The Winslow City Council heard the 2017 annual report from City Manager Steve Pauken last week. In the report, Pauken gave accolades to city staff that have helped the City of Winslow advance over the last year in various departments. “We rely on the specialists, the people that run the individual departments to be that expertise. To the mayor and council, thank you. You see what is happening in the community, you debate the policies, and we implement them to make the city run better.”
He also explained that unnecessary spending in Winslow has been lessened. “This city is more vibrant than it has been in the four years that I have been here,” Pauken said. “The important thing to recognize is that our strength as a community is within our people and our organizations. We are doing more and doing it with roughly the same amount of dollars that we have been doing it with for the last four years.
“One of the first things we talked about when I started in Winslow was blight removal,” Pauken said. “We removed 10 buildings last year and there are four commercial buildings scheduled to be torn down this spring.” He explained that the city will be redoubling its efforts to work in ways to find new ways to clear the blight. Pauken noted that there is still much to be done, but assured the public and council, “We have made an appreciable difference.”
Pauken continued his report by mentioning the community development department headed by director Paul Ferris. “In the last year, there has been a strip mall completed, Carl’s Jr. was completed, Maverik expanded, and an equestrian center was opened on North Road, Relic Road Brewing Company opened, an Auto Zone was approved and will open and Red Sands Christian School is in the old armory building. Nick Arredondo will expand his towing business this year.”
He then told the council that there is plenty of land ready for development in and around Winslow. “In the last year, we entertained six major inquiries that came from our economic development partner ECONA (Economic Collaborative of Northern Arizona). Out of every 100 prospects we get, we will be doing very well if we are able to harness two. Our business prospects are very strong moving forward.”
In the Public Works Department, Pauken said, “Fourteen miles of streets were repaired in one way or another last year.” One of the major projects for the streets department in 2017 was the repair and repaving of Bales Avenue. The street is partially owned by the City of Winslow and partially owned by Northland Pioneer College (NPC). “We partnered with NPC and got a very bad street repaired.” Winslow has also joined other communities in installing energy saving street lights. Pauken said, “These consume 70 percent less energy than the ones we had before and they take the blue light out of the spectrum which aids in night sky viewing.” The street light project will continue this budget year, as nearly 450 lights still need to be replaced.
This budget year will also see the repaving of the east side parking lot at McHood Park. The west side was completed last year by McCauley Construction Company. McCauley will take on the job this year as well, “It is in this year’s budget,” Pauken said, “it will be a little trickier and a little more expensive than the west side, but it is in the budget.”
The Parks and Recreation department also saw improvements at the indoor swimming pool and at Vargas Field, which was leveled, resurfaced and outfitted with a windscreen. A grand opening ceremony for the newly improved field was held at 2 p.m. yesterday (Tuesday, March 6). Improvements will continue at Sacred Heart Park on the south side of town, which will include a permanent restroom facility. The Desert View Cemetery will be repaved and continued effort will take place to improve the grounds.
The wastewater treatment plant project is near completion according to Pauken, “We will have concluded something like $10 million in wastewater treatment plant improvements over the last four years. We shouldn’t have to spend major dollars on that project for another 10 or 15 years.” Water meters are also in the process of being replaced in Winslow. “We have 2,800 water meters that are no longer accurate, this will alleviate that and free up three employees for other projects.”
Public Safety was also in Pauken’s report. “The Fire Department overhauled Engine Number 3 last year and is purchasing a new ladder truck. That raises the bar to the highest level that a town this size can achieve.” He added, “This will also improve our insurance ratings which will have immediate impact on commercial enterprises and hopefully some spin off on our homeowners as well.”
The fire department also graduated another class from the fire academy, “This is a testament to the fact that there are people who want to serve as firefighters in Winslow.”
The Police Department has also improved, Pauken said, “The quality of people and the quality of training they are receiving is an improvement. So is our purchasing of nine new police vehicles. Those nine vehicles are more new vehicles than we have bought in the last 25 years.” Pauken told the council that the PERF (Police Executive Research Forum) Report issued last year was, “The most important purchase in the last 20 years.” The report contained an assessment of the Winslow Police Department and offered tips on how to improve the department. “We are still learning the lessons from the PERF report, and still improving.”
The Winslow-Lindbergh Regional Airport received $4 million in improvements in 2017, including the repaving of two runways. “When we get in to fire season, the pilots will really appreciate those improvements.” He then explained the funding for the project was a collaboration between the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the State of Arizona, and the City of Winslow. “The FAA paid 90 percent of the cost, and the remaining 10 percent was handled by the state and the city.” Industry reliant on airport access has reportedly become interested in the Winslow facility, “We had an air ambulance company out of Texas looking to make their home in this area.”
The Finance Department was also mentioned in Pauken’s report. He explained that as of last year, the department has taken over the payroll for the city whereas before it was done by an outside party. “The savings on that alone is upwards of $60,000.” He thanked Finance Director Elias Jouen and his staff for their diligence and hard work throughout the year.
Finally, Pauken spoke about the situation concerning misappropriated funds from the Public Housing Department. He stated that former director Joyce Shorthair had confessed to stealing $69,000 from the department. Charges in the matter have not yet been filed. “Our interim director, Andrew Loubert is pointing out things that we were perhaps not aware of in terms of things we should be doing. That is the road to recovery.”
He added that the city, at this point, is looking in to partnering with the City of Flagstaff Public Housing Authority for management. “If they decide this is what they would like to do, it would be beneficial. If not, we will begin the process of finding a new director.” The City of Winslow finance department has taken over the monetary transactions of the housing authority following the incident. “None of it is going on at the public housing office. We made the decision that it would be better for the community in the long run.”
Pauken ended his report as he had started it, by giving praise and accolades to the city staff that make the day to day operations possible and he said, “The bottom line is, if you haven’t noticed the improvements, you haven’t been watching.”
