MARCH 2016
REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY OF
GLOBE MAYOR AND COUNCIL
Tuesday March 22, 2016 6:00 PM
Globe City Hall - Pine Street
It's official. Globe has a new fire chief. At Tuesday night's
Regular Meeting of the Mayor and Council, Deputy Fire
Chief Gary Robinson was appointed Fire Chief.
Paul Jepson attended in his capacity as Globe's new City
Manager.
Karalea Cox from the Economic Development Corporation
gave a report. Bryan Seppala is the EDc's acting president.
Groundbreaking for the Redbridge project at the old drive in
theatre will be next month for the first structures which will
be storage units.
Two “Empty to Awesome” awards were presented. Justina
Reynoso accepted on behalf of Gonzalo Jr. and Roberta
Reynosa for Reynoso El Rey restaurant.
Councilmember Mike Stapleton and his wife Anita received
the award for the new downtown restaurant and bakery, The
Copper Hen.
Action on the settlement agreement between the city of
Globe and Arizona Water Company was tabled, however it
was later approved in Executive Session. The Fiscal Year
2014-15 Audit was approved. Responses are still needed for
the fire department's low to moderate income survey.
Without them, the department cannot access the funds
approved for a new fire truck.
The city received $100,000 from the bed tax last year. It was
disbursed as $22,500 to the Chamber of Commercie,
$22,500 to the EDC, $20,000 to the Downtown Association,
$20,000 to the Cobre Valley Center for the Arts, and $15,000
to the Gila County Historical Museum.
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
CITY OF GLOBE MAYOR AND COUNCIL
Tuesday March 8, 2015 6:00 PM
City Council Chambers Pine Street
Good news and bad news from the city auditor at last night's
Regular Meeting of Globe's Mayor and Council. CPA John
Naylor said the Fiscal Year 2014-15 Financial Audit showed
revenue exceeding expenses by $230,000 for the general
budget, and by more than $900,000 for the Water and Sewer
Budget, which was good. It was a clean report, and the new
accounting software that is being integrated into the system
should be producing monthly statements soon. The bad
news was predictable. It's the $10 million liability to the
state for local pensions that now must be included in the
budgeting, due to changes in Arizona law. It's a financial
crisis that is causing some Arizona municipalities to declare
bankruptcy. What might happen here is outside the scope of
the audit report. But even looking at current pension
liabilities, the news is not comforting. Last year's
contribution rate for firefighters was 28% of salaries. Next
year it will be over 72%. For police, last year the rate was
27% of salaries. Next year it will be over 80%.
Finance Director Joe Jarvis reported the first meeting for
Fiscal Year 2016-17 budgeting went well. The next meeting
is on Tuesday the 15th at 5:15. One of the things to be
discussed is the projected 10% rise in health care costs.
Problems that cropped up with the US 60 water main project
are being fixed as they go, according to acting City Manager
Jerry Barnes who says the hope is to have the project
completed by March 16th, with milling and filling along the
road to occur later this month.
ADOT is insisting the City do additional work on Route 60
because of the water project, including patching, repaving,
painting, and replacing road reflectors. The $65,000 cost
will be expensed to WIFA. The Council waived the rules
and approved the cash outlay.
Barnes reports that the leaks are being fixed in the Hayden
tanks. One is done, the other should be soon. Test pumping
of Well #4 continues. Training has begun on the new PRV's,
the pressure reducing valves for the new water system.
Reese Canyon has a new six-inch water line, and leaks are
being fixed on it.
The discussion of the agreement with Arizona Water was
tabled due to language issues that are being corrected, but
developer Mike Radanovich took advantage of the Call to
the Public to voice his dismay over local water issues.
Radanovich noted that the city is not growing, real estate
values are very low, he's unable to develop lots he owns and
he's looking at empty land. In short development is going
nowhere, all due to water problems.
Mayor Terry Wheeler said that the area Radanovich
described is entirely serviced by Arizona Water Company,
therefore the city has no jurisdiction over the matter.
Wheeler suggested Radanovich should take it up with AWC,
but he added, it might be a good idea to set up a meeting
with Jerry Barnes to discuss common concerns.
Fire canine Evo was recognized for her contribution in
recent FBI investigations.
Acting Fire Chief Gary Robinson was recognized by Barnes
for his recent completion of his masters degree in public
administration from Grand Canyon University. Mayor
Wheeler acknowledged Paul Jepson who was in attendance.
Jepson will start as Globe's City Manger on March 21st.
Several new employees were introduced. In the police
department: Marissa Avalos, Officer Jason Fajardo, and
Katrina Kjellstrom In the public works department: Frank
Moreno, Gabriel Andrade and Aaron Casillas. In the active
adult center: Tina Gonzales and new center director Tamera
Guerin. In the water office: Angie Crago. And in the
Library: Melissa Williams.
A position remains open in the finance department.
Applications and details are available at City Hall.
Police Chief Mark Nipp presented a partnership agreement
with an online school, Columbia Southern University. It
costs the city nothing and gets employees a 10% discount on
courses, along with free instruction materials.
With virtually no discussion, Good To Go store at 1501 E
Ash was granted its liquor license.
