SEPTEMBER 2015
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
TOWN OF MIAMI MAYOR AND COUNCIL
Monday September 14, 2015 - 6:30 PM
Town Council Chambers - Sullivan St.
The audits required by the USDA to continue Miami's
wastewater project are done, announced Joe Heatherly at last
night's Regular Meeting of the Town of Miami Mayor and
Council. Heatherly said he's be picking up the reports from
the auditor today and will be calling the USDA soon to
inform them that Miami has met the required conditions.
The only one still outstanding is funding the reserve account,
which will be done as soon as the transfers are complete on
the recently sold properties.
Heatherly told the Council that financial consultant Pat
Walker was still working on cleaning up the Town's finances,
that new ADOT signs will start going up next week, and that
the new CDL driver hired last month is working out well.
The big discussion at the meeting chaired by Vice Mayor
Don Reiman, as Mayor Darryl Dalley was attending by
phone, with Councilmembera Mike Black absent, and
Sammy Gonzales late, was how to enforce the curfew.
Councilmember Angel Medina wanted to know if the curfew
hours could be adjusted earlier in winter from 9:30 to 8:30,
and whether the affected ages could be raised to 18. The
town lawyer explained that first the ordinance, created in
1918 and updated in 1961, must be brought to current
standards, which could be done by looking at the precedents
set by similar ordinances in other Arizona towns.
As for current enforcement, Police Chief Scott Gillen says
juveniles have been detained for curfew violation, but that
once they enter the system in Glia County he is not further
informed. Miami does not have it's own courts. Further
agenda items were suggested, as was setting up a meeting
including Gillen and Kendall Rhyne, Gila County's
probation chief who oversees juvenile issues.
Librarian Delvan Hayward informed the Council that the
problems plaguing the library's cooling system have been
identified and parts have been ordered to quickly fix it. She
also noted that the leaking library roof was fixed by
Heatherly himself. And she thanked the mayor for donating
paint, which will be used to paint the teen room. Hayward
reported that the library has a new volunteer: Nancy
Brierley.
Councilmembers Susan Hanson and Rosemary Castaneda
both said the Miami Fiesta was a success. Thanks went to
the town staff, which worked well with Miami Genesis and
the Sheriff's office to make it a great event, including the
opening and dedication of Bullion Plaza's new Mexican
exhibit.
Bullion Plaza has a new American Flag. Director Tom
Foster thanked Mayor Dalley for contributing it.
And Councilmember Medina continues to work on
resurrecting Miami's Boomtown Spree.
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
CITY OF GLOBE MAYOR AND COUNCIL
Tuesday September 8, 2015 6:00 PM
City Council Chambers Pine Street
And then there were two. The two finalists for police chief
were announced at last night’s Regular Meeting of the City
of Globe Mayor and Council: the current Superior Chief of
Police Mark Nipp, and former Casa Grande police chief
Johnny Cervantes.
Johnny Cervantes
City Manager Brent Billingsley announced the state and feds
signed off on the corrections Globe has made to its flood
management codes and flood insurance requirements, which
were raised as problems in a 2009 FEMA inspection.
Mayor Terry Wheeler proclaimed September as Childhood
Cancer Awareness month. The proclamation was presented
to Don and Angela Earven. Councilmember Roberta Lee
Johnson reported that the Dylan Earven Foundation
Walk/Run Bike/Trike Race and Car show was a real success.
Over $20,000 was raised.
Don & Angela Earven
The mayor commended Globe’s firefighters who were
dispatched to Washington State and are presently fighting
fires there.
Councilmember Mike Humphries presented Boy Scout Brent
Skelly who is working on his Citizenship in the Community
Merit Badge.
Brent Skelly
Councilmember Mike Stapleton asked if Octoberfest was
cancelled. Billingsley confirmed it was, saying that based on
last year’s event, it made no financial sense to hold it again.
City Finance Manager Joe Jarvis, who also serves as Globe’s
IT director, informed the Council, the city needed someone
with more experience and knowledge than he possessed, and
therefore he was scouting out professional requirements for
an IT Monthly Maintenance Contract to be awarded.
