FLAGSTAFF—The Arizona Collectibles and Firearms gun show will be held this Saturday and Sunday the 18th and 19th at the Coconino County Fairgrounds on Ft. Tuthill loop. The show times are from 9 am to 5 pm and 9 am to 4 pm respectively. The cost to enter the show is $7 for one day and $10 for both days. Look for a $2 discount coupon. Gun show dealers and purchasers are reminded that they are obligated to follow all applicable laws.
Category Archives: Coconino County
Second Payment of Coconino County Property Taxes Due
FLAGSTAFF— Coconino County Treasurer Bonny Lynn reminds property owners that the second installment of their Tax Year 2012 Real and Personal Property Tax payment is due and will be considered delinquent after 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 1.
The Tax Notice for the 2012 property taxes was mailed in September and the first half-installment was due Nov. 1. Property owners could have paid the full-year tax amount by Dec. 31 without a late penalty.
The County Treasurer is the legally responsible party for collecting taxes for all taxing jurisdictions within Coconino County. However, each taxing jurisdiction is responsible for its own tax levy, as established by their individually elected Board of Directors.
The Property Tax Notice was mailed to each property owner regardless of mortgage status. If a property owner has a mortgage impound account for taxes and their mortgage company pays the taxes, the notice should be regarded as informational only.
Partial payments are accepted, but interest will accrue on the unpaid balance when the delinquency date has passed. Tax payments may be made by cash, check or credit/debit card in person at the Treasurer’s Office, 110 E. Cherry Avenue, 2nd floor, Flagstaff, AZ 86001; or by mailing a check.
Tax payments via electronic bank bill payment and those paid with personal check will be treated as an ACH transaction. Citizens are reminded there is a convenience fee for use of a debit or credit card. Instructions for paying with a credit/debit card via the internet can be found on the Treasurer’s website at www.coconino.az.gov/treasurer.
For taxpayer convenience – and due to lack of parking at the 110 E. Cherry building – a white drop-mail box is located near the flagpole inside the parking lot. Payment envelopes may be dropped in the box.
Public Input Meeting April 24 on Proposed Fort Tuthill Mountain Bike Skills Park
FLAGSTAFF –– Coconino County Parks and Recreation and the Flagstaff Biking Organization are planning a public meeting to gain community input on a proposed mountain bike park at Fort Tuthill County Park.
The park would be designed to provide riders a place to hone their skills and learn to jump, while enjoying themselves on mountain bikes.
A public meeting is scheduled from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, April 24 at the County Board of Supervisors Chambers at 219 E. Cherry Ave. in Flagstaff. The meeting will allow officials to gather input from community members and bicyclists on their desire for specific features at the proposed bike park.
“We are enthusiastic to engage and involve the public and future users of the park, along with local community organizations to design and build the first bike skills park in Northern Arizona at Fort Tuthill,” said County Parks and Recreation Director Judy Weiss. “The vision to develop a mountain bike park is included in the Fort Tuthill County Park Master Plan, which was approved by the Board of Supervisors in January.”
The Flagstaff Biking Organization and International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) Regional Representative are in the process of mobilizing funds and resources to build the mountain bike skills park at Fort Tuthill County Park.
“It’s great that this is formally underway,” said Anthony Quintile, trails program coordinator for the Flagstaff Biking Organization. “We are hoping that the community of cyclists in Flagstaff can come together to help generate the support we need to see this project through.”
Bomb found in Arizona Apache Sitgreaves National Forest
On the 16th, a portion of the Apache Sitgreaves National Forest was closed when forest service workers found a pipe bomb.
The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office says Forest Service workers found a metal pipe bomb near some trees while conducting a survey Monday along a forest road west of the community of Forest Lakes.
The forest area was closed for about six-hours to allow the Flagstaff Police Department bomb personnel to remove the device and search the area.
Sheriff’s Sgt. Jason Lurkins says the pipe bomb was next to a tree and there apparently had been a failed attempt to detonate it. There is no indication how long the device was there.
Magistrate contract with Justice Court still pending.
WILLIAMS—Williams was left without a contract for the Justice of the Peace to hear municipal cases as as Magistrate as of the last meeting of the City Council. The Williams Justice Court—a county jurisdiction—makes intergovernmental agreements (IGA) with cities and towns that require his service to hear municipal cases. Justice of the Peace Robert Krombeen, however, said that he will still hear municipal cases until the contract issues are resolved.
