With only three months away for the newly elected Douglas Mayor, Danny Ortega Jr. and City Council member for Ward 5 Luis Greer taking their seats, the regular City Council meeting held March 14 in the City Hall Council Chambers ran in a more relaxed way than previous meetings.

The City of Douglas Mayor and Council began its regular meeting with the unfortunate news that that Ward 5 Councilman Ivan Huish suffered a heart attack days before the meeting.

Among approved agenda items were the renewal of the Cable Television license agreement with Cox Communications. The renewal of the license agreement, which expired on April 20, 2011 centers on upgrading the existing infrastructure to improve service quality. The upgrade would link the local cable/video system via fiber optic cabling to Cox’s statewide network.

Another agenda item approved was the submission of a grant application for the housing choice voucher family self-sufficiency program.

The City of Douglas has received a funding of $69,000 for implementation of a Family Self-Sufficiency Program through the U.S. Housing & Urban Development (HUD) for the past four years. The program is focused on eliminating the need for housing and welfare assistance programs.

Program coordinators assist families with establishment of goals and locating local resources to help them reach those goals.

Lastly, the execution of a contract renewal between the City of Douglas and Alma Vildosola to provide services as the City Magistrate for the City of Douglas was also approved on the meeting.

Vildosola was first appointed to the City Magistrate position on May 16, 2000. Her current two year contract will end on June 30, 2012. Mayor and Council agreed to reappoint Vildosola, based on Article XI, Section 3 of the City Charter.

In other business, Mayor and Council approved: the third reading of ordinance no. 12-1006, an ordinance of the Mayor and Council of the City of Douglas, Cochise County, Arizona, repealing ordinance no. 815; redistricting the city’s wards; establishing severability of components of ordinance and establishing an effective date thereof. Motion passed by a vote of 6-0.

They also approved the third reading of ordinance no. 12-1008, an ordinance of the Mayor and Council of the City of Douglas, Cochise County, Arizona, amending the official zoning regulations, rules and guidelines of the City of Douglas by amending article 7, section 705(i) pertaining to temporary political signs, establishing severability of components of ordinance and establishing an effective date thereof. Motion passed by a vote of 6-0.

The council also passed the first reading of ordinance no. 12-1009, an ordinance of the Mayor and Council of the City of Douglas, Cochise County, Arizona, authorizing the city to enter into a renewal of the cable television license agreement with Cox Communications that expired on April 20, 2011. Motion passed by a vote of 6-0.

An approval of resolution no. 12-872, a resolution of the Mayor and Council of the City of Douglas, Cochise County, Arizona, authorizing the submission of a grant application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the Housing Choice Voucher Family Self Sufficiency Program, was unanimously passed by a vote of 6-0.

Resolution no. 12-873, a resolution of the Mayor and Council of the City of Douglas, Cochise County, Arizona, approving the acceptance of reimbursable grant funding in the amount of $28,565 along with travel expenses under the Arizona job assistance center project as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provided through the department of commerce national telecommunications and information administration (NTIA) as administered through the Arizona State Library to support the deployment of broadband infrastructure and enhanced computer centers and related technical assistance for public use at the Douglas Library, also passed by a vote of 6-0.

The next regular meeting is scheduled for April 11 at 6 p.m.