MINUTES OF THE REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

MINUTES OF MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARING OF THE

THATCHER TOWN COUNCIL

February 12, 2008

MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor, Bob Rivera

Vice Mayor, Bill Mulleneaux

Councilmember’s: Doug Hoopes. Ken Larson Eric Merriman, Donald Innes, Charles Morris

MEMBERS ABSENT: None

ALSO PRESENT: Terry Hinton, Town Manager

Mark Stevens, Chief of Police

Heath Brown, Town Engineer

Dudley Welker, Town Attorney

Lona Duncan, Town Clerk

VISTORS: Linda Bowman, Gary Cleland, Jan Napier,Dan Green, Jerry Robinson, Rex Bryce, Ethan Bryce, Cameron Mower, Doug Spencer

AGENDA

Mayor Rivera called the meeting to order at 7:00pm establishing that there was a Quorum. He also said God bless our Troops, Family and America

Pledge of Allegiance was lead by Lona Duncan

Roll Call.

PUBLIC HEARINGS:

A. Daley Estates area annexation.

Doug Spencer stood and explained he was not against the annexation he just had some questions he would like answered. The questions were directed to Chief Stevens one being if the town takes over will four wheelers and dirt bikes be allowed out there or will that be stopped? Chief Stevens said it should remain the same we need to stay within the law and that is they need to be registered. Mr. Spencer said he has been battling with the County about illegal dumping will that be enforced and the last item is that there is gun shooting out by my house I know the law states that you can’t shot any closer than one quarter of a mile but there are guys that try to get around that law. Chief Stevens said that again if there is a violation of any kind we will take action. Mayor Rivera thanked Mr. Spencer for coming.

OPEN CALL TO THE PUBLIC:

Mayor Rivera presented to Linda Sue Bowman a plaque from the Town of Thatcher for her 47 years of service from 1961 though 2008 and congratulated her on her retirement. Mayor Rivera also thanked Linda for all the hard work and dedication she gave and told her that she would be missed very much. The Council stood and personally thanked Linda.

PUBLIC APPEARANCES:

A. Kevin Bushnell – Kasia Homes status/update.

None

CONSENT AGENDA:

A. Approve minutes of the December 19, 2007 Regular Council Meeting.

B. Planning and Zoning Monthly Report.

C. Police Monthly Report.

D. Approval of Invoices.

E. Financial Reports.

Councilman Larson made motion to approve the minutes and reports. Councilman Morris seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Motion passed.

OLD BUSINESS:

NEW BUSINESS:

A. Decision on the Daley Estates Annexation proposal.

Terry explained that there was no decision to be made at this time. This is basically the one we started before and had to amend so we could take out the State land. Mayor Rivera ask what the time frame was and Heath answered after this meeting we can go out and get signatures and once we get the signatures on the petition we will file the petition and bring it back to Council and that well take about two month and after Council approves then it takes 30 days for it to take effect. Councilman Larson ask if it took in all of Daley Estates. Heath said Daley Estates is already annexed this takes in basically the private land the Golf Course and about a miles west of Daley Estates which is called the Blue Ponds.

B. RESOLUTION NO. 520-2008: A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF THATCHER, GRAHAM COUNTY, ARIZONA, AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE FOR AND ON BEHALF OF THE TOWN OF THATCHER, ARIZONA, AN IGA WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE REGARDING TAXPAYER JOINT AUDITS AND THE UNIFORM METHOD OF ADMINISTRATION, COLLECTION, AUDIT AND LICENSING OF TRANSACTION PRIVILEGE TAX, USE TAX, SEVERANCE TAX, JET FUEL EXCISE AND USE TAX AND RENTAL OCCUPANCY TAXES IMPOSTED BY THE STATE OR TOWN.