The city is ridding itself of some unneeded vehicles and
equipment. An auction will be held on September 21st.
Sealed bids must be submitted by 1 pm. Items include a ’93
Chevy S-10 Blazer, a ’99 Dodge Ram 350 passenger van, an
’85 Chevy one ton flatbed, a 2005 BMW police bike, old fire
hydrants, various office furniture, supplies and electronics.
The finance department is organizing the auction. Sealed
bids should go to Jerry Barnes.
Several new city employees were introduced including
Joseph Williams, Donald Rush, Matt Avalos, Fernando
Morales, Joseph Gonzales, Amber Coombs and Tisha Clark.
And Adrea Ricki, Bryon Palmer and Adolf Ortiz were
promoted to new positions.
Adrea Ricki
CAN A JUDGE DO THIS??
KPHO CBS-5 in Phoenix has a story about a convicted
felon, Christopher Harris, sentenced to 15 years in prison for
illegal gun and cocaine possession. What makes 32 year old
Chris somewhat unusual is his 10 children from seven
women.
But what makes this story astounding is what US District
Court Judge Howard Sachs decided would be a condition of
his eventual probation: In order to have intimate relations,
he must first have the approval of his probation officer, and
use contraceptives. Let your mind wander about how that
would be enforced.
You can't throw Federal Judges off the bench-they're
appointed for life, but their decisions can be overturned, and
this one was. The 8th Circuit Court of appeals reversed it
saying it deprived Harris of his liberty. But it did provide
merriment for the rest of us. KPHO.com's story is here.
GILA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
REGULAR MEETING
Tues. Sept.15, 2015 10:00 AM Gila County Courthouse
Gila County voters may see changes in the way ballots are
cast in the future, based on the demonstrations made at
yesterday's Board of Supervisors Regular Meeting.
Director of County Elections, Eric Mariscal initiated
presentations from two companies that produce electronic
voting machines. Both are computer-based, have paper trails
and insure anonymity. After making a selection, the voter
receives a printout to place in the ballot box. Precinct
workers scan the printouts in groups of 50.
Paul Griego and Eric Champlain of Omaha Nebraska-based
Unisyn Voting Solutions demonstrated their unit, which has
been in use for the past four years in Yavapai County where
the reviews have been glowing. Griego described the
Unisyn system as fairly simple, efficient and fully ADA
complaint with a keypad and headphones offering multiple
language choices including Native Apache to the visually
impaired.
Sam Sturm of Wheaton, Illinois-based Robis Elections,
demonstrated his tablet-based system, which was installed
last year in Maricopa County, too recent to have garnered
much feedback . When the paper ballots are tabulated, the
Robis System sends real-time results to election
headquarters.
No discussion of cost or timetable was included as this was
an information item, not slated for action or vote.
Miami Town Manager Joe Heatherly presented the Cobre
Valley Community Transit IGA, and the Board unanimously
approved it. For a year of transit services, Gila County will
contribute $31,500 to Miami's $500,000 annual CVCT
budget, 65% of which is paid by ADOT.
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
CITY OF GLOBE MAYOR AND COUNCIL
Tuesday September 22, 2015 6:00 PM
City Council Chambers - Pine Street
Last night's Regular Meeting of the City of Globe Mayor and
Council was unusually well attended. The draw was a
discussion of funding the Historic Globe Main Street
Program, which the crowd unanimously supported. Several
attendees voiced praise. The reason for the agenda item was
the non-profit's request that the city return to funding its
director the way they had been until 2010. At that time, the
late Kip Culver who served in that role in addition to his
Cobre Valley Center for the Arts stewardship, became a city
employee. Globe paid his $35,000 a year salary for running
Historic Globe Main Street and provided benefits.
The Program is asking for $35,000 a year from Globe, which
they will use to fund an in-house position. The leading
candidate is Paul Tunis who took over for Culver as CVCA
director. As this was an information item, no action was
taken. Much of the discussion was centered on the difference
between a city employee and a Historic Globe Main Street
employee. Councilmembers were not opposed to the
request, but as James Haley pointed out, the City would like
to be assured participation in the Program by having a seat
on its board.
