County Supervisors hear presentation on new drug prevention initiative

Wilson further highlighted the collaborative efforts within the county, “Navajo County was one of the counties selected to participate. We put together a team consisting of Supervisor (Daryl) Seymour, myself, Lieutenant (Scott) Peterson from the Sheriff’s Office, Alyssa Lemon from the health department, and Lonnie Young from CBI (Community Bridges, Inc.)”

According to Wilson, this team met monthly, both virtually and in person, and traveled across the United States to learn from other rural counties’ programs.

The initiative’s background data were crucial for its development. “Navajo County tracks overdose fatalities within our county, and not only do they track those, they track those with prior incarceration history,” Wilson noted. “In 2019, 36% of the people that fatally overdosed had a prior incarceration history. In 2020, it went up to 60%, and almost doubled in 2021 from 19 up to 76%”. This alarming data prompted the team to consider earlier interventions to prevent overdoses and look for alternative solutions to curb this behavior. Wilson also spoke about the difficulties that drug users in the county have to getting clean including that transportation can be hard to find as well as the limited number of providers for this kind of care in the county.

At the end of the presentation, Supervisor Seymore commented on the initiative’s importance, saying, “It is truly something that’s needed in our community because the influx of drugs and the disorders that we have, if we treat them and try to change, we’ll definitely make our society better.” Board Chairman Jason Whiting echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the initiative’s potential to drive results and impact change for good.

At the recent Navajo County Board of Supervisors meeting on May 28, a significant focus was placed on the fiscal year 2023 audit findings. Despite some issues, the audit concluded positively. Don Bohart from the Arizona State Office of the Auditor General said, “We reported an unmodified or clean opinion, which means the county’s financial statements are reliable.” Additionally, no fraud was detected during the audit, high accolades that the county has boasted for several years now.

Audit findings identified deficiencies in the county’s purchasing fuel card process. The county paid nearly $38,000 for employees’ fuel purchases but did not ensure that the fuel was used in county vehicles. “We estimated that there were approximately 750 fuel purchases made by over 175 employees. We and the county could not determine whether these fuel purchases were for official county business purposes because the supporting documentation was not readily available,” the auditor explained. It was noted that there is no reason to believe that there is significant fraud happening, however there isn’t the proper documentation to be 100% certain of that aspect of the budget. Recommendations were made to improve internal controls and ensure compliance with county policies.

The audit also revealed issues in risk management for IT systems. The county had not fully implemented IT risk assessment policies and procedures. Nicholas Rubeda also from the auditor general’s office said, “This occurred because the county’s administration and IT management have not fully implemented the IT access and system configurations and change management policies and procedures they have developed.” Rubeda mentioned that the county plans to correct these deficiencies by June 30, 2025.

The supervisors also celebrated two high school teams. The Snowflake High School track team was celebrated for winning the Division 4 Track and Field State Championship. “This is the fourth year in a row our boys have won state, and the second year for our girls,” said Coach Alicia LaDuke. “Our girls’ team won with 146 points, more than doubling the second-place team behind us.” The team’s exceptional performance included winning all three relay events and setting multiple school records. “Our boys team came together as a team and got that win. That was excellent,” the coach added.

Similarly, the Joseph City High School softball team was recognized for winning the 2024 State Championship. Coach Dan Hutchins shared highlights of their season, noting, “We only lost two regular season games, and we ended the season on a 21-game winning streak.” The team’s hard work and dedication were evident in their impressive performance during the state tournament, where they scored a total of 61 runs and hit over 15 home runs. “Several of our girls made all-region and April Neal was named Player of the Year in our conference,” the coach proudly stated.

Both teams showed immense passion and drive for their respective sports and this recognition will hopefully show these athletes the support they have from the community.

In other business, the board:

* Approved the Court Fill the Gap application, an annual application that is required so court funds can be utilized for this initiative that improves criminal case processing.

* Approved removal and abatement of tax applications for property as well as approved requests for redemption of tax waivers.

* Approved an election for Northland Pioneer College and Navapache Hospital District and the cities of Show Low, Holbrook, Snowflake, Taylor, and Pinetop-Lakeside for Nov. 5.

* Approved a board member election for the following Domestic Water Improvement Districts: two board members each for Joseph City, Woodruff, Clay Springs, Pinedale Estates, Misty Mountain, Porter Creek and Wonderland Acres, three board members each for Heber, Ponderosa and Three-O-Three, and one board member for Overgaard Townsite.

* Approved the board member elections for the following fire districts: Clay Springs, Heber-Overgaard, Joseph City, Timber Mesa Fire and Medical District, McLaws Road, Pinetop, Sun Valley, and Woodruff to be held on Nov. 5.

* Approved board member elections for the following sanitary districts: Heber-Overgaard, Joseph City and Pinetop-Lakeside on Nov. 5.

* Approved a resolution to designate polling place and contingency plans for elections.

* Approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the Flagstaff Initiative Against Trafficking to share database information.

* Approved an amendment to the contract with DR Engineering, Inc for modernization of engineering design guidelines and standard details project at an increased cost of $42,424.

* Approved deannexing of land in Pinetop-Lakeside and annexing the same territory to Show Low near Show Low Lake.

* Approved cooperative agreement with the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management for training and equipment at no cost to the county.

* Approved a grant renewal from First Things First for a child health consultant.

* Approved a proclamation to declare the month of May as Wildfire Awareness Month 2024.

* Approved a contract with Brown and White, Inc for guardrail installation, repair and supplies at a cost of $70,531.

* Approved a contract with Sunland Asphalt & Construction, LLC for Concho Highway Pavement Preservation Project at a cost of about $1.9 million, $1,743,770 for construction costs and the additional 10% being earmarked for any changes in the project.

The next meeting of the Navajo County Board of Supervisors will be held at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, June 10, in the board chambers located at 100 E. Code Talkers Drive.