Graham County supervisors approve grants, right-of-way and fairgrounds plan; table subcontract for overdose review team

Graham County Board of Supervisors on April 21 approved several administrative actions including a grant-match resolution for a family counseling program, acceptance of a quitclaim deed to complete right-of-way on Powerline Road, a five-year renewal of medical examiner services with Pima County and a $99,500 contract for a fairgrounds master plan. The board also accepted a settlement offer from NatureSuite LLC and voted to cancel an existing work plan with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services after the agency’s local inspector left and the federal hiring freeze left the post vacant. Separately, the board approved a state opioid response (SOR) program agreement with the Arizona Department of Health Services but tabled a proposed subcontract to the Greenlee-Graham Substance Abuse Coalition for further review.

The most consequential votes were procedural approvals that officials said preserve services and enable local projects. County manager Dustin Welker summarized the Pima County medical examiner arrangement, saying the contract “has worked out really well” and noting the county’s annual cost rose from $90,000 to $100,000 under the current terms. Welker recommended another five-year term and the board approved the intergovernmental agreement.

Emily Bridal of the county health department described the SOR grant and the review team it would fund: “For every death that is caused by a drug overdose, this team actually request medical records and documentation to where we can review their particular case to see if there could have been measures in place…where we could have helped them overcome their addictions.” The board approved the scope of work agreement with the Arizona Department of Health Services for the SOR funding (the award is described in the record as $25,000 per year). When staff later requested permission to subcontract the review-team work to the Greenlee-Graham Substance Abuse Coalition, supervisors said they wanted more information about data sensitivity, funding restrictions and oversight. Vice Chairman Paul David moved to table the subcontract request for at least two weeks for a work session; the motion to table passed.

On local infrastructure, engineering staff asked the board to accept a quitclaim deed from Pam Polkel (APN 106-06-026) that removes a gap in the county’s right-of-way on Powerline Road. Supervisor Paul David said accepting the deed “will allow the whole roadway to be paved without any patchwork dirt versus the chip seal,” and the board voted to accept the deed.

The board approved a $99,500 contract with Bowman Consulting for a conceptual master plan of the county fairgrounds, which manager Welker said will cover the full 50-acre park and include landscape and irrigation plans and a design for a main reclaimed-water line. Welker noted reclaimed water already fills the fairgrounds ponds and that the plan will help the county pursue grant funding over time.

Supervisors also voted to cancel the county’s work and financial plan with USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Wildlife Services after the local employee, Sam Derringer, took early retirement and USDA placed a hiring freeze. Welker and board members said USDA had stopped billing and the county will pursue alternate arrangements for livestock-loss assistance through the budget process and other local partners.

The board approved a resolution (listed in the record as 2025-05) to provide a county match for a family counseling program and approved a separate resolution (listed in the record as 2025-04) naming Julie Rodriguez as the county’s chief fiscal officer for the Office of the Auditor General annual expenditure-limitation report.

In executive session the board reviewed a settlement offer from NatureSuite LLC covering tax years 2022–24 and then, in open session, approved accepting the settlement offer. A board member described the vote as made “reluctantly” but in favor, citing litigation risk and the interest of concluding a long dispute.

Other items: the board approved a road-name request to create “Arguelles Way” and conducted a public hearing on potential Community Development Block Grant projects (the hearing closed with no selection; staff will return with a recommended project for a later vote). The board also approved routine items including minutes and warrants.

What the board did not decide at the meeting: the county did not approve the proposed subcontract of the opioid review-team work to the Greenlee-Graham Substance Abuse Coalition; that topic was tabled for a future work session. The CDBG hearing listed multiple candidate projects; the board did not pick a project during the hearing.

Looking ahead, staff said they will return with the CDBG project recommendation and that the tabling of the SOR subcontract will be revisited at a work session planned in the coming weeks.