City hears proposals for naming of stairs

North Broad Street staircase naming, Youth Club update on agenda at Council’s April 12 meeting

Members of the Globe City Council: Mayor Al Gameros, Vice Mayor Mike Stapleton (District 4), and Councilmembers Freddy Rios (District 1), Mike Pastor (District 2), Jesse Leetham (District 3), Mariano Gonzalez (District 5), and Fernando Shipley (District 6). All members were in attendance at this meeting.

Naming of historic North Broad Street staircase slated for May

With the renovation of the stairs behind the old Silver King building, the City has been going through a process to choose a more appropriate new name for the stairs currently referred to as the Silver King stairs.

Several names were considered and decided against, including the Miners Stairs and Old Dominion Stairs. Bob Bigando, Director of the Gila County Historical Museum, said the stairs were never used by miners to access the Old Dominion.

Speaking for numerous groups involved in choosing a new name, Bigando recommended the name Pascoe Stairs. The Pascoes were important pioneers in Globe beginning in the late 1870s. Ben Pascoe arrived in 1878 and became Sheriff for six years, then went on to hold a number of political offices. John Pascoe, Ben’s brother, operated the Pascoe House Hotel, which was the finest hotel on Broad Street from the 1880s to the turn of the century. It was in this hotel that George W. P. Hunt found his first job as a swamper when he arrived in Globe.

“Those stairs were constructed during the Depression by the WPA seven or eight years after the Old Dominion Mine had closed for good. So there weren’t any miners going up those stairs to the Old Dominion.” Gila Historic Museum Director Bob Bigando

Another Pascoe brother, Tom, also came to Globe and became a rancher. In 1886, he established the Pascoe Livery Stable at the same location where the old Silver King building is now. Bigando said the hill behind the stables was always referred to as Pascoe Hill.

The stairs are City property, so it’s up to Council to determine the name. However, rather than immediately approving the name, Council decided to allow time for the public to comment further and submit additional suggestions. The formal naming has been put on the Council’s agenda for public comment and final approval on May 10.

Bigando said the stairs were built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Depression. The WPA also built almost all the sidewalks and many of the retaining walls in the city, as well as doing the initial restoration of Besh Ba Gowah.

Cobre Valley Youth Club update

Carmen Casillas, President of the Cobre Valley Youth Club, described the Youth Club’s planned activities for the summer.

Casillas said the Club is facing challenges due to the high prices of food and gas, but is continuing to keep membership rates low so that every child can join. Donations from local businesses and staff volunteers have been essential to keep the doors open.

The Club is collaborating with the Friends of the Library, the Human Society, and the Arizona Workforce Program, and has applied for grants from Resolution.

Casillas said this summer the Club is looking at holding activities including cooking classes, Japanese and Spanish language classes, tae kwon do classes with Master Kim, and dance classes with Lynn’s School of Dance.

Councilman Shipley, a board member, offered some history of the Youth Club. It used to be the Boys and Girls Club, but Shipley said some years ago it made more sense for the City to shift to operating the club independently. The Youth Club continues to operate very similarly to the Boys and Girls Club, with support from the City of Globe as well as donors and volunteers.

County summer intern program to continue in 2022

Council briefly discussed a Gila County intergovernmental agreement to employ two summer interns with the City of Globe via the County’s 2022 Summer Youth Program. Shelly Salazar explained that the County pays for the program and does all the onboarding and paperwork. The City then reimburses the County in the amount of $7,374 for two interns. This partnership is in its fourth year, and Salazar said in the past the City has requested four interns. Council asked the City to request to hire four interns this year as well. The agreement will be moved forward to Council’s April 26 meeting for final approval.

Motions approved

Council also approved motions for the following:

• Accounts payable in the amount of $550,438.67

• An easement agreement between the City of Globe and Arizona Eastern Railway, as part of the Upper Pinal Creek Bridge Project
• An extension of premises for the Drift Inn for the 17th Annual East Valley Fire Fighters Bike run on April 9, 2022
• An extension of premises permit for The Huddle for First Friday events
• An intergovernmental agreement for election services between Gila County and the City of Globe. City Clerk Shelly Salazar explained that this move means county officials will now be running City elections.
• A contract with Cla-Val for pressure-reducing valve, maintenance and repair in the amount of $25,095. Public Works Director John Angulo seven pressure-reducing valves are located throughout Globe, where pressure is regulated for the different pressure zones of the city. Angulo said over the past eight years the City has lost staff who were trained to work with the valves. This contract will help the City get up to speed and also will involve training staff to adjust and maintain them. Angulo said two sites are in need of immediate repair, and the valves also need to be adjusted and fully functional before the Bonita Booster Station is brought online.
• Authorizing the Globe Police Department to apply for the FY2023 Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety Grant. Chief Dale Walters said the PD is applying for funding for two separate areas. First, $6,091 is being requested under a Police Traffic Services Step Grant to be used for overtime, speed enforcement details, and educational opportunities in the community during FY2023. Second, funds are being requested under the Impaired Driving (AL) Grant in the amount of $12,582, to be applied to the DUI task force and saturation patrols, updated breathalyzer units, and educational presentations for local youth. The PD applies for these funds annually.
• An intergovernmental agreement between the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department and the City of Globe Police Department for sworn officer basic training services. Chief Walters said this agreement will enable Globe to send people to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office training academy to obtain the full training required to become a law enforcement officer. Chief Walters said Globe PD is also partnering with a local community college to develop a college-based academy, hopefully starting up in August. Walters said even when that program is under way, Globe will still need to partner with other organizations for full-time training.
• A contract with Rick Engineering for various engineering projects for the City of Globe, utilizing a cooperative job order contract between Rick Engineering and the City of Casa Grande, for a contract amount not to exceed $100,000. City Engineer Jerry Barnes said this contract fills a need for full-service on-call engineering. Barnes said Rick Engineering has extensive experience with small communities, and Globe has worked with them in the past. They would be used on items like water contracts, sewer contracts, and infrastructure contracts, including bridges and roads. The City’s other on-call engineer contractors, which have a more limited scope, would continue to work on smaller, maintenance-type contracts, and Barnes said the City is keeping them more than active.
• After breaking for an executive session, Council reconvened to approve a motion regarding finance services for the City. The council directed staff to prepare a contract for these services with a contractor to be named and directed the City Manager to sign all related documents after legal approval. The motion also authorized the expenditure of amounts not to exceed $45,000 in total. City Manager Paul Jepson is recommending Chancy Nutt as interim finance director. Nutt, who spoke briefly via Zoom, has extensive experience with municipal budgets as a CFO and as an assistant town manager; prior to that, she was a private-sector accountant.

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The Globe City Council meets every second and fourth Tuesday of the month at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall. The meetings are currently open to the public at 50% capacity. Members of the public are requested to wear a mask except when seated. Seating is limited to allow for social distancing.

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