During an Executive Session the Council determined that
Johnny Cervantes is no longer a viable candidate for Globe's
Chief of Police position. Brent Billingsley was directed to
open negotiations with backup candidate Mark Nipp, the
current Superior police chief.
Urban blight was also tackled. The Council got an update
from the Housing Task Force. A code enforcement officer is
needed, and legislation must be changed at the state level to
make revitalizing the City simpler.
October was proclaimed Domestic Violence Awareness
Month, and Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Globe's new non-profit funding process is in place and only
two organizations applied this fiscal year-the Boys & Girls'
Club and the Cobre Valley Center for the Arts. But the two
asked for a combined $33,000 and the city has only $15,000
allocated for all non-profits. The Boys & Girls Club got
$12,500 and the CVCA got $2,500.
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE
CITY OF GLOBE MAYOR AND COUNCIL
Wednesday September 16, 2015 5:30 PM
City Council Chambers - Pine Street
After an Executive Session at last night's Special Meeting of
the City of Globe Mayor and Council, City Manager Brent
Billingsley was instructed by the Council to open
negotiations to fill the city's Chief of Police position with
Johnny Cervantes, the former Casa Grande police chief, who
was in attendance. Superior Chief of Police Mark Nipp, who
was named backup candidate, was not at the meeting.
Johnny Cervantes
Globe's first choice for
Chief of Police
The Council also approved spending $6,000 to scan and
copy documents necessary in the ongoing litigation with
Arizona Water Company over disputed water service
territory.
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE
TOWN OF MIAMI MAYOR AND COUNCIL
Monday September 28, 2015 6:30 PM Sullivan Street
A question arose at last night's Special Meeting of the Town
of Miami Mayor and Council: Who renamed Sykes Alley to
Sykes Street? Speculation includes the possibility of it being
associated with 911 changes a couple years ago. The new
name was discovered as the new road signs were being
installed. 25% are currently in place.
Town Manager Joe Heatherly is hopeful that today's meeting
with Jeff Hooper of the USDA will greenlight the
wastewater project. He reports that all of the USDA
requirements for continuation are now met. Phase One came
in at $2 million under budget, which will be applied as
appropriate to Phase Two construction.
Kinkaid Civil Construction won the contract for Phase Two,
being the lowest bidder at $4,668,726. Jonovich Companies,
a local firm, was the next lowest, bidding within $300,000 of
Kinkaid. There were ten other bidders, ranging up to $6
million. Mark Ipson from HilgartWilson, the engineering
management firm supervising the construction was on hand
to answer questions. No one from Kinkaid was in
attendance. Due to the delays involved, Kinkaid previously
extended the bid through October 17th. Heatherly expects
the project to be back on before that.
The financial consultant continues to work on the 2014
audit, but some inconsistencies have been found and
Heatherly said it will take more time and research to figure
out what transpired. He informed the board that he spoke
with Chief Probation Officer Kendall Rhyne and they'll be
forming a task force to come up with a plan for reducing
juvenile delinquency in Miami. He also reported that the
Lance Decker workshop for building a better community
went well and was well attended. And he reminded the
community of the Mining Rocks Festival to be held at
Bullion Plaza on Saturday.
The Council approved the site and time for the upcoming
Miami High Homecoming Parade. It will be helped on
Friday October 16th on Sullivan Street and Miami Veteran's
Park.
An IGA with Gila County was approved for the Mackie
Camp Bridge. Gila County will provide $40,000, which will
fulfill the 10% participation required by the $400,000 grant.
An IGA for the City of Globe garbage truck was discussed
but tabled. Originally Miami was going to purchase the
truck, but that ran afoul of bureaucratic sale conditions, so
now negotiations are going on for a lease of the truck which
has already been out for repair and last week sustained
damage in a hit and run while parked in the lot.
There's an ongoing bulk trash problem-not in how to pick it
up, but now to charge for it. Right now fees are only $5 a
month for trash collection regardless of how much or what is
picked up.
Police chief Scott Gillen gave a report. In addition to the
standard stuff, the chief reported one scorpion call. No
details on how it was resolved.
Miami's library received 17 computers donated by the
Scottsdale Library and several chairs from the Chandler
Library.