The Holbrook City Council convened Thursday, Dec. 8, where three citizens spoke during call to the public in regard to the location of the new Hashknife Pony Express monument that will be placed on the corner of Navajo Blvd. and Hopi Drive at Gillespie Park as well as the removal of the electronic marquee currently in that location.
Robin Gonzales stated she had heard that both the boulder with a Route 66 sign painted on it that is located on the sidewalk in front of the marquee, as the marquee itself were going to be removed. “I feel that that (location) should remain dedicated to old Route 66. I feel that if we start putting different things on there, where do we draw the line? We have a lot of history in Holbrook and if someone decides they want to put something there, before you know it, we got three or four different things on that corner that should be marketed for Route 66.”
David Newlin stated he was excited for the monument but believed it should be placed somewhere else. “I think that (the monument) and the marquee can exist in a close proximity, and I think the marquee should stay where it is.”
Tammy Gray echoed these sentiments in her own statement, “I don’t understand why we can’t have both. I think both are important to the community. I support the Hashknife; I’m excited. They’re finally getting their statue. They wanted this for so long, the community has wanted this. But taking one thing down and placing another one when we already have so little… and that corner looks so nice right now.”
Gray also voiced concern over the lack of communication with the other entities who initially funded the marquee. “It bothers me the entities that went into bringing the marquee to town, Navajo County, the (Holbrook Unified) school district and the chamber, raised the money for that. They were not given an opportunity to be in on discussions before this was just told to the chamber that this is what’s going to happen.” Gray added that when the then Holbrook Chamber of Commerce president Daniella Clark tried to convene a meeting to discuss the matter, City Manager Ted Soltis refused to meet.
Mayor Kathleen Smith noted that she was informed by Holbrook Chamber of Commerce Director Cindy Tafoya that the cost to repair the marquee and update it to proper worker order would be approximately $36,000. Removal of the marquee will be done by Hurley Contracting of Payson at no cost, as the owner is a member of the Hashknife Posse and offered the service pro-bono.
Following call to the public, Hashknife Pony Express member Pat Nichols gave an update and a brief overview on the monument. He explained that the idea for the monument was inspired by the City of Scottsdale, which honored the Hashknife with a statue in its city for the organization’s 50th anniversary in 2008.
Along with a committee formed by some Hashknife members, Nichols thanked others in the community for the statue’s fruition. “Mildred Foutz and Ofelia Lange should be commended. The amount of work that they put into this is outstanding, (as well as) the community and the surrounding area. Ninety-five percent of the money raised for that $80,000 statue came from personal people, not businesses. From the people in this community.”
Nichols believes the monument compliments the tourism that comes with being on Route 66. He also clarified that the Route 66 rock would not be moved when the statue goes on the corner, just the marquee. “Granted, the marquee is wonderful, and has been a wonderful item for many, many years. But it’s a piece of equipment, just like an automobile, that will wear out with time and need repairs or needs fixing up which again gets costly and sometimes parts are unavailable, which is part of the problem with the marquee.”
Nichols noted that the Hashknife is not against the marquee and even presented the idea of the city purchasing a new one. “That marquee is at end of life, and it’s going to need to come down anyway. And I feel like it’s a very good location to honor and dedicate something that is, in my opinion, a very important thing to this community.”
Nichols stated a contractor will visit Dec. 14 to begin prepping the ground for the statue by removing the marque, then from Dec. 16 to Jan. 1, the platform and brick layout for the monument will be made and laid down by Jan. 12. “The artist from Utah, Scott Rogers, will be here with the statue to actually help supervise the placement of the statue on its platform. He has suggested that we cover it until the dedication on (January) 31st,” explained Nichols, adding there will be a small parade and dedication prior to the Hashknife ride that will take place on Feb. 2.
In response to the statements made by the public and Nichols’ presentation, Councilmember Adam Marsh clarified that placement of the monument did not require council approval, which is why the topic was not presented at a previous council meeting. “This doesn’t require a permit. It doesn’t require an ordinance. It doesn’t require a resolution. And therefore, it is not an actual item that I think the city council needs to be approving in any formal way,” he said.
“The marquee, as we pointed out, is far out of warranty. It’s hard to find parts and it’s really expensive. I stood under it in the rain at the parade and the lights are already going out. It doesn’t look good as it is and we don’t need another thing in Holbrook slowly decaying until we figure out what to do with it,” Marsh stated, adding that he doesn’t believe Route 66 and the Hashknife to be mutually exclusive aspects of Holbrook, but rather what makes the city what it is. “I don’t see an inconsistency or incompatibility in the message that it would be sending in that location.”
Councilmember Earl Kester voiced his dislike for the marquee, stating it’s impossible to read with the constant traffic on that street. “I’m a slow reader, sometimes it takes me two or three times wait and see what comes around and comes around.”
Councilmember Tim Dixon also spoke regarding the issue, stating “It’s an antiquated device. No one comes to Holbrook and says ‘Wow, what a great marquee.’ It’s an electronic sign board. They will however come to Holbrook, and say ‘what a great statue, let’s explore Holbrook.’”
Mayor Smith thanked the citizens who voiced their concerns, stating “So what we’re finding in this process is, as a city, we need to do a better job of communicating and bringing the right people to the table.”
She noted that this will be an issue the new council will work to address and make sure the citizens of Holbrook are heard throughout those processes. “We have heard your concerns, and we will take that into consideration and make sure that going forward when something like this happens again; that there’s better communication between the city and for those entities involved, and especially our community members.”
In other business, council approved the purchase of a new HVAC system for the community center located next to the Holbrook Public Library, which will replace both the old swamp cooler and heating units. The bid approved was for $12,200 from AZE Electric Contractors.
During call to the public for non-agenda items, Mark Romo spoke on behalf of the Holbrook Little League and the lack of adequate lighting at the John Barrow Field in town. “For those that don’t know, Holbrook’s Little League has been in existence since 1952. Last year, they had 250 kids that participated within Little League,” Romo stated, “I’m asking the city to start looking into avenues to fund this thing.”
Colleen Marsh also spoke during this time, thanking all the council and especially those who are leaving for their service.
During summary of current events, Mayor Smith stated that RealAZ is looking for quality photos of Holbrook to include on their economic development website. “They won’t get compensation for it, but they will get an artistic acknowledgement for it on the website. So, we’d love your pictures,” stated Smith. Smith also thanked the councilmembers who are stepping down from their positions on the council for their service.
Before stepping down, councilmembers Marsh, Kester and Kip Woolford all expressed their gratitude for being able to serve the community while on the council.
In his report, Soltis touched on the topic of the Little League field lights, stating that the city is currently working on it. “What we’re trying to do is find a cost-effective system. Our initial attempt to get lights on was very, very expensive.” He added that he will be meeting with Arizona Public Service at the end of the month to find a system that the city can afford.
Soltis also stated that they are currently working to purchase more cameras and a laptop for better coverage of the council meetings, which are streamed live on Facebook.
The swearing in of the new councilmembers, Karina Pack, Arcenia Pacheco and Robert Black commenced at the end of the meeting. Once seated, an election was made for vice mayor, with Francie Payne re-elected for a term of two years by a 4-3 vote. The four votes for Payne were by Pacheco, Dixon, Payne and Nilsson, and three votes for Black were made by Smith, Black and Pack.
Due to staff holiday time, the next council meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 20, at the Holbrook City Council Chambers.
