Pay raise for Mayor and Council approved for 2025

Connie’s Bridge replacement work set to start in January

Council approved a contract with Meridian Engineering Company for the replacement of Upper Pinal Creek Bridge (Connie’s Bridge), with work set to begin in January and wrap up by September.

As far back as 2016, the City had identified the replacement of Connie’s Bridge as a top priority. The replacement is necessary due to scour damage around the piers, exposed rebar, and extensive cracking of the deck and the abutments. According to the City, life-cycle analysis showed replacement was the most cost-effective long-term solution.

The City worked with Central Arizona Governments (CAG), ADOT, and FHWA to put together funding for the project, which will be coming from numerous sources, including the State General Fund budget.

Bids were received in October. There were two responses, with the lowest responsible bidder being Meridian Engineering Company.

The contract amount is $5,488,046, and Council approved a total funding amount of $5,594,610. The remaining $106,564 will be reserved as contingency funds to cover any needed change orders.

City Manager Paul Jepson pointed out this project is one of the largest the City has undertaken. Barnes said it’s also the first time state appropriations funds have been used to build a bridge in Globe.

Jeff Jones, vice president of Meridian, said the company is a local small business out of Tucson that has been in business 20 years. They mainly do construction service for the copper mines. They hope to break ground in January and complete the project by the end of September.

Community Center pool update

The project manager of the Community Center Pool rehabilitation project presented an update to Council. He said the main pool liner is being installed now and should be complete by December 16. The main CMU walls of the pavilion are almost complete, and the painting, roofing and internal walls will start next week.

He said delays continue to occur due to limited resources on the part of the pool subcontractor. Some other subcontractors are also experiencing delays, mostly due to lack of skilled labor.

The delays have had a silver lining in providing an opportunity to make some changes. For example, there will now be synthetic turf instead of regular grass in the pool areas, so those areas will have turf instead of new sod when the pool opens.

“The end is in sight.” –Community Center pool rehab project manager

The new estimate is that the pool will be filled between December 21 and 23, and then the pool will be run between the 27th and 30th to fine-tune the mechanisms and chemicals. According to this schedule, the pool will be complete by the end of December, and the buildings should be finished by the end of the first week of January.

On a related note, during public comment, Jerry Jennex spoke representing the former Cobre Valley Regional Aquatic Center, the group that worked toward building a regional aquatic center. Jennex said the group had raised tens of thousands of dollars, and when the group folded after the City chose to go forward with the Community Center pool, they still had some funds remaining. As a result, Jennex presented a check to the City for $7,323.17 to support aquatic activities and help young people learn to swim.

Resolution Copper to start operations in 2023

Vicky Peacey, the acting project director for the Resolution Copper Project, presented an update on the project. She opened by saying 300 people work at the project, and thanked the City for its support. She mentioned the mine’s support for programs and projects in Globe such as GHS’s robotics group and a partnership with the Gila House.

Peacey said Resolution is waiting for a final environmental impact statement, which should be published in 2023. As soon as that is complete, Resolution already has permission from Rio Tinto and BHP to start work.

Drilling will be re-initiated from the current drill pads, and a process called mine access and underground development characterization will get under way. Peacey said the number 9 and 10 shafts will be changed, an underground characterization series of tunnels at depth will be dug, and data will be collected so Resolution can create a block cave design. This entire process will cost hundreds of millions of dollars and up to $2 billion. The work will mostly take place underground but will generate a lot of economic activity, she said.

With regard to water, Peacey acknowledged it’s big issue and said she wants to clear the air. She said a decade ago Resolution purchased and stored 300,000 acre-feet of surface water at a location about 30 miles away from the mine. This water will be the majority of what the mine will use. She said the mine will need about four and a half gallons per pound of copper, which is the lowest amount of any mine in the United States, thanks to fact that the Resolution mine is underground and also thanks to new technology.

Peacey said Resolution doesn’t own any wells in the Cutter Basin and so will not be taking any water from the Cutter Basin. She also pointed out it would be illegal for Resolution to use ground water from outside the Phoenix active management area. She said that given the geography of the area, it’s physically impossible for Resolution’s dewatering operations to impact the Cutter Basin.

Discussion of chief of police and fire chief employment structure

Council debated an amendment to the city code with regard to the chief of police and the fire chief’s reporting structure. Historically, the City of the Globe has named the police chief and fire chief as City officers, and they have served at the pleasure of the Council, while actually reporting to the City Manager.

Alternatively, the police chief and fire chief could be regular employees under the management of the City Manager, and this was Jepson’s recommendation.

Jepson said he has been acting as the chiefs’ direct supervisor and they have been reporting to him, and that has worked because both men, as well as Council, are highly professional. Jepson’s concern is that in the future, if the people involved aren’t of such high quality, problems could arise. For example, a chief who had an issue with the City Manager could go around him or her to Council, because the City Manager would have no real power.