JP Robert Krombeen explained that smaller cities and towns, including Williams, contract with the County Justice Court to hear their cases rather than build separate court facilities and hire their own Magistrate. The Justice Court, for example, entered into an IGA with the recently incorporated Town of Tusayan to hear their municipal cases.
The City of Williams had a contract when JP Krombeen was elected two-years ago. According to City of Williams Code, they can only make a contract for the services of Magistrate for two-years at a time. The effort, now, is simply to create another contract for another two years.
While the Justice of the Peace is an elected official, he is classified as an employee of Coconino County.
“I’m an employee, even though I’m an elected official. I’m an employee of Coconino County as well as part of that office and that position. So I don’t have all employee benefits and privileges, but I do classify as an employee. For example, as an elected official I don’t get vacation time, I don’t get sick time, and that type of thing. But I can take time off by having the court covered and my duties covered in my absence.”
There are certain cases in which the Justice Court has jurisdiction in both the Justice Court and Municipal Court jurisdictions.
“Any criminal charge filed in the Justice Courts jurisdiction is going to be, at least initially, seen by the JP. So, even a felony would be seen by the JP, for example, for the initial appearance and the setting of bond. Then the case could go to a preliminary hearing here in the Justice Court and then would be transferred to the Superior Court,” JP Krombeen explained.
“Now, on the city side, as magistrate, I would see any misdemeanor cases, both from the initial appearance through conclusion. If there is a felony case filed, then that would automatically be a Justice Court appearance.”
It is the prerogative of the City of Williams to select their own Magistrate and create their own court system. It is cost effective, however, to have the court system in the same building.
JP Krombeen said, “Historically, as far back as I’m aware of, both courts have been in the same building. The City could have their own courthouse, or have it in the Council Chambers. We used to be in the strip mall downtown. Both courts were together in both of those locations previously. In some cities the city has their own courthouse.
“Again, you’re talking about a justice court which averages close to 5000 cases a year and a city court that averages, recently, between—Oh, give or take 500 case per year. So, it’s far more cost effective for the city to have an Intergovernmental Agreement to be in a cooperative agreement with the county such as we are now. It saves the taxpayer tremendously from the cities point of view of not having to have their own facility and that type of thing.”
The City also entered into an IGA last September to have the Justice Court staff take on the duties of the Municipal court staff. “It’s been a very challenging, but very smooth transition,” the JP said.
“That’s really helped our customer service, because in the past, we’d have one—at best two—[city] employees. But when those employees weren’t available, people would come up to the front window to, for example, make a payment and they’d see someone sitting there, and the person would say, ‘I’m sorry, we’re the Justice Court, we can’t help you. There’s nobody here from the City Court.’ There were issues because of that.”
The Justice Court staff is responsible for taking care of the cases and keeping the cases in their appropriate jurisdiction for the judge.
“We’ll have a courtroom filled with people, sometimes, with some being City cases and some being Justice Court cases. So as the Judge, I just call the case and I say that this case is in the Williams Justice Court, and we go through the proceeding.
“Next person may be a Municipal Court case. Since I’m Magistrate I handle that case. I call that this case is in the Williams Municipal Court. The Court Staff administratively keep those cases separate. They’re not all consolidated into one court. They’re separate, but we—other than that—handle everything the same whether someone comes in for the City court or the Justice Court.”
Gun shows coming to the area
FLAGSTAFF—The Arizona Collectibles and Firearms gun shows are returning to Flagstaff and Williams this year. It is hard to say what affect any legislation will have on sales at the show. However, all federal, State and local firearms ordinances and law must be fully obeyed by the dealers and purchasers. Still you can look forward to two gun shows in Flagstaff and one in Williams.
The Flagstaff gun shows will be held at the Coconino County Fairgrounds on May 18 and 19, and again on September 21st and 22nd. All dates are Saturday and Sunday respectively. On Saturday the shows open at 9 am and run until 5 pm. On Sunday the show closes at 4 pm. The entrance fee to the show is $7 for one day and $10 for both days. If you find a flier, it usually has a $2 off coupon. Parking is free. The Coconino County Fairgrounds are at 2446 Fort Tuthill Loop in Flagstaff.