Terry explained that this is the agreement between Arizona State Department of Revenue and ourselves agreeing that they are able to collect our taxes and audits. There is a private company that has contacted us to see about collecting our taxes. We are reviewing it and are giving it consideration before we send this into the State. The company seems to have a real good reputation and does a real good job of collecting and auditing I believe they will do a much better job than the Department of Revenue but the businesses will have to fill out two forms instead of one. There past data has told us that they collect more revenue than they charge us. Mayor Rivera ask if this was who the League of Cities was supporting and Terry said yes .Terry said several cities have already signed up. When we get more information we will bring it back to Council.

Vice Mayor Mulleneaux made motion to approve Resolution No. 520-2008. Councilman Innes seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Motion passed

C. RESOLUTION NO. 519-2008: RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF THATCHER, ARIZONA, APPROVING THE FORM AND AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION AND DELIVERY OF A LOAN REPAYMENT AGREEMENT, A FINANCIAL GUARANTY AGREEMENT (IF NECESSARY) AND A CONTINUING DISCLOSURE UNDERTAKING; ACCEPTING A LOAN FROM THE GREATER ARIZONA DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY PURSUANT TO SUCH LOAN REPAYMENT AGREEMENT IN THE AMOUNT OF NOT TO EXCEED $2,500,000; AUTHORIZING THE APPROVAL OF THE PORTIONS OF AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT DESCRIBING THE TOWN AND THE DISTRIBUTION AND USE THEREOF; DELEGATING TO THE TOWN MANAGER OF THE TOWN THE AUTHORITY TO DESIGNATE THE FINAL INTEREST RATE, MATURITY DATE, PRINCIPAL AMOUNT, PREPAYMENT PROVISIONS, OBLIGATIONS TO BE REFUNDED WITH THE PROCEEDS THEREOF AND OTHER MATTERS WITH RESPECT TO SUCH LOAN REPAYMENT AGREEMENT; AUTHORIZING THE TAKING OF ALL OTHER ACTIONS NECESSARY TO THE CONSUMMATION OF THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED BY THIS RESOLUTION AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.

Terry stated that the Bond Attorney sent this it is required for financing with GADA. I have been taking to our auditor and we believe we will have to borrow about 1.5 million in order to satisfy the Expeditor Limitation and then next year we can pay that off. If GADA does not pay for some of the fees attached to this bond it may be cheaper to go out to a private entity to borrow. It is not clear yet what fees they will pay.

Councilman Merriman made motion to approve Resolution No. 519-2008 Councilman Morris seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Motion passed.

D. Infrastructure acceptance for Double D Subdivision.

The streets, curbing and sewer are complete and we have the test results on all of those and we are willing to take them into our system. The landscaping is not completed yet so that will have to be done at a later date. Heath, myself and Mr. Green are trying to come up with a buy in agreement so that if someone else hooks on to the sewer that Double D put in they will have to pay a predetermined amount to Double D for the cost they original incurred.

Councilman Morris made motion to approve infrastructure. Councilman Innes seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous. Motion passed.

INFORMATIONAL ITEMS:

A. Town Manager’s Report:

Terry said there are not a lot of changes from last month. The water line on Reaye Lane is in service and has passed the testing. The water pressure has increased from 45 pounds to 80 pounds. We finished the installation of the extension on 1^St Ave today and start testing it tomorrow and by the middle of next week that will be completely finished. While we are down there testing the street crew will help electric department by digging the hole and put the conduit in for the relocation of a power line and put it underground.

We have a drive way that needs to be put in on 1^st and fix the collapsed drain pipe on 4^th Ave and Hwy 70. ADOT is going to give us the pipe but not real sure how long it will take them to get it so we will use our own and they can replace it. Then we will move to 1^st Ave and try to get the power lines under ground and start on the curbs. So this summer we will be able to widen the road just passed Councilman Innes house down to Eagle Lane to a three lane road. We will overlay the whole road from Church Street to the canal. We have a little extra right a way from 8^th Street to Dr. Carter field about 15 to 20 ft of right a way. I am trying to work with the irrigation people to see if they need that ditch and if they don’t we will fill it up but if they do I would like to place a pipe in there that will give us a wider shoulder on that section of the road.

