Bullhead City Council Regular Meeting – June 17, 2025
Bullhead City Council Regular Meeting – June 17, 2025
The Bullhead City Council held its regular meeting on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, at 5:30 PM in the City Council Chambers. All six council members were present. The meeting opened with an invocation by Pastor George Lyman and the Pledge of Allegiance. Major agenda items included board appointments, a liquor license public hearing, approval of a $150,000 contract for the Animal Resource Center security system, a $1.28 million Axon body-worn camera system with AI-assisted report writing, a $400,000 budget amendment, rescheduling the August meeting, and setting the process to fill a council vacancy following the resignation of Mayor Steve Diamico.
Consent Calendar
- Approved minutes of the May 8 Special Budget Meeting, May 20 Regular Council Meeting, and June 3 Special Council Meeting.
- Adopted Resolution 2025R-29 authorizing abandonment of an 8-foot utility easement at Chaparral Terrace.
- Approved the preliminary condominium plat for The Village at Mercado Condominiums, subject to development schedule.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Robin Meeting (Tri-State Military Moms) thanked the city for Heroes Highway flags and military banners, and asked for continued support.
- Paula Fontes Hemby expressed concern about federal budget cuts to VA research, citing $916 million in annual VA research investment, and urged calling representatives.
- Stephen Brown (Bullhead Regional Food Bank) announced a ribbon cutting event on June 20 at 10 AM for the food bank expansion.
- Pamela Smith (Colorado River Republican Women) invited council to a luncheon with Senator Hilda Angus on July 2.
- Grace Hecht announced multiple community events: the food bank packing and distribution, a free community swap at the library, a community baby shower for 44 mothers, and the Little Sprouts Farmers Market on June 26.
- Eva Genevieve promoted the 81st annual Republican picnic on July 26 with raffle and gun raffle.
- Jack Glenn criticized a previous speaker’s language and urged focusing on local issues, then addressed questions about solar lights (installed on the parkway) and a Skywatch surveillance tower.
- Scotty expressed support for the Axon AI system, citing a recent arrest that was aided by body camera reports.
- Bart Anderson (applying for Planning & Zoning) asked clarifying questions about the Axon system.
- Mike Fieloboos questioned whether the $1.28 million Axon contract would improve FOIA request response times (currently over four months); staff explained the AI assists only report writing, not redaction.
Discussion Items
- Board of Adjustment Appointments: Christy Fouts, Kenya Crib, and Shannon Henry were appointed to two-year terms (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2027) after no objections; Crib and Henry were absent but had expressed interest.
- Building Board of Appeals Appointments: Dan Alberts and Amy Prince (both current members) were reappointed to full two-year terms (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2027). The board remains inactive until at least one more member is appointed.
- Parks and Recreation Commission Appointments: Kenya Kribs and Randolph Sierra were appointed to two-year terms (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2027). Sierra spoke of his 24-year residency and support for public safety.
- Planning and Zoning Commission Appointments: Four applicants (Bart Anderson, Paul Bartha, Stephen Brown, Mel Stein) vied for three seats. After paper ballot voting, Stephen Brown received six votes in the first round. In subsequent rounds, Bart Anderson received six votes and Paul Bartha received four votes, defeating Mel Stein (two votes). The council then appointed Anderson, Bartha, and Brown to two-year terms.
- Liquor License Public Hearing (Item 8): The council held a public hearing for a Series 12 (Restaurant) liquor license for Big Belly Nelly’s Sports Bar and Grill at 1751 Highway 95. No public comment; the council approved the recommendation to the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control.
- Animal Resource Center Security Contract (Item 9): Staff presented a $150,000 contract with My Alarmtek LLC for wiring, security cameras, burglar alarm, and speaker system at the new Animal Resource Center. The budget was $125,000; $25,000 will be transferred from general fund contingency. Councilmember Ring noted the low bid was $200,000 less than the high bid. Approved.
- Axon Body Camera System (Item 10): Police Chief Trebes (represented by Lt. Harris) presented a five-year, $1,281,067.92 contract for 83 body-worn cameras with AI-powered Draft One report writing and real-time tracking. A video demonstrated the workflow. Discussion included constitutionality (staff affirmed), current trial period, and FOIA timeline concerns. Approved.
- Budget Amendment (Item 11): Authorized transfer of $400,000 from general fund to general services contingency for Utilities Water Department, Pest Abatement, Public Works, and Parks and Recreation for fiscal year 2024-2025. Approved.
