The Holbrook City Council held a meeting Feb. 20, during which the council received an overview from Just Energy Transition (JET) Center Executive Director Amanda Ormond on the upcoming vision session facilitated by the JET Center and hosted by Arizona State University (ASU).
According to their website, the JET Center’s goal is to assist communities facing the economic and social consequences of fossil fuel transition. JET will be helping Holbrook in regard to the Cholla Power Plant closure in nearby Joseph City by hosting two Charting the Future vision sessions. “The idea is that we want to bring the community together to think about what they want to build in the future, the coal plant closure is going to have a very significant impact on many people in the region,” explained Ormond, adding that the intent is to create positive engagement by asking a series of questions. Questions posed will be along the lines of what people like about their community and the positive assets that keep them here. The second session will focus on how those positive assets can be used to build towards the future. Osmond also clarified that these sessions come at no cost to the city and is free.
The first session will be from 6 to 9 p.m. today (Wednesday). The second session date has tentatively been set for the same time on Thursday, March 28.
The council also continued a discussion from last meeting’s agenda item in regard to the personnel policy on weapons in the workplace. “The attorney had recommended that they didn’t like that policy at all, so they had come up with another policy,” stated Interim City Manager Randy Sullivan, then recommended the item be tabled until next meeting due to council members not having enough time to properly review the attorney’s recommendation as the city email server was down the previous week. Sullivan explained that the city’s attorney Justin Pierce said that the policy opens the city up to a lot of liability and recommends removing any option that allows employees to carry weapons.
When questioned if an attorney had looked at the policy when it was first approved by council, Sullivan stated he did not know and couldn’t speak to previous administration and council’s actions, which he claimed would have probably been done around 2008. Since it was just a discussion item, no action was taken but it was stated that the council will come back to it when more information is available.
Chief Deputy Brian Swanty gave an annual presentation on the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office. Swanty explained that the passing of the jail district tax a while ago has been helpful for the jail district. “It has relieved a lot of pressure off of the Navajo County General Fund in order to maintain the jail.” According to Swanty, the jail can hold about 420 inmates with a currently daily average between 220 and 250.
The county uses the available space to host programs such as peer counseling, reentry programs and the Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Center (ARRC) program, where inmates work with animals picked up by the county’s animal control.
Swanty also discussed funding that the county has received and how it was applied to add radio infrastructure and towers throughout the county.
“The City of Holbrook Police Department is dispatched through the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office dispatch center along with Holbrook Fire, Holbrook EMS (Emergency Medical Services), Joseph City Fire, Sun Valley, the Petrified Forest and animal control,” explained Swanty, adding that their dispatch center handled 5,300 calls that were dispatched to Holbrook police.
Drug and currency seizures for 2023 were also presented, which showed that the sheriff’s office seized 341 pounds of methamphetamine, 1.8 pounds of heroin, 130.6 pounds of cocaine, 5.1 pounds of marijuana/wax, nearly 1.9 million fentanyl pills, 2.4 pounds of fentanyl powder (equal to 10,764 pills), 117 gallons of fentanyl liquid and $86,502 in US currency. “These drug amounts here are a combination of what’s seized on the street and also what is being interdicted as it’s traveling through our county,” stated Swanty.
All categories saw a decrease from the previous year aside from fentanyl, which saw a drop in pill form from 2.1 million in 2022, but an increase in other forms such as powder and liquid which increased the overall amount seized in 2023. “Methamphetamine has been the number one public threat when it comes to drugs since the 90s. Just last year, fentanyl passed methamphetamine as far as the number one threat to our communities here in Arizona.”
Swanty also provided statistics on proactive enforcement success within Navajo County Sheriff’s Office, with 243 physical arrests, 98 total agency assists, five drug traffic organizations with two closed and three open, and 61 search warrants conducted. All saw a slight decrease from a previous year, which Swanty related to manpower issues within the Major Crimes Apprehension Team (MCAT) task force.
Catholic Charities Director Nancy Barela addressed the council during Call to the Public in regard to the city’s trailer home requirements. “I know that right now, there’s a policy that if anyone wants to put a trailer on their property, or into a trailer court, that the trailer has to be no more than 10 years old, I believe.” Barela requested that the council or Planning and Zoning Commission look into expanding the acceptable age of trailers to increase housing abilities for the community. Mayor Kathleen Smith stated that the council will reach out to Planning and Zoning to look into any potential change.
During the summary for current events, Sullivan stated that city employees put new posters in the kiosks in town to improve tourism.
Mayor Smith and Sullivan both discussed attending a federal funding summit the previous day that assists communities to apply and receive grants. Sullivan stated that he’s been working on the budget extensively, claiming it had to basically be completely recreated.
Following the regular meeting, the council held a work session in which they reviewed goals and objectives pertaining to land use, circulation and environmental planning within the general plan. Discussion was also done on creating a new logo and motto for the city and will have a graphic designer attend the next work session. No action was taken during the work session.
