Globe Council discusses home demolition, invocations, sidewalks

Cedar Street eyesore to be demolished

Council discussed the issue of dilapidated properties, which came up in connection with the abatement of a dilapidated home at 462 E. Cedar Street.

Since 2018 the City has been trying to get the house either torn down or improved due to its dilapidated condition. Globe’s Code Enforcement Officer, Michelle Yerkovich, said she has had good success getting dilapidated houses torn down or fixed up, but in this case the process has been going on for years.

“We’re abating that property to maintain safety. That’s the main reason we do that.” – Tony Manfredi

Yerkovich started an abatement process in 2019, which is a particular legal process that must be followed and allows the owner the opportunity to appeal. In this case, the owner said he would start work on the house in June of 2019 and would finish by the end of that year. However, no work was ever done.

In 2020 the same thing happened, Yerkovich said – the owner said he would get the work done, but it never was, and no permits were ever applied for. Yerkovich issued a citation at the end of 2020, and the owner failed to appear. 

In the past year, squatters have been living in the house.

Yerkovich couldn’t pursue demolition previously because of the impact of Covid on her budget. She restarted the abatement process again in September 2023.

“We have a drive to rebuild our city and to redevelop it, and to make it safe, and to replenish neighborhoods... Everybody has the ultimate right to live somewhere nice.” – Tony Manfredi

The house has been held up by jacks since 2019, 2x4 are holding up one side of the house, and there is a large hole in one exterior wall. The house is listing to one side. One neighbor has had her homeowner’s insurance canceled due to the hazard of the house collapsing.

Yerkovich pointed out that the city has potential liability if a problem occurs with the house, such as if a squatter causes a fire.

Tony Manfredi said the house has been deemed a high-hazard project, meaning it is highly hazardous for personnel to work in it and for adjacent properties as the work is being done.

“We’re beautifying our city... The beneficiaries are going to be our residents and the businesspeople of this community.” – Mayor Al Gameros

Council approved a contract with Junk Away LLC to perform the house demolition for $28,700.

Sidewalk project at Jesse Hayes moves forward

Council discussed the sidewalk project slated for Jesse Hayes and approved the next step, obtaining design services from engineering contractors.

City Engineer Luis Chavez said the City asked for proposals from the four consulting firms that the City has existing professional support services contracts with, and received proposals from two companies, Sunrise Engineering and Rick Engineering. Sunrise was lower on the first phase and Rick came in lower on phases 2 and 3.

Sunrise will perform Phase 1 design services for the portion of the sidewalk project from Oil Circle Rd. to Icehouse Canyon Rd. Rick Engineering will provide Phase 2 design services for the sidewalks along Hagen Rd. to the skate park, plus Phase 3 design services from Pinal Bridge to Oil Circle Rd.

To get the work underway, Council approved task orders as part of the existing professional support services contracts with Sunrise Engineering and Rick Engineering. The budget for Sunrise work is not to exceed $74,052. The budget for Rick is not to exceed $54,671 for the Phase 2 services and not to exceed $70,352 for the Phase 3 services.

Council discussed the effect of the sidewalk update on the width of the road and the possibility of adding bike lanes.

City adopts new policy for invocations

Council adopted a new City of Globe Invocation Policy after discussing the necessity and content suggested by the City Manager and the City’s attorney.

Paul Jepson explained that recently, many Councilmembers had received emails from a representative of the Arizona Secular organization, a nonprofit organization, raising concerns about how the Council has been conducting invocations at its meetings.

In response, Jepson met with the City’s attorney, Bill Sims, and they determined that there are certain best practices for invocations, based on state and federal law. Thus Jepson requested that Council put a policy in place so everyone will be aware of those best practices.

Jepson pointed out that the invocation is not a prayer. According to the Arizona Secular website, an invocation is a request for divine encouragement for a specfic task or outcome, such as for Council to take on challenges and have spiritual support or guidance in the task they face.

The invocation should not be a public platform, it may address a divine deity, and it should not be limited to one faith or religion, Jepson said, quoting the proposed policy. Jepson said the common practice in cities is not to call out a specific entity, such as Yahweh, Jesus or Allah, but instead to use the general term God.

Jepson said no religion or secular request should be excluded, and the City will continue with a first-come-first-served process.

“Most of the people around here are Christians in some form or another, and so it’s very common that they are Christian prayers. But it’s not required.” – Councilman Fernando Shipley

According to the new policy, invocations must be limited to three minutes. Also, the invocation should not be led from the dais but instead from the podium. Therefore, if a member of Council or staff gives the invocation, that person should move from their seat on the dais to the podium.