Councilmember Roberta Lee Johnson commented that the
Rotary Casino Night at Bullion Plaza was a lot of fun and
hoped to see more people there next year.
Councilmember Mike Stapleton thanked everyone for the
great turnout at his new business, The Copper Hen, a bakery
downtown. Acting City Manager Jerry Barnes endorsed it
with, “I'm addicted to your chocolate eclairs”.
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
TOWN OF MIAMI MAYOR AND COUNCIL
Monday March 14, 2016 6:30 PM
Town Council Chambers - Sullivan Street
The Town of Miami took 22 cases of blight to court- and
they won them all. That was some of the news from last
night's Regular Meeting of the Mayor and Council, which
found Mayor Darryl Dalley and Councilmember Susan
Hanson not in attendance. Code Enforcement and Animal
Control head Gary Leveque delivered the good news and
added that there are four new open cases. Exactly what will
happen to the owners of the 22 blighted properties was not
discussed. Leveque also issued four citations to businesses
without licenses.
Town Manager Joe Heatherly explained that Miami has
instituted an aggressive policy to clean up properties through
code enforcement. He reported currently working on a new
bulk trash policy, said 32 potholes were recently filled, and
announced that Miami won the bid on the Globe Garbage
truck. It'll cost $20,000. He added that an estimate on pool
repairs should be in soon and he expects it to be much less
than what was needed last year. The pool will open on May
13th. Heatherly also explained the cause of a sewer line
problem on Sykes Alley and Nash. A restaurant on Sullivan
Street was operating without a grease trap. Leveque
discovered the inadequacy, which stemmed from a broken
trap that the restaurant addressed by bypassing it entirely.
Heatherly reported that the Fiscal Year 2014-15 audit will be
done by the end of the month. Regarding the Merritt Ramp
project, he said 15 contractors surveyed it and bids should
arrive soon. As for the Mackie Camp Bridge, that's not as
simple. Expected funds won't be directly forthcoming. The
way it works is the repairs must be funded upfront, and then
Miami would be reimbursed. But Miami doesn't have the
money.
There was an update by Jameson Owen from Kincaid on
Phase 2 of the Miami Sewer project. He said that both AWC
and Southwest Gas were offering a lot of cooperation in
moving lines located on Canyon Avenue. which are in
conflict with the new sewer line. Work has begun on
Sullivan Street this week and continues on Route 60 at the
east end of Miami. Owen reports things are moving
according to schedule.
But things are not going as well with sewer account
collections. Receivables currently are at $500,000. In
January, Miami sent out 115 letters to delinquent customers.
Five replied. They sent out another letter in February. 21
paid. They also received 38 deposits totaling $9,300. But
that hardly offsets the more than 600 overdue accounts, 20%
of which are uncollectable due to death or whereabouts
unknown.
Councilmember Mike Black jumped on the math. There's a
full time employee working on collections. There are over
600 past due accounts. And only 115 letters went out?
Why? The reasoning was not explored, but the depth of the
problem was, with examples of destitution. For instance,
one customer had service cut off for non-payment. The
information was sent to the County. A judge declared the
home to be uninhabitable. CPS stepped in and threatened to
take the children on the grounds of inadequate housing. The
only thing that saved this family was a charitable
organization in Phoenix, which stepped in and paid the bills.
There are residential accounts owing as little as $400, and
business accounts owing as much as $20,000. And not every
non-payer is ignoring the bills. In some cases Miami isn't
sending them. In example, while working on street recently
with two registered accounts, workers discovered there were
five buildings connected to the system. Three of them, fully
connected, were unknown to the town. No one knows how
long that's been happening, but the three in question will
receive bills for service since January of this year.
Police Chief Scott Gillen gave the police report for March
7th through the 11th. There were 122 calls for service, 16
citations, eight arrests, one assault, six cars were impounded
and towed, and someone defaced the police department
walls with graffiti. No word on the culprit as the existing
sole surveillance camera was pointed in the wrong direction.
Three residents came forward during the Call to the Public.
All own businesses along Sullivan Street: Jude Brook has a
leather shop, Gary Vesssels is a cotton merchant, and Randy
Chapman has an art gallery. They wanted to voice support
for the foot patrol that the police department has instituted in
the evenings. They said it makes the neighborhood safer,
and it's nice that the police are getting to know the business
community.
Michael 23 got an approval for the Miami Art Walk to be
held on April 22nd through the 24th this year. The event
will close part of Sullivan Street and will use Veterans
Memorial Park and its snack bar. There might be a fee for
the use of the concession stand, but that has yet to be
determined. Michael 23 asked about the possibility of places
for people to camp on public and or private land nearby, and
the Council agreed to discuss it at another meeting.
The Council was pleased that James Bridgewater of
Southwest Street Rods in Scottsdale has contacted them to
enquire about holding an event in Miami on May 14th.
Information is being provided.
Signage for the Purple Heart handicapped designated
parking space in front of Veterans Memorial Park is being
installed.
And Miami Library Director Delvan Hawyard proclaimed
the White Elephant Sale a big success. She said Fridays at
the library usually have 50 people all day. For the sale, 84
people came within the first three hours on Friday. The
overall tally was impressive: the White Elephant Sale
generated more revenue than both bi-annual book sales
combined.
