Discussions have taken place in Winslow City Council meetings since January on the topic of public transportation in Winslow. Last week, the council voted to officially adopt a transit plan in the absence of Councilman Curtis Hardy.
Two votes were returned as ‘no,’ by Councilman Thomas Chacon, commenting earlier in the meeting, “I want to remind the council and mayor that we made some promises to the community several years back and here we have these revenues coming in (referring to capital improvement taxes), we promised sidewalks to Southside eight years ago. One piece was done, the rest of it is lying idle, this is what this money is for, let’s not forget.”
Councilwoman Judy Howell also delivered a ‘no’ vote and said, “I think our money would be better spent on projects that need to be done within the city.”
Councilmen Marshall Losey, Bob Schlesinger and Harold Soehner voted in favor of the adoption of a plan.
The plan, developed by the Northern Arizona Intergovernmental Public Transportation Authority (NAIPTA), outlines transit options and recommendations available to the City of Winslow as prepared by NAIPTA, following public surveys and studies of demographic needs of Winslow citizens.
Those surveys, both by mail and online, provided over 900 responses that reflected the need for transportation in Winslow. “Forty-six percent of Winslow residents have one or no car per household, as an example of the need that is out there,” NAIPTA Mobility Planner Kate Morley reported.
According to the executive summary of the plan, “Adoption of the plan does not tie the council to only implementing as the plan recommends, but allows for the city to pick amongst the service alternatives if they so choose.” The vote to adopt also allows the city to begin the application process for a grant from the Arizona Department of Transportation before the deadline to do so passes in February.
Morley said, “There are two key decisions that council would need to make by a February application. One of those is commitment of local funds to that application and item two is deciding which types of service you’re looking to offer.”
The ADOT website describes the grant as one that provides funding to counties, cities, towns and American Indian tribes to operate transit systems at the local level. It is a matched fund grant, meaning the City of Winslow would be responsible for funding a transit system from their capital improvements budget or other account alongside an award of the grant.
City Manager Steve Pauken said, “From the perspective of financing the plan, there are some commitments that we need to make.” He explained, “I think there are two thresholds that we’ve got to step over. The first, is initial funding so that we can get the thing started. There’s also the issue of how to fund it permanently.”
The state legislature ruled last year that budget related items could only appear on municipal ballots in even numbered years Pauken said. He added, “That next opportunity is November 2018, so sometime between now and that deadline, we have to determine how we are going to fund it. If it involves going to ballot, it has to be in time for 2018.” He then said, “We can apply for (the grant) but if we don’t have our match, then it’s all useless, so staff recommends the commitment of $100,000 in the first year, and $100,000 in the second year, all of which you can vote on later.”
Councilman Schlesinger asked, “Where does that put us if we put it on the ballot and it doesn’t pass? Would we have to take it out of another fund?” Pauken responded, “I am assuming that part of our discussion would include a contingency plan should anything you place on the ballot fail. We are anticipating, at least in the first two years, a fairly substantial amount of money being used from the city’s general fund and perhaps some of it from Fund 13 (the city’s capital improvement fund).”
The implementation of a transit system in Winslow would take place in phases. The first of which includes the grant application process and the hiring of a transportation manager, followed by investing capital in infrastructure needed to operate the system, and finally on the road service projected to commence in October 2019.
The plan can be viewed by visiting Winslow City Hall at 21 N. Williamson Ave.
