City Council adopts 2005-06 budget
Recall election date set; Winslow levee meeting scheduled

City Council met for a regular meeting on July 12. During the meeting, Council approved the 2005-06 budget, 6-1. Council member Judy Howell said she would not accept a budget that did not include a ladder truck for the Fire Department.

‹ The adopted 2005-06 fiscal budget is $20,251,749 ‹ 9-percent higher than last year. The budget does not reflect the June 17 decision to turn jurisdiction of the city court over to Navajo County or recent land sales.

Finance Manager Gina Reffner said there were a few changes from the tentative budget Council approved last month. An accounting error regarding two carry-over projects ‹ Mike's Pike extension and Route 66 Phase I ‹ was corrected in the adopted budget. The money being carried over into this fiscal year for those projects was put in the roads department. However, some was supposed to be put in the General Fund.

"It didn't increase the budget at all, we just moved it around between the two funds," Reffner said.

‹ The date has been set for the recall election of Mayor Jim Boles and Councilwoman Judy Howell for Nov. 8. According to City Clerk Suzy Wetzel, both incumbents plan to try to retain their seats based on statements they submitted to her. The statements will be printed on the ballots. Candidates wishing to run in the election have until Sept. 9 to file nomination papers. Voter registration is open until Oct. 10.

Council also approved an intergovernmental agreement (or IGA) with Navajo County for the county to conduct the Sept. 13 special election on Proposition 300 through an all-mail ballot.

At issue is rezoning of 7.61 acres of land west of North Park and north of I-40, on which Wal-Mart would like to build a Supercenter.

Official ballots will be mailed to each qualified elector beginning Aug. 11. Ballots must be returned by 7 p.m. on Sept. 13. An informational pamphlet will be mailed to registered voters beginning Aug. 5.

Voters can call 928-524-4192 to verify voter registration. (See related story below).

‹ Council denied the transfer of a liquor permit to the HD Fuel Company, which operates the New Ice House, located at 1805 W. Second Street. The Winslow Police Department recommended Council deny the application because the president of the company, Jason Hall, is 20-years old and therefore not old enough to purchase liquor from a supplier to sell in the store. Hall argued that technically, the corporation would be purchasing the alcohol and said in his research there is no state law prohibiting purchasing liquor that would be resold in a store. Hall can appeal the Council's decision to the state Liquor Board.

‹ Council has hired Hughes Supply Incorporated to perform a water leak detection survey in the downtown area. City staff has received numerous complaints from business owners of water leaking into basements. The area to be surveyed is From First Street to Aspinwall and from Donnelley to Hicks. The survey should take about four days to complete.

‹ Representatives from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality presented a report to Council on the progress on the cleanup of underground fuel tanks. In the past 12 months, ADEQ has removed 14 leaking or orphaned tanks in Winslow through the Route 66 Initiative. There are 22 more sites scheduled for cleanup, but ADEQ representatives said they know there are probably many more that have yet to be reported. ADEQ spokesman Bill Engstrom said the funding for the cleanup grant is scheduled to run out and the last date to have tanks scheduled for removal is June 30, 2006.

‹ Navajo County Supervisor JR DeSpain told Council that a public hearing will be held August 3 on the progress of the Winslow Levee. County officers will offer information on the present condition and future of the levee. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Winslow High School.

‹ Council approved the deductible payment of $1,000 to Southwest Risk Service in an insurance settlement. The claimant's name was not mentioned, but according to the report, he alleges that he was arrested without probably cause and claimed his Sixth and 14th Amendments rights were violated by city employees in 2002. The claim was settled for $67,570.56.

‹ Council approved the first reading to create Title 18 in the Municipal Code. The title was created to simplify and consolidate issues related to code enforcement by placing them in one chapter. According to City Planner Jane Zukowski, each section has been repeated verbatim from its parent section to the new title. Text was not changed other than correcting typos.

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