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A new chairman held the gavel as the Gila County Board of Supervisors proclaimed October National Women’s Small Business Month.
District 1 Supervisor Steve Christensen, of Payson, was appointed chairman during the board’s October 3 meeting; it is his first time in that position. District Supervisor 2 Tim Humphrey was named vice chairman.
As part of a 16-month rotation between board members, Christensen assumed his new role at the October 10 meeting where Women’s Small Business Month was proclaimed.
“I like the 16-month rotation,” said District 3 Supervisor Woody Cline, Christensen’s predecessor as chairman. “I think it’s fair that we all have an equal share in the chairmanship, and it’s good experience.”
Other business at the October 3 meeting included the first of two public hearings on Gila County’s application for $150,107 in fiscal year 2023 Community Development Block Grant funds. There were no comments from the public, but Gila County Health Equity Manager Kayle Lathrop suggested using the funds for housing rehabilitation.
The board also approved an engineering design contract to improve Monroe Street in Globe. Public Works Director Homero Vela said the street “has a significant problem with line of sight because of the hill that doesn’t let you see oncoming traffic, and it has an immediate stop right after the hill.”
The contract with Stantec Consulting Services, not to exceed $123,495, is through an engineering design professional services agreement between Stantec and the State Procurement Office. Vela said the work, based on previous improvement plans that did not come to fruition, would include changing Monroe Street’s elevation, reducing the hill as much as possible and blending it in with adjacent parking lots.
On October 3, the board also approved selling 1.56 acres of county land to Cobre Valley Regional Medical Center, where the hospital looks to build a protective flood wall. The sale was for $9,900, 90% of the property’s appraised value.
“I’m almost embarrassed to sell them this property to protect themselves from floodwaters because we as a county could not get funding with any of that area, but I support it,” said Humphrey.
In Christensen’s October 10 debut as chairman, the board approved a $10,000 economic development agreement between the county and the Young Public Library “which the Board has determined to be for the benefit of the public,” to support building repairs to the library. The board also certified fiscal year 2022-2023 collection amounts for Gila County Superior Court ($768,570), Payson Regional Justice Court ($587,752) and Globe Regional Justice Court ($566,403).
