Graham County supervisors approve $480,000 border-support funding, equipment purchases and staff travel; several administrative items pass

At the Feb. 3 Graham County Board of Supervisors meeting, members approved a package of administrative and funding actions, including acceptance of $480,000 in local border-support funding for law enforcement equipment, ratification of a detention medical backup agreement, an unbudgeted capital purchase of security equipment, authorization for out-of-state training for three county attorney staff, and an over-the-counter tax-deed sale. A special-event liquor-license request was deferred for correction of a date error.

Sheriff P.J. Allred asked the board to approve acceptance of the local border-support funds tied to state legislation referenced in the packet. "What we're here is we're asking for an approval to accept local border support funding related to the SB 17 20 in the amount of $480,000," Sheriff P.J. Allred said. He described the county's proposed use: four patrol vehicles with full outfitting (computers and accessories) for Graham County, two unmarked vehicles among the four, license-plate-reader (Flock) equipment for the City of Safford and Town of Thatcher, and two grappler units for the Town of Pima. A motion to accept the funds was made and seconded and the board recorded the motion as passed.

County Attorney Scott Bennett requested out-of-state travel to send three members of the County Attorney's Office to a Prosecutor by PKB (PBK) case-management training in St. Louis. Bennett said the attendees would include an attorney, the office manager and a victim advocate and that the trip was budgeted. "We're sending Rob Standich, Heather Jacobs and Destiny Taylor," Bennett said. The board approved the out-of-state travel request.

Treasurer Cindy Orr told the board she had an offer for an over-the-counter tax-deed sale on parcel number 10626158 that met the minimum required to cover taxes, fees and interest; the board approved the sale.

Brian Douglas of the Health Department asked the board to ratify an amendment to the detention medical-unit agreement to add Dr. Lawrence Schiff as a telehealth backup medical provider. Douglas said Dr. Schiff — a contracted mental-health provider who also practices medicine for other detention centers in Arizona — offered the backup assistance at no additional cost. The board ratified the amendment.

IT and facilities staff sought board approval for an unbudgeted capital purchase to add one more Verkada security camera and door control to a facility missed in the county's earlier system conversion. County Manager Dustin Welker said the quote from Verkada was "not to exceed $20,000" and noted the equipment includes a 10-year warranty and can be redeployed across county sites. The board approved the unbudgeted capital expenditure.

As a separate item, the jail district asked the board to approve contracting Willdan Financial Services as municipal adviser to begin analyses and recommend parameters for refunding jail district bonds. The board approved Willdan to proceed with the prework and to help establish a financing team; staff said most fees would be payable only if the county chose to move forward with a refunding.

Planning and zoning staff notified the board of an application for a special-event liquor license for a Mardi Gras fundraiser at the Veterans of Foreign Wars hall on a date in the packet that appears to be incorrect; legal staff advised the item be brought back after correction, and the board agreed to have the item returned for a future vote.

No roll-call vote tallies were recorded in the audio transcript; in each case the clerk recorded motions as "motion passes."