Graham County supervisors praise fair turnout, report cleanup and infrastructure progress

At the Oct. 20 Graham County Board of Supervisors meeting, county managers and supervisors highlighted recent community events and infrastructure projects, including the county fair turnout, a multi-agency cleanup at Thunderbird Mobile Home Park, and progress on road, bridge and building remodel projects.

Vice Chairman David (last name not specified in the transcript) and other supervisors praised fair staff for an event that county officials estimated attracted more than 20,000 people over three days. A vendor message read to the board praised the fair office for unusually responsive service. County Manager Dustin Welker (referred to in the transcript as "manager Welker") and others credited fair staff and sheriff's office support for crowd management and emergency responses.

Manager Welker reported that planning and zoning's recent community cleanup removed 10 40-yard dumpsters of waste from Thunderbird Mobile Home Park, plus multiple 14-foot trailer loads of appliances and additional trash. The cleanup is run in partnership with the City of Safford (owner of the landfill) and Vista Recycling, which supplied dumpsters without charge; county staff cover scale fees.

On capital projects, Welker said the county has awarded the Main Street building remodel to the lowest conforming bidder, Lunk Construction, awarded the sprinkler contract to Allen Fire Protection Systems, and plans a separate contract for security-system upgrades with Verkada. The county is also preparing a CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) application—due before Nov. 1—to build ADA sidewalks connecting new parking lots and park space at the fairgrounds.

Engineering updates reported by county staff included ongoing environmental work for the Gila River Linear Park and Trail, completion of structural design for the Tallywash bridge with in-house finalization and easement work pending, and progress on plans for Clough Avenue, Sanchez Road and Emery Road. Staff said Sanchez Road plans are already with the highway yard—the earliest that step has occurred in recent years—and that survey and alignment work on Emery Road and Clough Avenue continue. County staff expressed hope that chip-seal work on the three roads could occur this fiscal year, contingent on manpower.

Manager Welker also reported sales-tax trends: local sales tax receipts were about 2.5% above last year and state-shared sales tax about 12% ahead of last year at the four-month mark. He thanked highway, sheriff and emergency-management staff for storm cleanup and noted no flooding reached the level of homes.

County Attorney Scott Bennett and contract attorney Kent Volkmar are finalizing a draft clean-and-lien ordinance; staff review comments were due by the Thursday following the meeting before returning the draft to the attorneys for further work.

A sheriff's office matter was mentioned briefly: the chairman noted a "horrific incident" in Pima where local law enforcement assisted; the transcript records condolences and recognition of officers' psychological burden but provides no operational details.

Why it matters: The updates outline county priorities—public events, cleanup and solid-waste efforts, ADA accessibility, road and bridge projects—and signal near-term project work that will affect transportation and public spaces across the county.