Winslow City Council Approves Change Orders, Grants Requests

By Sam Conner
   The Winslow City Council approved two consent calendar items without discussion Tuesday evening and a third one after some discussion. The check register and minutes of the Dec. 8 meeting were approved before the third item, a transfer of funds from the water contingency account to the water other supplies account, was discussed and approved.
   A request for a contribution for the 22nd annual Graduation Night Party from the Because We Care Committee resulted in a donation of $500.
   A request from Eloise DeSpain on behalf of the Arts Council for a contribution for the second annual Art Sweet Arts II Mixer on Feb. 5 resulted in a donation of $500. During the discussion, DeSpain praised the work of Dale Patton for the Arts Council and introduced Winslow High School student member of the council Camber Maine, who also spoke for the Arts Council.
   Change orders for the Renaissance II project requested by the city resulted in much discussion and questions. The changes will change the scope of the project to do more at a lower cost and more quickly. The change orders were approved in a 5-2 vote. Councilman Peter Cake and Councilwoman Marsha Juergens were in opposition to the change orders, primarily because the information was not presented until the day of the meeting.
   Val Lopez and Randy Pritchard were reappointed to the Planning and Zoning Commission. Alex Monsegur was appointed to the commission to fill a third vacancy.
   Sarah Raymo was appointed to the Airport Commission.
   A discussion of the clarification of the number of candidates to be submitted to the council for consideration of vacancies on boards and commissions resulted in opinions that there are problems with the present process. Eventually, the council voted to have the committee present one more candidate than there are vacancies, if possible.
   A resolution ordering and calling for a special election on May 18 to submit the current proposed changes to the city charter correcting grammatical errors, spelling errors, capitalization errors and providing for proper gender references was adopted.
   Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) services contracts for phase I and II environmental assessments of several areas near Winslow were approved. The city could receive grants for the assessments, but might be responsible for clean up of the sites.
   After the regular meeting, the council met as the Winslow Public Housing Authority and approved purchases of refrigerators, ranges and evaporative coolers for the Public Housing Department.