Noting that the Holbrook Painted Desert Kiwanis Club wants to make more visible contributions to the community, Club Secretary Wendy Skevington proposed the Holbrook City Council allow the organization to build a dog park at West End Park, located on Hopi Drive in Holbrook.
At the city council meeting Tuesday evening, Skevington said the Kiwanis Club would take the lead on providing fencing and developing the park if the council agrees to the project.
Mayor Jeff Hill asked City Manager Ray Alley to decide how to proceed with the request, and to bring the issue back to council on a future agenda.
Skevington made the proposal during the call to the public portion of Tuesday’s meeting.
During council member reports, Councilman Wade Carlisle said that the city may need to adjust its personnel policy definition of prohibited activities to accommodate new rules related to medical marijuana. Carlisle said that at a recent Northern Arizona Council of Governments (NACOG) meeting, attendees learned employers must prove impairment to discipline an employee who uses medical marijuana. Marijuana showing up on a drug test is not enough cause to discipline, as the drug may show up in an individual’s system up to 28 days after use. He recommended the city personnel policy be reviewed to incorporate medical marijuana considerations.
In follow up to direction given by the council during its last meeting, Alley reported he had consulted with a tax attorney to learn if there was merit to appealing the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) recent denial of an offer in compromise made by the Holbrook Senior Center to resolve an outstanding tax bill that was $59,358 as of May 25. The tax attorney will meet with the IRS agent handling the senior center’s case on July 1 to learn if there is a possibility of winning an appeal and reducing the debt owed.
Councilman Carlisle suggested not spending a lot of money on pursuing an appeal; that it might be better to just pay the debt owed. Alley agreed.
Alley also reported the city is considering closing the potable water and construction water stations located on South Apache Drive because of complications with managing the use of the stations, as well as vandalism and theft.
“I think the city is losing a lot of money,” said Alley.
He said users are propping the door of the potable water station open so other users can take water without paying, there are problems with people returning the keys to the facilities to the city in a timely manner, and there has been vandalism at the sites.
Alley said if the stations are closed he will have potable water customers get water from an outdoor spigot at city hall, noting the location would be easier for legitimate customers who can pay for their water and get it immediately on site, rather than driving to the current water station. Noting he doesn’t wish to hurt construction companies’ operations, Alley said he is exploring alternative water sources for construction companies. Alley didn’t report on timing for the proposed changes.
Holbrook Police Chief Mark Jackson attended Tuesday’s meeting to report on the dispatch transition from city police to the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office. Jackson said the transition took place seamlessly on Monday, with no major problems.
He said the average citizen will not notice a difference in service when calling the police. The new dispatch system will route officers to respond to calls based on each entity’s typical jurisdictions.
If individuals go directly to the police station to report an incident, they will use a call box and an officer will be sent to the station to take the person’s report. Instructions explaining the new dispatch system will be posted on the police department building.
In other business, Finance Director Randy Sullivan presented the revised city tax code, which brings the city in alignment with new legislation and policies that have been adopted statewide. The council voted to approve Resolution 11-06, adopting the new tax code, which includes adjustments to address medical marijuana legislation, tax exemptions for school districts and foreclosure rules, among others.
The council also approved the Holbrook City Library’s acceptance of a $65,900 grant from the Arizona State Library Department to purchase a self-check, self-return kiosk, styled after the popular “Redbox” DVD and game rental kiosks found at numerous retail outlets.
The self-service kiosk, which provides anti-theft security, will allow members to reserve from an iPhone or computer any media item the library has in the form of a disc, and pick it up directly from the kiosk, rather than having to request help from a librarian.
Skevington said nearly 25 percent of library staff time is spent managing media on disc (i.e. movies, audio books, music CDs, etc.), and the new kiosk system will free librarians to attend to other duties.
Currently, the library has about 1,500 items on disc. The grant will allow for purchase of additional items, nearly doubling the media library. The self-service kiosk holds 3,000 items.
It could take up to a year for the kiosk to be prepared and shipped to the library, so members will not see the new kiosk system in the near future.
