The Taylor Town Council held a special meeting on Thursday, July 12. The tentative 2018-2019 budget, recognizing local law enforcement volunteers and two intergovernmental agreements were on the agenda. Council Members Kyle Peck and Lynn Dewitt did not attend the meeting.
Town Manager Gus Lundberg presented the tentative 2018-2019 fiscal year budget. The budget comes in at approximately $9.3 million, which is about $800,000 below last years budget. This budget is tentative and will be published publicly and a public hearing will be help at the next town council meeting.
Snowflake Taylor Police Department (STPD) Chief Larry Scarber took the meeting as an opportunity to thank local volunteer leaders as well as those who serve under them for their help. STPD uses volunteers to help with events such as the recent Fourth of July parade or in the event of a crisis. “They help us with crowd control, traffic control, security and just making people feel safe at our rodeo events and our public events,” said Scarber.
Those in attendance being recognized were director of the Cedar Hills Unit of the Navajo County Sheriff’s Auxiliary Volunteers David Sands, Steve Buck the Company Commander of the Show Low Company of the Arizona Rangers, and president of the STPD Volunteers and Police Services Don Anderson.
Scarber also recognized the president of the Snowflake Taylor Civil Response Team Jimmy Harden and STPD Reserve Volunteer Officer Chase Carlson who were not present at the meeting. “We certainly could not do this by ourselves,” said Scarber. Mayor David Smith said to the volunteers, “We appreciate the help you gave the Fourth of July Rodeo. You’re a valuable asset.”
An intergovernmental agreement between the Snowflake Unified School District and the Town of Snowflake was approved for the addition of lighting at the Taylor Intermediate School to help expand the pee wee football, girls’ softball and other recreation. Taylor will be donating the lighting fixtures, which they purchased about 12 years ago and have been being stored. The school district will then maintain the fields and lights in exchange for no irrigation fees by the town. That cost is $6,000 annually. Snowflake is involved because of their shared services for recreation agreement with Taylor.
In other business, the council:
* Approved amendments to the town fee schedule for some recreation charges, event charges and permit fees. Notable changes include a flat rate fee for solar system permits of $125 that was previously based on size and far more expensive. Commercial building plan reviews are now based on 50 percent of the building permit fee instead of a flat rate. The rodeo arena fees are now a flat $125 and for another $50 the town will provide a tractor and driver. Previously the arena was the same price as the Ramada price of $25 but with the preparation involved on the arena the town needed to increase the cost. Youth soccer and basketball have increased by $5 to $25.
* Approved an agreement with Navajo County to chip seal approximately 18.3 miles of roadways in Taylor. The county will provide materials and labor with Taylor providing equipment and labor. This will save the town approximately $900,000. The roads planned for chip sealing are Harvest Valley, Hereford Road, Cemetery Road, Centennial Boulevard, Center Street, Papermill Road, Willow Lane, Freeman Hollow, Cattle Lane and Pinedale Road.
The next regular monthly Taylor Town Council meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 2, at town hall, located at 425 Papermill Road in Taylor. A public hearing for the budget will take place at that meeting.