Also, the chiefs lack rights and protections that regular City employees have. Currently, the police chief and fire chief could lose their jobs if four or more members of Council vote to dismiss them, and they would have no recourse because they have no merit protection, Jepson said. If they were regular employees instead, they would have rights of due process and the right to appeal, like any other City employee. Jepson said currently the police chief and fire chief don’t even have a severance package.

Jepson’s proposal is to remove the police chief and fire chief from the list of City officials that serve at the pleasure of Council. With that change, they would then automatically fall under the protection of the City’s personnel policies and regulations, like other City employees.

Globe’s HR consultant, Lacoya Shelton, said most other cities have the police chief and fire chief report to the City Manager, as Jepson recommends, because when they report to Council, that puts Council in an administrative role, which can create a conflict.

Mayor Gameros and some council members questioned the necessity of the change, but did say the chiefs should have protections so they can’t lose their jobs unfairly. Mayor Gameros expressed a concern about the potential cost of severance packages. Jenson said even if Council prefers to keep the chiefs serving at the pleasure of Council, the chiefs should still get contracts and have severance packages.

Jepson said even if the change is made, Council could still have a role in the selection of future police chiefs and fire chiefs. In Payson, the City Council has the opportunity to approve or disapprove the City Manager’s selection of police chief.

The change will come before Council again at its next meeting for possible approval.

Future mayor and council compensation hike approved

Council discussed and approved an adjustment to the compensation for the Mayor and Councilmembers, to take effect in January 2025. This resolution was discussed at the previous meeting.

City Manager Jepson pointed out this will be the first salary increase for the Mayor and Council in 22 years. Compensation for the Mayor is currently set at $6,000 per year for the Mayor and $3,600 per year for Councilmembers.

Staff is recommending the compensation for Councilmembers be adjusted to $6,000 annually, or $500 a month, and for the Mayor be adjusted to $10,800 annually, or $900 a month. Staff is recommending this action to be taken so future elected officials will receive compensation of equal monetary value to those who served in the early part of 2002-2008.

According to the City, both of the recommended compensation amounts align with those reported in the League of Cities 2022 Salary Survey.

By law, a currently sitting Council can’t vote to raise its own compensation; they can only vote to raise the compensation of a future Council yet to be seated after an election. The effective date was set to January 2025 – after the setting of the Council that will be elected in 2024 – so that all members of Council will receive the increased compensation at the same time.

Motions approved

Council also approved motions for the following:

• Accounts payable in the amount of $360,985.59
• Distribution of bed tax funds to the Cobre Valley Center of the Arts for the first quarter of FY2022-2023 in the amount of $14,970.28, and to the Globe Miami Regional Chamber of Commerce for the fourth quarter of FY2021-2022 in the amount of $13,975.21. In connection with receiving the bed tax funds, Crystal Corrales, the Chamber’s creative director, gave a quick update. She said the Chamber is working with I ART Globe to take over running the Stairizona Trail tours and is also planning a golf tournament in conjunction with the Town of Miami. The Chamber is also doing some restructuring in terms of its organization and fee schedule.
• Advertising requests for statements of qualifications for on-call civil engineering professional support services and for on-call engineering survey services. Jerry Barnes explained that the City uses consultants for help with project development, design and other services to get projects ready to bid and to apply for grant applications. In the case of the survey services, Barnes said having consultants on call helps the City respond more quickly to urgent needs for surveys, because the work doesn’t have to go out to bid, a process that can take two or three months. Barnes said the City usually has about three survey services available on call. Once the specific consultants are selected, Public Works will be coming back before Council for approval for the contracts. Each contract is limited to $80,000.
• A contract with Rick Engineering Company in the amount of $19,750 to design a 6-inch water line on Daybreak Drive from Blue Ridge Drive/Montecito Drive to the Blue Ridge Drive/Daybreak Drive intersections. Barnes explained that this is a high-pressure line that is partially exposed to the elements and needs to be realigned. Staff will be replacing this line in a new location that will be easily accessible in the event of needed repairs.

Public comments

• Speaking as a representative of Globe Unified School District, Jerry Jennex spoke about the district’s plans to build a maintenance facility on BLM lease land on Highway 60. The district will be using funds they already have, but just needed and received support to keep the lease. The district will next be petitioning BLM for a longer-term lease and then will present its plans to Council. Jennex said there will be school and community facilities at the location, including recreational facilities.
• George Paul Pinali presented complaints about the pool table, wifi and TV at the Active Adult center. Mayor Gameros said Council couldn’t respond to these complaints during public comment, but he would have the City Manager follow up. Jepson said the City has had conversations with Mr. Pinali for four years over disagreements about how the Active Adult center should be operated, and Jepson feels his criticisms are unfair.

Members of the Globe City Council: Mayor Al Gameros, Vice Mayor Mike Stapleton (District 4), and Council members 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 except Councilman Gonzalez and Councilman Shipley.

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