Introduction:

It was a 2.5 hour city hall meeting and then a half hour special meeting after 🙃. But no worries, I have a recap of both!

Additional note: Thank you for your patience with me on getting this out later-than-usual. I am a full-time teacher, full-time single dad, and a terrible selector of hobbies because this was quite the hobby to take on haha. So again, thank you for your patience.

In this newsletter you’ll find:

1. An updated list of upcoming events.

2. A summary of last night’s city council meeting.

3. A summary of last night’s special city council meeting.

Upcoming Events in Holbrook, AZ:

Don’t see your event listed? If it’s non-profit and for the whole community, we’ll probably list it for free*. Email us at [email protected]. *_{We do reserve the right to not list any event if we feel it does not belong in this section.}

City Council Meeting Summary

Here’s a quick recap of the city council meeting on 8/14/24

• CDBG SSP Project: That stands for the Community Development Block Grant - State Special Projects. This grant aims to help housing situations for low income individuals and to help out neighborhoods that are in disrepair. Before they can get started, some tricky language needs to be voted on in the contracts. Example: The state mandates that if critical repairs are done to a home, the city will need to provide an alternative housing situation for the tenets like a hotel stay (but it was noted that this circumstance would be extremely rare). Both resolutions regarding the contract language for this grant were passed unanimously.

• Property Tax Decrease: This was a second reading of the property tax decrease. It went down from .4786 to .4686 per $100. City Council unanimously passed.

• Leasing land to Rutz MX: Rutz MX is a new professional dirt bike track that will be using city land to build their course. The closest professional track to us is currently in Buckeye, AZ, so there is a lot of optimism about the impact this can have in Holbrook. The city will be leasing the land for their use. Passed unanimously.

• Controversial Section! Clenera Solar Project: Clenera will be running tall, above-ground electric towers from Jeffers’ ranch to the Cholla Power Plant area. The path crosses various properties, private and city. One path was already approved in 2022, but a new path was proposed for this meeting because it lessens “environmental impact.” Clenera has an open town hall meeting tonight (the day after the city council meeting). You could sense some unease with some council members as they were being asked to approve a plan before the open town hall. It was not unanimously passed (5 yay-2 nay [Black & Nilsson opposed]). The conversation around the approval was that that if this upgraded (more “environmentally path”) wasn’t approved, they were just going to go with the “worse” path passed in 2022. A tough situation. It sounds like the town hall meeting sponsored by Clenera is to answer local questions even though the path(s) have now been passed by local land owners and the city council.

• Reinvestment of Funds with a New Investment Broker, Moreton Capitol: City of Holbrook has $7.4 mil invested in an LGIP (Local Gov. Investment Pool) and keeps about 3.2 mil readily available in the bank. Morton Capital brings some extra tools and resources to give Holbrook some more earning potential. Moreton Capital has a good reputation with the new City Manager and is also used by other surrounding cities like Snowflake and Taylor. After a presentation that was far too long, City Council approved using Moreton Capital and recommended that we invest the same (7.4 mil), take 2 mil and put it into a new Money Market Mutual Fund that’s kind of like a checking account that accrues interest and to keep 1.2 mil in the bank, but it’s up to the city manager to make those finer, more detailed decisions (the city manager also has the approval to change the amounts as needed, especially if it’s close).

• Selling lots (parcels) to NPC Construction: NPC is requesting to purchase two lots owned by the city on California St. These lots will be sold to NPC for close to $4,700 and $4,200. NPC Construction will build full-size houses (Approx. 3 bed, 1 bath) on these lots as a part of their hands-on instruction methods. NPC will then sell the houses to the public when completed and will then use those funds to purchase more land/ build more houses. The creation of the contract was passed unanimously.

• Mileage Reimbursement: There have been issues at the city where a vehicle was needed, but not available. It was proposed that a reimbursement plan be in plan when a personal vehicle is needed to be used. It was unanimously approved that a mileage reimbursement rate be used by the city equal to what the federal government prescribes.

• Next City Council Meetings Cancelled/adjusted: August 28th meeting is cancelled due to many members of city council being in the valley for a conference and training. The Sept. 11 meeting has been changed to Sept. 10 so that city council members may be present at the County Fair as city representatives.

• Lease Proposal for Hashknife: No, probably not the Hasknife posse you’re thinking of. This is for the new Navajo County Hashknife Sherrif’s Posse Search and Rescue (NCHSPSS). It was agreed to lease a piece of property belonging to the city (parcel #109-37-006 for those who have the city parcels memorized). If you’d like to see the lease agreement, you can find it here.

• Report from Mayor: Mayor Smith has a bet with the Winslow mayor regarding the HHS Winslow/Holbrook Football game. Loser has to wear the opposing jersey to a council meeting. Go HHS!

• Report from Councilman Black: Local vagrants are a problem, especially in key areas that represent the city and its businesses. He and the city manager are working with police regarding this problem.

• Report from Councilwoman Pacheco: Councilwoman Pacheco referred to the “jungle outside of the Dollar Store,” and expressed how she has spoken management regarding the overgrown weeds.

• Report from City Manager: Has had meetings regarding: Repaving the golf course road, having more EV charging ports in Holbrook, the waste water treatment plant, NACOG, and EPA grant involving ASU and Frist AZ, a new website, working with Enterprise regarding leasing cars to the city of Holbrook, a potential plan for Phase 1 Hunt Park redesign, a pump track meeting, submitted for 2 additional grants, and is further on a succession plan replacing valuable employees who are soon retiring, met with police regarding vagrant issue, gave a written notice to Family Dollar regarding the aforementioned jungle of weeds, cracking down on policies and procedures regarding city code enforcement, and there is a Meet and Greet with the new city manager at La Mesa August 19th.

End of Meeting.

City Council Special Meeting Summary

In preparation to make a 10-year general plan for Holbrook, committee leaders were named over the specific categories Holbrook is required to have in their 10-year general plan. Here are the city council members and their respective categories where they will need to form committees and revise the current plan:

Robert Black - Water Resources and Impact Fee Schedule

Karina Pack - Open Spaces and Natural Resources

Arcenia Pacheco- Community Design and Housing

Teri Tafoya - Growth Areas and Cost of Development

Mike Nilsson - Cultural & Historic Resources, Public facilities & Services

Tim Dixon - Safety

Kathleen Smith & Sharon Jakubowski Wolz - Land Use, Economic Development, Circulation, and Environmental Planning.

If the public has opinions and thoughts about these areas, they are encouraged to reach out to the respective councilperson over that area. Careful, you may be asked to be on a committee! If you want to be on a committee, please reach out. However, membership on the committee is not guaranteed as councilmembers are encouraged to gather people who are in applicable industries, knowledge areas, and in some cases, people who meet specific state regulations.

End of Meeting

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Thank you for reading! Have any feedback for me? I try and listen! Just reply to this email or you can always reach us at [email protected].