- Meeting Rescheduling (Item 12): Approved moving the August 19, 2025 regular meeting to Monday, August 18, 2025, at 5:30 PM to allow council attendance at the Arizona League of Cities and Towns Annual Conference. Approved.
- Council Vacancy Process (Item 13): Following the resignation of Mayor Steve Diamico, the council directed the City Clerk to solicit applications with a closing date of June 30, 2025. The council will review applications at the July 1, 2025 meeting and set a special meeting on July 15 for interviews and appointment. A subsequent special meeting between July 15 and August 5 will seat the new council member and elect a new mayor and vice mayor. The motion carried.
Key Outcomes
- All consent agenda items approved unanimously (6-0).
- Board appointments: Board of Adjustment (3), Building Board of Appeals (2), Parks and Recreation (2), Planning and Zoning (3) – all approved 6-0.
- Liquor license recommendation approved 6-0.
- Animal Resource Center contract with My Alarmtek LLC approved 6-0.
- Axon body camera system contract approved 6-0.
- Budget amendment of $400,000 approved 6-0.
- August meeting rescheduled to August 18, 2025, approved 6-0.
- Council vacancy process: solicitation set to close June 30; review at July 1 meeting; appointment special meeting on July 15; seating/mayor election special meeting between July 15 and August 5. Approved 6-0.
- The council will hold a special meeting on July 1, 2025, at 5:30 PM (regularly scheduled) to receive the list of applicants.
Meeting Transcript
Immediately following the special meeting, so at your pleasure. Okay. This um Tuesday again, same Tuesday. June 17th, five 540. We'll start our general session. And uh can I have a roll call? All council members are present. Very good. Thank you very much. And we're gonna have an invocation from Pastor George Lyman from Desert Shores Community Baptist Church. Everybody stand. Thank you. Vice Mayor, Council members, shall we pray? Dear God of Heaven, we thank you for allowing us to come together as a committee of people elected, chosen by the people of the city to govern and rule this city, and do it in a manner that shows great respect for things like budgets and being responsible as servants of this community. And I we thank you for you uh allowing them to come point where they could say they have a balanced budget and they're watching the money they spend. And Lord, we thank you for all the the things we see going on in this city to make it a better city. So we pray that you would help each and every one of these members here have wisdom and understanding as they make further decisions. Lord, we pray for uh the person who will be our next mayor, whether it's one of these members or or someone who who you're gonna allow to be in that role, and we would pray they also would be a person who would uh really emulate wisdom and understanding and character and honor. So, Lord, we we pray to you and thank you for all these things. Uh we we thank you for your son Jesus Christ who's given us this wisdom and works through us, and I just thank you for each member here in your name, amen. Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republicans. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Any takers. I want to tell you how glad I am that I can talk this time. The last time I was up here when I shared with you about a program we started our church called PALS. I sounded terrible. So thanks for listening to me this time. Uh, we started uh uh earlier this month a program called PALS, Parents of Addicted Loved Ones, and it is a support group with a uh trained facilitator that helps adults who have adult children who have addictions and it helps them to figure out how they can uh navigate through those difficult waters. All of us have had children, and as they grow up, we know that sometimes they get caught up in addictions. It could be gambling, it could be alcohol, it could be drugs. There's so many things that we know that this world can cause problems. So uh earlier this year we worked with this group called PALS, and they actually uh went and trained one of uh a person to be a facilitator. So on Monday nights at uh six o'clock, we have the PALs meeting at Desert Shores Community Baptist Church, 2625, uh land and drive, and we want to invite uh anyone who needs help if just a it's a support group that teaches and educates uh the those adult uh uh parents on how they can deal effectively with some of the the struggles with uh how we help our adult children who are going through difficulties like that. So I want to just let you know thank you for uh letting me share that with you. And if you have any questions, you can call myself, Pastor George Lyman at Desert Shores Community Baptist Church, 928-754-1111. No, we're not getting rid of that number. It's so perfect, anyways. So please uh just thank you for your time. Thank you very much. Next Robin Meeting, Bullhead City, um Vice Mayor Alphon Alonso, Council, City Manager Cotter and staff. On behalf of the Tri-State Military Moms, we want to express our thanks to the city for lining Heroes Highway with the flags in recognition of those who have fought for us and have sacrificed for our freedom. In addition, we give thanks to the city, especially public works, who works tirelessly to maintain the military banners lining the highway 95. And when finished, we will ask public works to install those banners which were removed during construction. And finally, please keep our local men and women who are serving for us in your prayers as dissension is in our world. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Paula Fontes Hemby, and I live in the La Puerta area. And I'm here again to talk about our veterans.
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