The Holbrook City Council met to discuss a very brief agenda Aug. 22. Aside from the consent agenda, the lone item for consideration was a housing lease with city employee Kathleen Smith. The house is located at the Holbrook Municipal Airport and has been vacant for at least four months.
When this item was presented to the council, City Manager Randy Sullivan asked that it be tabled, as the city lawyer had not yet been able to review it.
Councilman CJ Wischmann said that before tabling the item he wanted to address an ethical concern he had about leasing the house to a city employee. He also had concerns about the wording of the agreement stating that the premises shall be used only by the lessee’s family. “I would like to know what the extension of the family would be identified by. Can it be cousins, can it be uncles, that type of stuff?” he asked.
Councilman Richard Peterson asked why this needed to be reviewed by the city’s attorney. “We’ve been renting that house and I believe another one to city employees for years now. I’m not sure where the legal issues are now. Is there something new that we’re doing that needs to be approved by the attorney?” he asked.
Sullivan replied that he just wanted to make certain that there wasn’t an ethics issue, but that he didn’t think there was.
Wischmann noted that he felt it was something that should be bid out to the community for consideration rather than a “city employee getting rent free without any type of known compensation.”
Peterson said that in the past the person staying in the approximately 800 sq-ft. house would act as a sort of “watchdog” over the airport, to ensure no one vandalizes or uses the property other than for its intended use.
In the past the city has allowed a city employee to live in the house in exchange for light security of the airport grounds, assistance with problems that might arise with use of the gas pumps by pilots and checking the fuel level in the tanks. Sullivan acknowledged that the agreement presented for consideration did not contain any details regarding these services, while other agreements had in the past.
Councilman Tim Dixon asked what process was followed to select a person to live in the residence.
Sullivan explained that there wasn’t one. “The individual living there moved out and it was my intention to not fill it. But since then the security gate is not working up there and we’re having problems with the airport lights. So when the individual asked me about it I thought it may be a good time to put somebody back in there short term until we got those things running,” he said.
The agreement states that the lessee would pay all utilities, but Sullivan clarified that water would be provided by the city as it is not on a separate meter, leaving the lessee to pay for electricity and gas service.
Dixon reiterated that he was concerned about a fairness issue and felt it should be an opportunity open to all employees.
Councilwoman Francie Payne disagreed, stating that the place had been vacant for four or five months, and that most city employees were aware of that. “One person approached Randy and I think the employees knew of the vacancy indirectly. In the future, if someone is leaving and you want to fill it, you can post it and see if anyone on city staff is interested in this. But in this case it shows they weren’t because no one else approached him,” she said.
Vice Mayor Wade Carlisle, who presided over the meeting in the absence of Mayor Bobby Tyler, asked Sullivan to address the issues brought up regarding the duties connected with living in the house and utilities with the attorney, adding that he believed the issue of the selection process to be under the purview of the city manager.
Following the discussion, the council unanimously agreed to table the item for a future meeting.
The other house owned by the city is located at Hidden Cove Golf Course. A city employee lives in the house and provides security for the course in addition to his regular duties of maintaining the course.
The consent agenda approved by the council included invoices totaling $36,720, a special event liquor license application for Holbrook Elks Lodge No. 2450 for a Sept. 16 event and the minutes from the previous meeting.
In other business, Sullivan reported that he and eight city workers attended an Americans with Disabilities Act compliance meeting in Winslow. He also noted that they are continuing to prepare for the upcoming audit, and that he is continuing in his efforts to locate a grant to replace the control box for the airport lights, which he noted at a previous meeting may have been struck by lightning. Work is also continuing on one of the soccer fields.
Police Chief Mark Jackson reported that all the officers now have computers in their patrol cars, allowing them to be out in the field more often rather than in the office writing small reports. He noted that the department is now short four officers.
Jackson also informed the council that transients had broken the windows of the old Shell building located at the north end of the city to gain access, so he had taken existing supplies, boarded up the building and secured it.
In reporting to the council, Carlisle stated that he has announced his candidacy for District 6 state senator. “The biggest reason I ran is because of the situation with our HURF (Highway User Revenue Fund) funds. We just can’t get any movement out of state legislature on some of those things that are important to us up here with our rural roads and I don’t think we’re going to get any movement out of our legislature. That’s the biggest reason I ran,” he said.
Payne stated that she had been approached by a resident who was very complimentary about the looks of the downtown area, especially Gillespie Park, and noticed how much the tourists are enjoying it. She was then asked if there was something that the city could do to keep people from putting their yard sale boxes and signs along the sidewalk around the park. “It detracts from the park and I believe there is already a state statute against putting any signs in the ADOT (Arizona Department of Transportation) right of way,” she said.
Payne asked that since that is not being enforced by ADOT that citizens be aware and place their signage in other locations to keep the area looking good.
Peterson commented on the huge success of the annual mud run held Aug. 19, and expressed his gratitude to the city and Kathleen Smith in particular for making that happen. It was noted that 162 people took part in the event.
Wischmann commended city workers for recently filling pot holes that he said had been neglected for many years and for clearing the trees in an area along Carlos Avenue.
Dixon noted that a city 10-wheeler appeared to be out of compliance as it was operating without mud flaps and asked that safety checks be done on the vehicles.
Councilman Earl Kester noted that The Corral bar is now open for business and looks very nice inside after a remodel by the new owners.
Mayor Tyler was excused from the meeting as he was attending the annual conference of the Arizona League of Cities and Towns in Tucson.