The Arizona Collectibles and Firearms show in Williams will be held at the Bob Dean Rodeo Grounds barn on Father’s Day weekend Saturday and Sunday June 15th and 16th. The rodeo grounds are at 800 Rodeo Road in Williams. The times and prices for the show are the same as above.
Don’t forget to look up the Arizona Citizens Defense League booth at the gun shows.
Cataract Park open after Saturday dedication
WILLIAMS—Saturday the thirteenth was not unlucky for the residents as they opened the $2.3 million Cataract Lake Park with an eventful dedication. Politicians were there to thank everyone except for Williams Police Sergeant Ted Wigal who directed traffic at entrance. (So we get to be the first to thank him for his service!) I-40 Fleet Services even provided kayaks for rides on the lake.
Mayor John Moore was joined by Williams City Councilmen Hiemenz and Payne for the celebration. District 4 Supervisor Mandy Metzger and District 2 Supervisor Liz Archuleta joined District 3 Supervisor Matt Ryan.
The event was staffed by volunteers from a number of non-profit groups around the community. The American Legion, as usual, conducted the barbeque provided by the city. Camp Civitan provided a van to shuttle people from the parking area to the park. The Kiwanis and Lions Club members served the food. Volunteers staffed the Coke van provided by Swire. Parks and recreation staff were on hand and volunteer children tested the playground during the speeches. The Freshman class of the Williams High School baked and decorated the cake for the cake cutting ceremony.
Everything was going fine until the politicians started fighting over the key.
Continue reading
City Council members MAY be at Cataract Lake this weekend
Free food? Where will the city council be?
Two words, people. FREE FOOD! Where do you think the council members will be this weekend!
Of course, you can join them in the festivities. The celebration is open to all. You just might want to get there before the council if you want anything to eat.
Flagstaff Regional Plan Raises Concerns
By Elisha Dorfsmith
FLAGSTAFF—Last Thursday the long awaited draft version of the Flagstaff Regional Plan was released to the public. The plan now has a 60 day public comment period before it goes to the Flagstaff City Council and Coconino County Board of Supervisors for their approval. Once the City and County approve the plan, it will go to voters in a special election scheduled for May 20, 2014.
Before the plan was released, Flagstaff City Council member Jeff Oravits and many others raised concerns that the Regional Plan Citizens Advisory Committee was not balanced and was stacked with members of groups like F3 and other organizations with an extreme agenda.
Oravits fought to get more balance on the Committee during several council sessions but the majority of the Council said no and so the Committee remained one sided.
Now that the draft version of the plan has been released, I am receiving emails from concerned residents who say wording in the plan tramples individual liberty and private property rights. Of particular concern are the comments in the plan about social sustainability.
“Environmental, economic, cultural and social sustainability ensure that present actions are the basis for future health and prosperity.”
People are taking this to mean behavior control and the possibility of a Bloomberg style nanny state coming to the Flagstaff area.
Read more at Flagstaff Liberty Blog
Cataract Lake Park opening soon in Williams
WILLIAMS—Coconino County announced that the 2.1 million Cataract Lake County Park will open on April 13th. The funds to renovate the park were derived from the Coconino Parks and Open Space sales tax program approved by county voters in 2002.
Mayor John Moore of Williams explained that the transformation of the old camping site into a day use area is not a loss for Williams. “I personally don’t think that the loss of camping will bad. I think it will make a place for the locals, now, to go in for a day, have family reunions in some of the shelters and be able to go fishing.”
Fishing at Cataract Lake requires a trout stamp. There are still camp site on the south-east area of Cataract Lake which can be accessed by taking Cataract Road to Copper Ranch Road. As of this writing, that camping area is closed for the season.
“It’s a county park operated by the City of Williams,” Mayor Moore added.
County Parks and Recreation Director Judy Weiss said, “The renovation of Cataract Lake County Park is our new model of park operation that we have implemented to provide quality park amenities in the most efficient way possible.”
The $2.1 million dollars invested to redevelop the park was used for planning, development, design and construction of the site. The park features restrooms, a boat launch, two picnic ramadas, a playground, fishing areas, walking trails and horseshoe pits.
The County and City of Williams plans a barbeque from 11 am to 3 pm on April 13th to christen the new park.