Meeting opened at 7:00 pm by President Lil Jones.
After the Pledge of Allegiance was led by Ken Freese, Roll was called by Rick Lehner.
TREASURER'S REPORT
Ken Freese reported $1239.68 in the treasury.
OLD minutes are available at the library.
OLD BUSINESS
John Wyatt re: Roping Arena
Pima county will be meeting next week regarding plans for the arena.
Lil Jones: Election next meeting for even numbered districts
NEW BUSINESS
NONE
SPEAKERS:
Flood Control (Russell Wise from Tucson)
Bids are out to do the work as of last week, work should begin by the end of January or the beginning of February. He described what the area behind the Curley school will look like when the construction is finished and landscaped. He will also be discussing a possible dog park with Parks and Rec. Audience questions included the total cost to us Pima county taxpayers), and the possibility of a community garden.
Chamber of Commerce (Sylvia Howard)
Lil discussed the upcoming street fair since Sylvia was not present.
Sheriff's Office (Lt Clements)
New officers in town, additional officers thanks to Homeland Security funds, to help cover Why and Lukeville. Questions included why there are so many officers parked at Circle K (Shift change), discussion of evening walkers and wearing light colored clothing, and the need to walk against traffic so they can be seen. Lee Price asked about officers and second jobs and whether that was a conflict of interest. He was assured it was not.
Border Patrol (Gary Murray)
Discussed what the BP does in the area. Apprehended 4500lbs marijuana and 1100 illegals last month. Discussed the "catch and don't release" plan. John Wyatt asked if there were anything we could to encourage new officers to buy and live in Ajo instead of up the road in the larger towns and cities. Question was asked about the possibility of an airline from southern Mexico making an "unscheduled entry" to drop illegals. Officer Murray stated this was a Federal issue, the Border Patrol had heard rumors but no official statements have been made. The need for passports to cross the border will be necessary in the future but for now a valid driver's license will be required. Lee Price complained about officers at the checkpoint on Hwy 85 sitting around in lawn chairs and racing around on 4 wheelers. He was informed that there are only 4 officers on duty at the checkpoint at any time unless there was an enforcement action or at shift change. There will be a permanent checkpoint at milepost 18 in the future. Semi regular checkpoints have been set up near Casa Grande and Three Points.
Deb Miller from Supervisor Bronson's office was introduced.
The CDBG group (Block Grants) will attend our December meeting
ISDA (Mimi Phillips)
Ajo will be hosting the Smithsonian Exhibition for 7 weeks. It is called Between Fences. Ajo is one of only 6 sites in the entire state that has been chosen to host the program. There will also be an all-media art show about fences as well, and will include an exhibit to build an ocotillo living fence. In cooperation with the Ajo Council of Fine Arts, Copper News and the Ajo Library there will be extensive programming regarding "Borders, Fences and Gates" with musical entertainment and panels for discussion, and on Wednesdays, movies with a "borders, fences and gates" connection.
Curley School (Mimi Phillips)
All but two units rented. Demolition and general repairs are being made to the old cafeteria to enable permitting to take place and will become a gallery and microenterprise center. Lead paint and asbestos will be removed from the old shop building, and two of the classroom units are almost ready to be opened.
December 23rd there will be open studios at the Curley School.
Call to the Floor:
Paul Crawford
Displayed collection cans for fundraising for the skate park. Showed article in the current Copper News about designs for the skate park. Today the November fundraising campaign was kicked off. There is a display in Olsen's as well. There is also a full page announcement in the Rocky Point Times. Construction of the park should begin any minute.
Steve Stenerodden (Border Fence Project) of Premier Trade Finders Here to address questions about construction of the border fence. They are currently hiring workers for their construction projects. They are not fully informed about the details of the project, but are in the hiring phase, hoping to employ people locally. They are not a temp agency. They are the actual employers, and represent the construction companies. They are also doing projects for the Border Control. These jobs are full time and have benefits. Applicants may be drug tested. WAGES range from $14.00 to 28.00 or 30.00/hr. The current fence project is for a 5.2 mile pedestrian fence at the Lukeville entry. Plans also apparently include a vehicle barrier.
Question regarding all the construction dust. Representative from Ajo Improvement will be here at the December meeting.
Adjourned at 8:12 pm
Respectfully submitted by Chris Dimitrakopoulos, District 1.
Last edited on 11/03/2007.
HTML and Programing by
Thomas R. Powell