Despite two defeats and the fact it wasn’t even on the agenda, a resolution asking for more border security was still a hot topic at the July 14 meeting of the Douglas City Council.

During the “Call to the Public” portion of the meeting, rancher Kerry Kimbro spoke about his frustration about the lack of action by anyone to resolve the issue of illegal immigration and violence , and still doesn’t understand why the city council would not approve the resolution for safer borders.

Ginny Jordan, who in the past has spoken against SB 1070 and the city resolution calling for additional help, was upset because it seemed like the community and board members were ambushed during the special meeting last week. She said there was little notice of the special meeting on the resolution.

Finally, Mike Nava spoke about the 1,800 petition signatures that were handed in by a group which proclaimed that all of these were against the resolution.

It turned out, very little mention of the resolution was made in the petitions. It was more a petition against the state’s SB 1070. He also stated that many of the signatures were indistinguishable and many others were from people who lived outside of Douglas.

Further comments from both Nava and Jordan can be seen in Letters to the Editor, beginning on Page 4.

Much of the rest of the discussion on Wednesday centered around an ordinance setting fees for use of parks and other city recreational facilities.

The discussion centered on the fees being proposed.

City Manager Curtis Shook explained that the city had been charging fees for different facilities for some time, but no ordinance had been set up.

“I am not tied down to any of these fees. The important thing is to get an ordinance passed so it is on the books,” he said.

The council directed city staff to review the fee structure once again, and the council may consider making changes prior to the third reading and final approval.

In other action, the council:

√ Accepted the resignation of longtime Planning and Zoning Commission member Bill Mason.

√ Appointed Felix Soto and Richard Lopez to the Community House Corporation Board.

√ Reviewed a presentation by Victor Gonzalez, Economic Development Corporation, pertaining to regional economic development.

√ Approved in an emergency an ordinance amending the Douglas Municipal Code to suspend the $20 processing fee for sidewalk sales by businesses.

√ Approved a resolution authorizing the city to accept $10,000 in grant funding from the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board for purchasing equipment for a firearms simulator for the Douglas Police Department.

√ Approved a resolution for $2,000 in additional grant funding from the Arizona State Library to purchase additional computer software and related technical equipment for public use at the Douglas Library.

√ Approved an intergovernmental agreement between the city and the state acting by and through the Department of Transportation for work to be performed with the city to resolve traffic congestion along U.S. Highway 191B inclusive of a traffic study and traffic control measures to be performed in multiple phases along this route. The agreement allows the city to get back funds they have spent on Pan American with traffic control into Mexico.

√ Approved a intergovernmental agreement between the city and Arizona Department of Revenue to provide a uniform method of administration, collection, audit and licensing of transaction privilege tax, use tax and rental occupancy taxes imposed by the state and city. While the city will begin its own sales tax collection efforts on October 1, the agreement allows the city to get needed information from the state.

√ Approved an intergovernmental agreement between city and Douglas Housing Corporations I and II. The agreement includes the hiring of a property manager to oversee both projects.

In a related issue, the city council also approved authorizing a management agreement between the Public Housing Authority and Housing Corporations I and I, which will allow it to retain $82,000 earned in administrative fees annually.