Hope City Board

The Hope City Board met Tuesday (11-7) for their first meeting of November.  After the invocation, the pledge of allegiance and the approval of last meeting’s minutes there was an audit report by Mr. Miller of William C Miller CPA. This is the 5th year the city is using the firm. The city is doing well as there are more assets than liabilities. There have been increases in both revenues and costs. Sanitation was the largest increase of costs.

A proclamation by Mayor Don Still proclaiming November Native American Heritage Month was read. The proclamation recognized the roots starting with an awareness week and expanding to a month. The proclamation recognized the importance of the Native culture in the foundation and enrichment of the country.

The Board discussed the repair of the industrial park railroad. The city had been really successful on the railroad with keeping it well-maintained. Previously a lot of money was spent on derailments. There is a section of track that was previously lifted up and is sinking again. Union Pacific had an idea for the repair that would save time using a machine. This repair would be a little more expensive and outside of the budget but not revenues.  Director Mark Ross made a motion to suspend the rules for competitive bidding. This was seconded and passed.

The next item was an authorization for the renewal of the Aerial Photography Contract. Hope Water and Light use the photographs daily. The planes only fly every five years. The county uses the service the most.

The City Manager’s Report included a 2024 budget with a  pay increase for both general staff and part-time staff.

City Manager J.R. Wilson talked about the need to find a funding source for the landfill remediation project as ADEQ denied the City’s appeal to use the Post Closure fund. City Manager Wilson recommended a debt service component to the sanitation fee structure thus minimizing the impact on the customers.

Director Ross talked about Veteran’s Day Parade being the first within 22 years.

For Citizen’s Requests,  Michelle Thomas asked the Board what the average income of Hope was and what the poverty rate was in general and told the Board what it was among the white, black and Latino community. In general it is 35%.  Her point was the impact upon the community with raising rates and who js more impacted.  Both the Mayor and the City Manager addressed her concerns saying the city had saved money by having a landfill but have been penalized recently for it not being lined.

The city pays all it can through grants and continues to look for free money in order to keep the costs down for local residents.

The meeting adjourned.