The Holbrook City Council held a special meeting on Monday, Aug. 20, and moved to accept the agreement offered by Apache Railway for repairs and possible replacement of a timber crossing of the railroad utilized by the city located north of the levee gate and just north of the Little Colorado River.

The council had discussed the item in their Aug. 14 council meeting and tabled making a decision on the contract at that time in hopes of finding an alternative route to reaching that portion of the levee.

The concerns surrounded the potential costs and liability to the city that were noted in the agreement. The document does not include an upward cap on the costs to maintain or replace the crossing and, according to the city’s attorney Marlene Pontrelli, there is the potential for liability to be imposed on the city for acts of negligence by Apache Railway.

At the Aug. 14 meeting the council agreed unanimously that it was far too costly to take part in the agreement but has since learned that there is no other way to access the levee with the necessary equipment without crossing at that location. As a result, the council approved the agreement, which estimates the cost of repairs to be $6,545 but if it is determined that replacement is necessary a cost estimate of $14,245 was also included. The council did motion that staff would inform them that if the costs were to exceed $20,000 before moving forward.