Introduction:

You know it’s close to the 4th of July when the monsoon rains start pouring haha. It’s been a rainy day, but today’s newsletter covers:

1. An updated list of upcoming events.

2. Four pages of ads and promotions with a new highlighted pet from the shelter.

3. Gives a summary of last night’s City Council Meeting and Special Budget Session 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.}

Our Advertisers and Partners:

We have 4 pages of ads this week featuring a variety of local businesses and services, including one help wanted ad, our featured animal shelter pet, and an updated showing schedule from the Roxy theater. We’re trying something new! You can still download the pdf here, or click here to see the ads on our website.

If you want to become an advertiser during this starting period, we’ll probably give you a week for free! Contact us at [email protected].

City Council Meeting Summary

There were two city council meetings yesterday (June 26, 2024). This is the first meeting that followed the traditional order of hearing from the public and moving through agenda items.

• There were no calls from the public.

• There was one presentation from…me! I introduced the Hey Holbrook newsletter and stated that the newsletter’s priorities are to keep this newsletter free to the public, have clear and easy-to-understand listings of local events and city happenings, and to be a consistent and positive voice in Holbrook.

• Empty Pockets Saloon needed a permit passed to create a permanent extension to their property/patio. The decision to grant this permit was unanimously passed. Go Empty Pockets!

• The new City Manager was introduced, Ms. Sharon Jakubowski Wolz. In her brief introduction she mentioned that she will strive to have an open house/town hall meeting sometime in August to introduce herself and to hear from the public. She said that the more she sees Holbrook, the more she sees opportunity.

• The Parks and Rec department was given kudos multiple times for their maintenance of the city parks.

• Local Debbie Shumway was given a shout-out for her efforts with weed clean-up on Hopi and Navajo and Mayor Smith acknowledged that she knows there are many others in Holbrook that pitch in and help when they see a need and she’s grateful for their service and generosity.

• Along those same lines of city maintenance, it was emphasized that if you see a need (like weed cleanup on a public street), please contact City Hall and put in a service request. City employees don’t always see the complaints on Facebook, so the best way to have it taken care of is to let the city know directly.

• Speaking of Service Orders, an order has been made for the squeaky windmill downtown that made for entertaining conversations on the Facebook community pages.

• It was also announced that the Holbrook Bread of Life’s Living Water Facility is opening a new women’s wing. There will be a ribbon cutting on June 29 at 10am.

• [End of Summary]

City Council Special Budget Meeting Summary

Reader, my apologies, budget meetings are tough to summarize. It’s also difficult that the paper copies aren’t given to the public to follow along with, so this may not have many of the details you are looking for. If interested in specific dollar amounts, Hey Holbrook! recommends contacting city hall or your favorite city councilperson for more information.

These meetings review the proposed annual budget and allows city council members to give input before it is officially passed. Randy Sullivan led the meeting as he went through budget items that he felt deserved the most attention. Here is a summary of those budget items.

• There is extra emphasis in this year’s budget on the beautification of Holbrook with more money going to official beautification efforts and code enforcement (an example given was tearing down old/dangerous/abandoned buildings). In this budget that is still being modified, this covers around $316,000 of general funding.

• There is funding going towards remodeling of the Holbrook Golf Course clubhouse.

• There is funding going to the police department for the purchase of three new vehicles. There is a possibility that this cost will be covered by a grant, but the grant has not yet been awarded. If the grant is awarded, the city will strategize on where best to put this extra funding.

• There is funding going to the fire department for a better firetruck. This can be between $500,000-$700,000. A concern was brought up that Holbrook Fire Dept. does not own a ladder truck, but a ladder truck can be $1 mil + and that can be difficult to finance.

• Lodgers Tax: the Lodger’s tax provides over $500,000 in funding. This helps supports local organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, the fairgrounds, historical society and more. This tax will also contribute to the Holbrook beautification efforts along Navajo and Hopi.

• A grant was was awarded to have every water meter replaced in Holbrook. That’s over 1800 water meters.

• Equipment will also be purchased this upcoming year for road maintenance including an asphalt spreader and dump truck as road construction efforts will begin this year.

• Other issues brought up by city council members: How city council approves funding for other organizational events like grad night, the spooktacular, etc., meter limitations and policy reviews regarding the city’s potable water service.

[End of Summary]

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Interested in sponsoring a written section of this newsletter? Email us at [email protected].

[END]

Thank you for reading! Have any feedback for us? We listen! please email us at [email protected]. Speaking of which, we hear you about a potential classifieds section. We’ll be testing out a new layout next week to see how we can implement something like that.