By L. Parsons Navajo County Sheriff David Clouse and Chief Deputy Brian Swanty went before the Winslow City Council last week with a presentation of statistics and a message of appreciation to the council for the City’s ongoing support of the MCAT (Major Crimes Apprehension Team). Sheriff Clouse began by explaining what MCAT is. “MCAT is a multi-agency task force to combat major crimes. It is a drug task force that is target specific. The cities that we partner with make a big investment into MCAT. Not only do they contribute funds, but personnel as well. The return on that investment is evident. “This is truly a multi-agency partnership. Currently, the task force is made up of the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office, Show Low and Winslow police departments, Arizona Department of Public Safety, the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency), FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), United States Marshal’s Office and several other federal and state organizations.” His slide show presentation showed that in 2020, MCAT seized over 150 pounds of methamphetamine, nearly 20 pounds each of heroin and cocaine, 449 pounds of marijuana, $48,361 in U.S. currency and over 53,000 fentanyl pills. Swanty continued, “I should note that these numbers are from about July 2020 on. From about February to the first of July, the task force wasn’t as active as they usually are. We were working on targeting our approach.” The task force was able to make nearly 100 physical arrests, serve 95 search warrants and assisted the Winslow Police Department with 11 arrests. Also presented to the council was a proposal by the Friends of the Library. Member Lisa Maclean outlined a plan to remodel and add to the current Winslow City Library. “The Friends of the Library has been around for 26 years with the sole purpose of supporting our local library. We have offered support through volunteer hours, supplementing the staff the city pays for, and helped with special programs and children’s events. We have been fundraising for the entire 26 years.” She went on to explain the annual book sale, raffles, cook books sales and donations have served to add to the library coffers. She continued, “It had long been our dream to build a new library. The city purchased the old Babbitt’s plaza, which now houses the police department and we were told that the library would be moved there as part of the city complex. But at some point, that plan was abandoned. “So we come to you now with the idea of an addition. Through the generosity of our community, we are able to come here tonight to propose an addition to the current building to which we could contribute $250,000. We would like to request that the city match those funds in order to build and complete this and we would like to see this project started in the next fiscal year.” The addition, according to MacLean, would allow the library to expand the children’s area, the computer area, and incorporate a community meeting room. The council took no action on the proposal during the meeting but did discuss adding a library project to the budget for fiscal year 2022. Winslow City Manager John Barkley revealed that a bond issue may be part of that discussion. In other business, the council: * Heard a status report from Barkley in which he announced the anticipation of $2 million from the American Rescue Bill expected to be signed by President Biden this week. * Accepted the financial report for January by Finance Director Elias Jouen. Citywide revenues were $1.4 million bringing year to date totals to $10.8 million. Citywide expenditures were $1.4 million bringing year to date totals to $8.6 million. * Approved a resolution authorizing an award to the City of Winslow of an Airport Development Reimbursable Grant in an amount not to exceed $387,000 from the Arizona Transportation Board for the design and reconstruction of runway 11/29 at the Winslow Lindbergh Regional Airport. The City must match $43,000 in budgeted funds. The next meeting of the Winslow City Council will be at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 23, in the Hubbell Building, located at 523 W. Second St.
