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Cinco De Mayo Dinner & Dance at Senior Center tonight.
Administration
Today was Youth Day. Mayor Bonds and Candy Cockrell did an awesome job at the set up and the running of the meetings.
Our next budget meeting will be May 5, 2009 @ 6:15 p.m. We will have it open for any discussion on any pending items.
We are still out advertising for Public Works Director. We have received 16 applications so far. Our PT Library Manager for the Bouse Public Library has closed. We have offered the job to the number 1 candidate.
We are out currently for Public Defender proposals. This RFP closed on the 20th. We had 1 interested party. We will bring this to Council on the next meeting.
Next week, I will be helping Parker Rotary on Tuesday with an exchange student.
Community/Economic Development
Project: 2009 CDBG Grant.
- The Request for Qualifications (RFQ) packet is now on the street. The advertisement for bids is in the Parker Pioneer. The publication dates are April 29th and May 6th.
- The bid date is June 2, 2009.
Project: Task Force Facility Procurement.
- The design phase is finally complete and the plans are at the town engineer for review. When the review is complete the actual construction can begin.
Project: REDI Grant
- The new website is now online. We are adding new content to it to make it more informative and useful. Please check it out at www.ci.parker.az.us.
- If you find any problems or discrepancies with the web page, please report it to the Community Development Dept. at cdev@ci.parker.az.us.
Project: ADOT Grant – West California Ave. Traffic Enhancements
- Our project, the West California Ave. Traffic Enhancements, will be an ADOT project and they will handle all the procurement and construction.
- This project is now in the scoping phase. No new news on this project.
Project: Stimulus Package Funding
- We are preparing, at least, two projects for possible funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The Parker Cemetery Beautification Project will include cemetery fencing, portable shade structures and landscaping etc. The other project is the ball fields at Western Park. This project will include two new ball fields and include lighting, fencing and equipment such as backstops and dugouts.
Project: T-Mobile Cell Tower
- We are currently working with T-Mobile to permit them to install a cell tower at the Town of Parker maintenance facility located at Desert Ave. and 8th Street. This will be a 150’ monopole located by the vehicle Town of Parker maintenance yard.
- Our attorney’s have reviewed and edited T-Mobile’s lease agreement. A lease agreement is forthcoming and we are currently negotiating a rental price.
Project: RECON 2009
- We are preparing for the RECON convention which will take place from May 17th to the 20th of this year.
- We are currently making appointments with retailers for meetings and working on our displays and publications for the conference.
Project: Round 17 – ADOT Traffic Enhancement Grant
- We are preparing a new grant application for round 17 of the ADOT TE Grants. We will be applying for funds to complete the sidewalks and curb & gutter for the other side (northwest side) of West California Ave.
- This application is due on Friday, August 14, 2009.
Project: Board of Adjustments Variance Requests
- We have received 4 variance applications this month. This is the most we have ever had in one month and may portend an increase in upcoming building activity. We hope this is so.
Police Dept.
· Officers investigated offenses involving a violation of an Order of Protection, criminal damage and a burglary.
· Officers assisted CRIT PD with two criminal damage cases, a burglary, two aggravated assaults and a non-injury traffic accident.
· Officers arrested suspects for the following offenses: disorderly conduct per domestic violence, three failures to pay warrants, criminal trespass of Town Hall, driving on suspended, possession of dangerous drugs, burglary, two cases of possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, a failure to appear warrant, aggravated dui, and threats.
· Sgt. Mike Thompson, Officer Fernando Baldenegro and Officer Jose Martinez have been working on a sexual assault that occurred on Saturday, April 25. A suspect, on parole from California for assault with a deadly weapon, has been identified and arrested for sexual assault, burglary and possession of dangerous drugs.
· School Resource Officer Mike Bailey has been investigating an aggravated assault on a teacher at Parker High School and an aggravated assault on the Principal at Wallace Junior High. The suspect in both cases is a 15 year old Native American male and both cases have been turned over to CRIT PD
- .On Friday, April 24 County Attorney Sam Vederman conducted training on legal issues at a Police Dept. staff meeting.
Library
In the last week, members of the community visited the library 1561 times for computers, books, dvds, talking books, etc.
Also in the last week, 7 volunteers worked a total of 87.5 hours. They donated more than $1700.00 worth of in-kind service to the community through the library.
Social Security was here on Monday, but our counter malfunctioned. They have been averaging more than 100 persons per visit, however.
Several of the library staff from Parker and Bouse attended the Mohave Library Alliance’s Spring Conference in Kingman last Friday. The theme of the conference was “Connecting People with Resources at Your Library.” It was designed to help area libraries think about how we might partner with other community agencies to help people during our current economic hard times.
On Monday, the library interviewed candidates for the Part Time Library Manager for Bouse. A candidate was selected and currently undergoing a background check before we can offer her the job.
Dale attended the Arizona Library Association’s annual Library Legislative Day in Phoenix on Thursday and had the opportunity to meet with a number of State Legislators including Representatives Doris Gooddale and Nancy McClain from Mohave County who he had not been able to meet with on previous trips to the State Capital. He was able to share our recent Return On Investment Analysis with them—showing them how every $1.00 spent in our libraries returns $5.61 in services to the community.
The County is taking a number of steps toward relocating the Indian Hills Public Library from the Indian Hills Airpark to the new Centennial Community Center next to the County’s Centennial Park between Wenden and Salome.
The library is also participating on the committee working to get rural broadband Internet access for La Paz County. The local committee is receiving assistance from the AZ Department of Commerce and the Government Information Technology Agency (GITA). Galen Updike of GITA informed us that getting rural broadband to La Paz County is one of his agencies top three priorities right now. If our application for funds is successful, broadband access could be available throughout La Paz County as early as summer or fall of 2010.
Schedule of Upcoming Events
Fri., May 1, 2009 @ 8:00 a.m. – Youth Day
Fri., May 1, 2009 @ 4:00 to 11:00 – Cinco de Mayo Dinner and Dance at the Senior Center
Sat., May 2, 2009 – Parker PD Cinco de Mayo Golf Tournament @ Emerald Canyon Golf Course
Tues., May 5, 2009 @ 6:15/7:00 p.m. – Work Session/Regular Council Meeting |