Mayor’s Monthly Report

AL GAMEROS CITY OF GLOBE

COVID UPDATE AND VACCINES

As the country and our state continue to open up and ease restrictions, we must still be aware and cautious that the Covid pandemic is still very much active. With the new Delta variant responsible for 26% of new cases in the United States, we must continue to listen to CDC guidelines so we can prevent a continued rise in numbers and have to return to restrictions. We can all do our part by considering getting vaccinated. With only 54% of Arizonans who have received at least one dose, our state is still averaging 447 new cases daily and 308 new deaths for the month. Gila County is averaging five new cases daily. There was a gathering of vaccinated and unvaccinated people in northern Gila County that is being monitored that accounted for 31 new cases. The reporting of weekly numbers for the Globe-Miami community has been discontinued for now due to the very low number of new cases in our area. You can still get a vaccination at the local Health Department by making an appointment at (928) 910-4009. You can also get antibody or Covid testing by calling (928) 961-1284.

TELEGRAPH AND MESCAL FIRES

I want to thank the incident commanders and firefighters of both Type 1 teams for their extraordinary work in bringing these fires under control. As the Telegraph fire approached the west side of Miami, it appeared that there would be a loss of many structures in the south hill of the town. But firefighters were able to force the fire south towards the base of the Pinal Mountains to keep it away from the homes. The days that followed would be a battle to keep the fire out of Russell Gulch, Six Shooter, and Kellner Canyon. As the fire moved southeast, unfortunately it did cause destruction to some homes at El Capitan. Driving between Miami and Superior, it is somewhat somber to see the devastation of this fire to so much beautiful country. But through the devastation, it is amazing that the fire was directed away from so many structures in its path by the tactical operations of the firefighters.

Our efforts as a city now are to concentrate on the mitigation efforts of post fire flooding with interagency cooperation between the county, Town of Miami, the Department of Emergency Military Affairs, and the Department of Forestry Management. This is our community and we need to be aggressive and address this threat head-on together for the protection of our residents and their property. Our staff has created a three-prong approach concentrating on the following headings: (1) Information that covers the education of our community about the dangers of dry washes and how rapidly they can become consumed by flood waters. In areas of Six Shooter and Kellner, the recommendation in case of flash flooding is to stay in the area and seek higher ground. Prepare your home with sandbags as needed. The county has hired a hydrologist for mapping of water flow, and cameras and flood water detection meters have been placed in various areas to provide early warning of flood waters. (2) Coordination includes efforts to contact property owners that reside along the waterways throughout our community to get permission and complete cooperation agreements to clean out these areas. These forms are available online or at the Gila County offices, Globe City Hall, and the Town of Miami. All the costs are covered under funding from the state. (3) Action includes the process of hiring technical teams immediately to complete the work of cleaning out all the waterways that travel through our community. This also includes the preparation of filling sandbags and making them readily available for residents that are located in low lying areas.

We signed an original Declaration of Emergency when the fire approached our city to be eligible for assistance from the state. A second declaration was signed to be eligible for funding from a $75 million Wildfire Relief Package that was created for post fire mitigation by the approval of a joint committee of the Senate and House and signed by the governor. The rapid approval of this package has given us the opportunity to begin our planning strategy immediately. The BAER Team has been in the areas of the burn scar to begin mitigation of rushing waters and complete soil sampling of the depth of the burn to determine the severity of the fire.

FLOOD WASH DANGERS

We cannot emphasize enough the importance of being aware of weather updates and of the dangers of our dry washes. It is especially more important now due to the fires that have occurred around our community, as water may move more rapidly and in larger amounts.

2.5% FLAT TAX BILL

As the fiscal year comes to an end, the House and Senate have passed the 2.5% flat tax bill, to be signed by Governor Ducey with modified changes that will have a less negative effect on funding to our city than first anticipated. The efforts of the legislature, led by Representative David Cook and Senator Boyer, were attempts to keep cities harmless from the deficit created by this bill. The bill raises the percentage of state shared revenues from 15% to 18%, giving additional revenue to help offset the cost of the tax deficit. With this change, it means that the anticipated loss of revenue to the City of Globe will decrease from $360,000 to around $35,000 annually.

PROJECTS IN PROGRESS

Our Recreational Master Plan is in full swing with the Council approval of $500,000 to go towards the refurbish proposal for the Community Center Pool and the commitment to be open by next summer. The balance of the funding for the full project will come from grant opportunities and stakeholder funds. The commitment of the City is to upgrade equipment and offer additional outdoor recreational opportunities for our community and especially our youth. The City also announced that they were awarded $480,000 from BHP to go towards purchase of new playground equipment at the Community Center and City Hall. This funding will also be used for a splash pad, adult exercise equipment, and water bottle filling stations in the downtown area. BHP is committed to offering additional recreational opportunities now, especially with the restrictions that have been placed on Old Dominion Mine Park as they go through the testing process of the tailings on their property.

BUDGET

On June 29, a special budget meeting was held to approve the 2021-2022 Tentative Budget in the amount of $53,849,344 under Resolution 1839. The final budget will be approved on July 27. The actual estimated operational budget is around $12 million for the year. The additional amount in the budget is to allow for possible funding opportunities that may become available through grants and loans in the year. There is a tremendous amount of work and activity that is going on to bring future funding opportunities for the benefit of our City’s taxpayers.

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Every Saturday: Farmers Market at Globe Veterans Park (8 a.m. - 11 a.m.) • July 17 & 31: Community Concerts at Globe Veterans Park (6:30 p.m. - 9 p.m.), continuing every other Saturday until September 4 • July 21: Chamber of Commerce Mixer at Globe-Miami Elks Lodge (5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.) u

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