Finally, the person giving the invocation should not ask those in the room to “bow your heads” or “join me in prayer,” to avoid putting anyone in an uncomfortable situation. Members of the audience are free to leave the room during the invocation as they see fit.

Anyone who wants to give an invocation should submit their name to the City Clerk. Copies of the policy will be provided to any person offering an invocation.

Motions approved

Council also approved motions for the following:

• Accounts payable in the amount of $623,237.59
• Council briefly discussed a new deferred compensation plan for its Public Safety Retirement System and voted to bring it back at the next available meeting. Jepson explained that the legislature has created a requirement that there be a specific plan for PSPRS, separate from the rest of the City staff, and this new plan is to bring Globe into compliance with this new law. The plan will be brought back before Council at a future meeting for further discussion and possible adoption.
• Moving forward a subscription agreement with C&M Communication LLC for 800 MHz radio service for the Globe Fire Department, for an annual amount not to exceed $10,000. Chief Gary Robinson explained that local public safety organizations have been transitioning to an 800 MHz system, funded by grant monies. Globe PD and the Sheriff’s office were first to implement the new system, and all the fire departments in the area were brought onto the system about a month and a half ago. Robinson said this is a public-private partnership in which the public agencies will be using C&M’s private infrastructure and will need to pay a subscription fee of $25 for each radio. Chief Robinson pointed out that if the system did not use this private infrastructure, the City would have to spend millions of dollars to install its own infrastructure. The agreement will be brought back at the next available meeting for final approval.
• Moving forward an intergovernmental agreement between the City of Globe, Tri-City Fire District, and the Town of Miami for fire protection services. Chief Robinson explained that Globe has a long-standing agreement with the Town Miami on fire protection services, where Globe provides the services to Miami and bills them. Miami has no fire department of its own. The IGA includes a fee schedule that has been previously agreed to. The IGA will be returned at the next meeting for final approval.
• A one-time donation of $13,662 to Gila County Provisional Community College District, to support the creation of the EAC/Gila Pueblo Law Enforcement Training Academy program. The donation will help improve the Globe Miami Gun Club, allowing the Globe Police Department to use the gun club for law enforcement training. Chief Dale Walters explained that the training academy will benefit Globe’s PD and other police departments in the region, and will help with recruitment and personnel development. The PD’s current range doesn’t meet requirements and can’t be improved because it sits on Forest Service property. Walters said a person who completes the academy will be qualified to be a certified police officer in the state of Arizona. He hopes the range will be up and running by August. Freeport and the County are also partners in this initiative.
• Moving forward an intergovernmental agreement with the Arizona Department of Revenue for the administration of state tax collection and distribution. Jepson explained that this is an annual activity allowing the movement of the transactional privilege tax. The IGA will be brought back at the next available meeting for final approval.
• An intergovernmental agreement with the Globe Unified School District to fund three school resource officers (SRO) in an amount of $420,000 per year for the school years 2023-2024, 2024-2025, and 2025-2026. Chief Dale Walters explained that this IGA will cover equipment as well as salaries. There is no cost to the City or the school, as a state grant covers all costs. The SROs teach law enforcement education at the schools and also are required to participate in sporting events.
• A water conservation grant fund agreement between the City of Globe and the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona allows the City to receive funding for replacing water meters and the 4th Street and Daybreak waterlines. This grant requires the dedication of a 25% match for $750,000 by the City of Globe.
• A donation by the Friends of the Globe Library for a value of $27,000 to construct a permanent shade structure for the Globe Library Outdoor Space, and approval for the City of Globe to provide the cost for the required building permits and engineering stamp for a cost not to exceed $5,000. 

To view this meeting online, visit here.

To view documents related to this meeting, click here. https://destinyhosted.com/agenda_publish.cfm?id=45623&mt=ALL&vl=true&get_month=1&get_year=2024&dsp=ag&seq=1463

Full minutes can be found by visiting the City Hall website.

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.

Members of the public can also participate in City of Globe public meetings by viewing the meeting live on YouTube. To view the Council meeting live stream, go to the City of Globe’s YouTube channel (search for City of Globe Arizona). 

To speak to agenda items before or during the meeting, call or text (928) 200-0154 or email council@globeaz.gov. If you desire to speak to the Council during an agenda item.

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 at this meeting.