Yuma, Crane district to explore safer transportation access to Knox School

Council to meet Tuesday and Wednesday this week

Yuma wants to work with Crane School District No. 13 in creating an “improved and safer” area of transportation access in the public right-of-way or easement to Gary A. Knox Elementary School.

The City Council on Wednesday will consider an intergovernmental agreement between the city’s Engineering Department and the district, with the city as project sponsor, in the creation of a safe area of transportation for students attending the school.

The federal funding (94.3%) for this project is $144,281 with a local match (5.7%) of $8,721 paid by the district with no city funding required for this project.

The council will meet twice this week, with a work session on Tuesday and a regular meeting on Wednesday. The work session will include a Capital Improvement Program Quarterly Update for 2024 from Steve Wilson, assistant director of engineering; a briefing by Fire Chief Dustin Fields and Police Chief Tom Garrity on the Citywide Drone program; and a presentation on the Arts and Economic Prosperity Study from the Arizona Commission on the Arts and the Arizona Citizens for the Arts.

The council will then review the Wednesday agenda, which includes one ordinance up for adoption. It calls for vacating a portion of right-of-way on Arizona Avenue to the abutting land owner, T3AZ LLC, after negotiating a fair market-value purchase price. It would also correct an error in the 2008 ordinance, resulting in the city erroneously retaining ownership of the 8-foot strip of land. T3AZ wants to develop a mixeduse project on the property but lacks sufficient space for its current design.

One ordinance will be introduced, a proposal to update the city’s development standards for lot coverage, setbacks, open space and height requirements within residential zoning districts.

In addition, the following items are on the consent agenda:

• Award a guaranteed maximum price construction contract to the design-build team Willmeng Construction with lead designers J2 Engineering and American Ramp Company to build Kennedy Skate Park in the amount of $2.9 million.

• Award a one-year contract for the purchase of entertainment promoter services with an estimated annual expenditure of $108,000 to BMC Productions & Entertainment of Yuma.

• The$434,678 purchase of night vision goggles, holographic sights, gun-mounted lasers and ballistic helmets from Safeware of Lanham, Maryland.

– The $3.2 million purchase of various equipment and services supporting the Yuma Regional Communications System radio system from Motorola Solutions of Chicago.

• The $488,013 purchase of YRCS ethernet backhaul network equipment from Advanced Network Management of Scottsdale.

The meetings will take place at 5:30 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers, 1 City Plaza. To view the complete agenda and read staff reports, go to https://yuma-az.legistar. com/calendar.aspx.

Meetings can also be viewed remotely with participation through Zoom. To speak at the public hearing or on any agenda item via Zoom, submit an email request to publiccomment@yumaaz.gov an hour before the meeting.

To view the meeting through Zoom, go to https://cityofyuma.zoom. us/, click on “Calendar,” then select the meeting and click “Join.”