By L. Parsons The Winslow City Council met last week, a status report given by Winslow City Manager John Barkley. He said, “Weed eradication has and will continue to be a topic of conversation here. Lately, we put a little more teeth in our enforcement efforts and authority and I think it shows. Now that our code enforcement office is under our police department, they have the authority to cite people and get them into court if they are not up to code on their own properties. We are working to address the comments we are hearing from our citizens.” He continued, “Another thing is the status of our street repairs. You’ll see crews doing repairs and they are doing a tremendous job. We are working now on Second and Third streets and then will move to Bales Avenue by the Northland Pioneer College campus. You will see the evidence of our progress as we move along over the next month or so.” Finally, Barkley addressed the topic of face coverings in city owned facilities. He said, “We are looking at the numbers of COVID and the dashboards at the county level, but we want to make our services as inclusive as possible. We are sticking with the social distance or you must wear a mask policy. We are not going to mandate masks for the public in our facilities at this time, we are just going to observe guidelines we have in place to keep each other safe.” The Mayor and Council also announced upcoming events. Councilman Rickey Jackson began, “Coming up on (Thursday) Oct. 7, we will begin the Lunch and Learn series, it is everything you need to know about expanding or opening a small business.” The first Lunch and Learn series will be held at 11 a.m. in the Hubbell Building, located at 523 W. Second St. and will focus on the legal aspects of opening a business. Each event of the series is free to attend and lunch will be served. Also upcoming and mentioned by Councilman Jim Maclean is a citywide cleanup beginning at 9 a.m. this Saturday, Oct. 9. Participants are asked to bring their own equipment and meets at the First Baptist Church, located at 411 N. Warren Ave. He said, “There is a group of us getting together to clean up weeds around town. If you know of anyone who could use this service, please contact me.” In other business, and in the absence of councilmembers Peter Cake and Melissa Nelson and Vice Mayor Samantha Crisp, the council: * Heard a report from the Public Housing Director Kim Salazar. In her report, Salazar said, “We are making progress on updating the units as they were built in the 1950’s. Updates include new plumbing, flooring, cabinets and appliances.” * Heard a report from Old Trails Museum Director Ann-Mary Lutzick. In her report, Lutzick urged the public to volunteer at the museum. * Approved an amendment to a cooperative purchasing agreement between the City and Empire Southwest, LLC for the purchase of a new Caterpillar 416 backhoe loader in the amount of $118,584. The amendment adds the City of Tucson to the purchasing agreement. * Approved a through-the-fence airport agreement between the City and Northern Arizona Healthcare Corporation on behalf of its subsidiary, Flagstaff Medical Center, doing business as Guardian Air Transport. The agreement grants right of access to Guardian Air to the airport and its runways for 25 years at $1,000 per month. * Approved a resolution amending personnel policies and procedures for City employees designating Juneteeth as a paid City holiday to be observed on June 19 of each year in accordance with the passing of the Juneteeth National Independence Day Act. * Approved an ordinance authorizing the sale of real property, located at 1013 W. Second St. for $4,000 to Steve Adams. * Approved a resolution abandoning a portion of West Aspinwall Street for a property combination related to the development of real property located west of the intersection of North Edwin Avenue and West Fleming Street. * Cancelled the second City Council meetings in November and December as is routine for observance of holidays. Meetings scheduled for Nov. 23 and Dec. 28 are cancelled. The next meeting of the Winslow City Council will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 12, at the Hubbell Building.