I have been in discussion with a couple of business that are looking at a portion of the Val’s building they sound pretty promising. Val’s should be out of the building by March. If I get those two businesses in there then that will change the financing because we won’t beable to go through GADA because it is tax exempt financing but could use them for the service area purchase from the Coop.

The preliminary plat that was approved (the land owned by Mr. Udall) has been purchased by a public entity so that subdivision won’t be going anywhere. Councilman Innes ask how many acres it took in and the answer was about 30 acres. Terry said the condo’s and townhouse have some work done on them. I have been contacted by interested parties on purchasing the land in back of Safeway over on Bauer Ave for the purpose of building apartments.

Mayor Rivera ask Terry about the study of the sewer pipe along Reaye Lane. Terry said he had talked to the Engineer and they are working on the final draft but the information I am getting is that we have no problem with our capacitive and the sewer plant is at 52% which is still ok.

Councilman Morris ask about the water pressure in town. Terry said it was about 70 to 80 percent. Terry said there are a lot of small lines with alot of curves but the pressure is fine. The other question I had was I saw someone looking at the bridge on Church Street is there a problem. Terry said our repairs look good but the rest of the bridge doesn’t look good. The roof is starting to come down and all the rebar on the wall of the roof is exposed. Heath and I have already made plans that when the water comes out next year we will go in and pull the whole thing out and put a pipe across it.

Mayor Rivera said we need to be looking for a date for a Work Shop on a Saturday morning to work on budget. Terry said as soon as we get more figures to work with from the State and the County we will do that.

Councilman Innes said he heard again today that the intersection needs to have the rocks sweep off again. Mayor Rivera ask if he had heard from EAC about the letter that was written to them and Terry said he spoke to the Vice President and he said he thought the President had talked with Terry and Terry responded with a no and we would like some type of answer the Vice President said he would look into it.

Terry said that March 4^th is the Annual ADOT update & dinner and also the League is having a Legislator Day on February 19^th to meet the legislators.

B. Fire Department Report.

Chief Payne said they had put on four new members we are trying to find turn outs for them and we are looking at training for them. This year we are trying to replace our air packs and have everyone have there own masks. We are working with Pima and Ft Thomas on a grant to get those so with the money we have saved we could be able to purchase more turn outs. Councilman Innes ask about our ability to take care of the new hotel that is being built being that it is three stories. Chief Payne said that we have a 35ft ladder and the building is 42ft high. Terry mentioned that is the same as the dorms. Chief Payne said that is something we need to think about. Safford is in the same position.

C. Police Department Report.

Chief Stevens said they just received the grant from Governor’s Office of Highway Safety for the amount of $80,000.00 for different check points this year. We had some high profile cases in the paper and Officer West did a good job of catching the burglar at Gila Valley Wrecking and two of them were involved in the cemetery problem at the County. Mayor Rivera stated that it looks like your totals from a year ago are down in incidents and up on arrest do you contribute that to less construction workers. Chief Stevens said that he thought that was part of the factor.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

A. Safe House- Councilman Hoopes said the meeting was cancelled so he had nothing to report.

B. Chamber of Commerce – Councilman Merriman reported that on Feb 27^th the Chamber will meet at the Capitol in support of the four year college. They are also working with Freeport McMoran to have their lobbyist work on getting the four year college pasted this year. In April they will have the Vietnam War memorial the dates are April 3, 4 & 5^th. The web site has been updated and we are up to 430 members. A report came in from Phelps Dodge that cooper is up to $3.45 a pound and are going to do another expansion so they will probably need another two hundred employees just in Morenci plant the Miami, Sahuarita and Baghdad plant is going also. The Salsa Trail is still working on the book and it is good promotion for this area. There is a Lincoln Day Dinner on Feb 21^st at the college

C. SEAGO- Mayor Rivera said this Friday they are having an Admin Board meeting in Benson and also on the 8^th of March they will have the Executive Board meeting in Duncan.

D. Arizona Foundation – No report

ADJOURNMENT