at 100% federal-aid funds. ADOT will administer the design development and advertise, bid and award, and administer the construction phase of the project.
A presentation on the Giving Machine Initiative was provided to the board, which is a vending machine that allows visitors to donate to local, national and international charities. “The machine is unique because every dollar that you spend goes to the charities,” stated Rikki Johnson, who helps manage the local machines, “There’s no administrative fees, no money taken out.” Provided by The Church of Latter-day Saints, the machines are in Snowflake and Show Low during the holiday season. Johnson encouraged local community charities to reach out to be included this upcoming year, “If you know someone running those charities and they’re maybe not aware of this opportunity, we would love to get them in the machine.”
Board and staff recognized the following employees for their excellence in personal performance during the month of January: Maribel Chavira in jail operations, Jody Thomas in facilities management, Shannon Wilson in library district and Shannon Queen in facilities management.
The Winslow High School Spiritline was also recognized for winning the Division III Spirit Line Game Day Championship in November of last year.
The board held a public hearing for the consideration of a liquor license application for Jeffrey Craig Miller, agent for Pinetop Provisions, located at 6025 Buck Springs Road in Pinetop. The Sheriff’s Department, Treasurer’s Office, Health Department and Planning and Development all responded with approvals for the application. No one spoke during the public hearing and the board approved the application.
Arizona State Representative Walt Blackman also went before the board and presented a legislative update.
In other business, the board:
* Approved new policies for information technology in making decisions and for use in state-sponsored audits. These policies are a requirement for use with auditors as they perform state audits. They are based on National Institute of Standards and Technology. This will replace the policies that were approved in June of 2018.
* Approved a task agreement to the Memorandum of Agreement between the Bureau of Indian Affairs Department of Transportation Navajo Region and Navajo County for the continued funding support of Navajo County Road Maintenance Equipment Operator.
* Approved a task agreement with Fort Apache BIA for BIA 12 Guardrail Replacement Project. Fort Apache BIA requested assistance on the repair of guardrails on BIA 12, which provides the primary access to the community of Cibecue within District 5 of Navajo County. The support of this request will improve safety conditions for first responders, school buses and commuters who use this road daily. Since the repair locations are in both Navajo and Gila Counties, there is an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with Gila as well, which will be presented on Feb. 17 to the Gila County Board of Supervisors.
* Approved an IGA between Gila County and Navajo County for the BIA Route 12 Guardrail Replacement Project.
* Approved Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget amendments. This budget amendment is needed to set the approved budget to equal the cash resources that are available at the beginning of the fiscal year.
* Approved a remote housing lease agreement and a memorandum of understanding between Navajo County Sheriff’s Office and Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) for the housing of the county’s District One Area 7 patrol deputy, Hugh Grant. The monthly lease amount will be $100 and the agreement can be terminated by either party with a 30-day notice. The DPS housing unit, Unit M776, is located in the DPS housing complex in Kayenta.
* Approved a Navajo County legal services contract amendment to extend the contract with Moore Law, PLLC for one additional contract year.
* Approved an amendment to extend the banking services contract with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. for one additional contract year.
* Approved the reissuance of stale dated check to Erik Gardella. The check was voided because they had been outstanding for a year or more. The payees were contacted and are requesting replacement checks.
* Approved a certificate of removal and abatement purging record of tax, penalty and interest on personal property taxes, pursuant to A.R.S. §42-19118 and §42-18353.
* Approved to rescind the road name Five Card Draw Road in the Linden area of Navajo County in Section 9, Township 10 North, Range 21 East in District IV.
* Approved a resolution authorizing staff to apply for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development capital grant opportunity and to request $12 million for Silver Creek Drive and Silver Lake Blvd Crossings Improvement.
* Approved sympathy letters to Rachel McCormick, Paul Dobell and Stephanie Dobell.
Convening as the Navajo County Public Health Services District, the board:
* Approved delegation agreement authorizing open burn permits to be issued by Navajo County Emergency Management. These permits allow property owners to dispose of green waste on their property in a safe and economical manner.
Convening as the Navajo County Flood Control District, the board:
* Approved an amendment to Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. for the Woodruff drainage improvements final design professional services contract. The amendment extends the contract one additional year to to May 12, 2027, adds services and amends the contract price for an additional $17,380, for a total contract price of not-to-exceed $158,765.
