Winslow Vice Mayor Bob Schlesinger will be retiring on Feb. 29, leaving his seat on the council vacant. In last week’s meeting, the council held a discussion on how to move forward in filling the position.
Mayor Tom McCauley began, “I would like to see a letter of intent from potential candidates, along with a resume and I would also like to add a paragraph about why you would like the position and how you would assist the council in our goals.”
Councilwoman Samantha Crisp said, “I was thinking maybe a bit simpler, with some basic information and perhaps a public forum of some kind.”
Councilman Robin Boyd agreed with Crisp, adding, “We should have our selection process made in executive session, however.”
McCauley explained that the appointment of the new member cannot be made until March 1, after Schlesinger officially resigns his seat. He then called for city staff to immediately draft an announcement of the vacancy. “After we have some candidates we can whittle those down and be able to make a selection at our Feb. 25 meeting with the appointment on March 1.”
Those interested in applying for the position should contact City Clerk Suzy Wetzel at City Hall, located at 21 N. Williamson Ave. The deadline for letters of intent will be Feb. 10. The appointment would cover the remaining time of Schelsinger’s term which ends in May 2020.
The council heard a presentation from Waste Management Public Sector Solutions Director Clark Landrum.
There has been much public discussion regarding what is and what is not recyclable in the city. Landrum explained that plastics with the numbers one, two, four and five are accepted and that aluminum cans, steel and tin cans, magazines, glossy inserts, newspaper, mail, uncoated cardboard, office paper and corrugated containers are all okay to put in that recycling cart.
“We do ask that you get those materials as clean as possible before you put them in as one bit of food debris from a left-over pizza box could contaminate an entire truck of material. The biggest contaminate that we face in our facilities are plastic bags. Please, do not bag your recyclables and do not put plastic bags of any kind in to the recycling cart. Those have been known to shut down the entire process of cleaning and processing material for buyers,” he stated.
The quarterly hospital report was given by Little Colorado Medical Center Quality Care Coordinator Christy Ross. In her report, Ross told council about the new accountability programs the departments at the hospital have implemented. Part of that accountability, according to Ross, is a quality care committee. Each department is represented on the committee and subjects themselves to five metric categories that reflect their progress and success with efficiency and patient care.
“With this we will prove that we are providing quality care locally, so you don’t have to go elsewhere to find that. We are measuring what our outcomes are, our patient safety and satisfaction, business requirements and our regulatory standards.”
Ross then went on to tell the council that LCMC is well below the national average on surgical site infection rates, has lowered their average length of stay in the emergency department and decreased their “door to doc” time, which is the number of minutes from entering the emergency department to seeing a physician.
A patient satisfaction survey was recently implemented at LCMC, according to Ross. “We just pushed this out, it is a month old so this will be our baseline data. There are about 10-12 questions on the survey and so far, we have scored at the 90 percentile or close to it in the three areas we surveyed. Those are the clinic, our medical/surgical department and the emergency department. Overall, our patients are satisfied with the care they are receiving.”
The meeting agenda also included a resolution approving the Federal Transportation Administration/ Arizona Department of Transportation Winslow Public Transit Policies and Procedures Manual.
In the absence of councilmembers Judy Howell and Bob Schlesinger, the council voted to table the adoption of the manual. Mayor McCauley said, “I have never seen this manual and I would like to table it until we see it. I am not going to vote on something that I have no idea what is in it.”
City Manager John Barkley replied, “We can certainly have that available for you. Mr. Nelson, is there a timing issue if we defer until the next meeting?”
Transit manager Tim Nelson approached the podium, “It was submitted to legal counsel for review. Yes, there is a timing issue. I was supposed to have this finished in December. If we don’t have approval, we can’t launch the transit program.”
He then told the council that the program launch was scheduled for the next day, Jan. 15. “I apologize, it is a compliance issue. It outlines the procedural function of the program including vehicle maintenance and employee conduct. Had I known that this was contingent on our launching, I would have been a little more forthcoming in getting it to the council. I have so many things on my plate that when I submitted it for review, I didn’t follow up. That was right around the Christmas break.”
The council also had questions on another action item. The motion asked the council to approve a property listing contract between the city and First Brokers Realty, Ken Berkhoff, Designated Broker.
Councilwoman Crisp began, “Was this contract offered to anyone in town? We have a number of local real estate agents.”
Barkley replied, assuring her that the formal request for proposal process was followed. “We began advertising in October and the only respondent was First Brokers Realty.” The contract would allow Berkhoff to render services of lease or sale of city owned properties.
McCauley moved that the contract be approved with amendments. “I would like to have the city manager renegotiate the contract to bring our commission rates from 12 percent to 10. I would also like there to be an active effort on the realtors’ part in providing us with listings and how they are marketing our properties. We need a list and a map of properties that are available for sale in the City of Winslow.”
The motion, containing McCauley’s amendments passed unanimously.
In other business, the council:
* Heard a status update from City Manager John Barkley. According to Barkley, the auditing firm Fester and Chapman will attend a February council meeting to give their annual report.
* Heard a quarterly report from Public Housing Director Kim Salazar. Salazar reported that the program in Winslow is at a 96 percent occupancy rate. Section 8 vouchers remain available.
* Heard recommendations from the Economic Advisory and Rodeo Exploratory Committees. The Economic Advisory Committee led by Michael Mendoza suggested to the council the continuation of blight removal and the review of the City’s Economic Development Policy including zoning, pricing and permitting requirements. The Rodeo Exploratory Committee lead by Walter Pacheco recommended the City explore all rodeo related venues but focus on the city-owned 150-acre industrial zoned property at the intersection of State Route 87 and Airport Road. The committee suggested a multi-use facility.
* Adopted a resolution approving a property split for real property located immediately west of Cottonwood Avenue and north of Third Street.
* Held a public hearing to discuss the use of assumed block grant funds. The council decided on improvements for sidewalks, curbs and gutters in the Southside and Coopertown neighborhoods. Also on the table were streetlight improvements and Americans with Disabilities Act improvements city-wide. Public input included Winslow resident Ken Evans asking the council to consider its dark sky policy.
* Adopted a resolution to authorize the submission of an application for a State Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) in the amount of $230,000 to be used on improving sidewalks, gutters and curbs in the Southside and Coopertown neighborhoods.
* Approved an addendum to the existing construction manager at risk contract with McCauley Construction, Inc. for Phase 4 of the Apache Avenue Sewer Bypass Projects, approving payment in the amount of $651,319.
* Approved a donation of $500 to the 2020 Because We Care Committee. This is an annual contribution budgeted in the Special Events fund.
* Renewed agreements between the city and the Winslow Lady Dawgs softball organization and the Winslow Knuckles baseball organization for the use of city-owned fields.
* Reappointed Ken Evans to the Public Safety and Personnel Fire and Police Retirement boards until Jan. 31, 2024.
The next meeting of the Winslow City Council will be 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 28, in the new location, the Winslow Visitor’s Center, located at 523 W. Second St.
