February 14, 2012

Dear Council,

As you know, the City of Flagstaff’s contract to sell reclaimed water to Arizona Snowbowl must be renewed every five years.  The deadline for the next renewal is March 12th, 2012.  Under the terms of the contract, that renewal is contingent on a new, affirmative decision from the City of Flagstaff.

The decision to renew that contract is consequential. The fact that for a decade—and as recently as last week—leaders of our region’s first nations, as well as thousands of Flagstaff residents- have publicly opposed Arizona Snowbowl’s development plans evidences that consequence.  Decisions this consequential deserve formal public discourse.

We believe the City of Flagstaff as a government has a duty to consider, separately and independently of state or federal laws or agencies, the implications of its decision-making.  As a body of elected officials, the Flagstaff City Council has an affirmative duty and the moral authority to oversee such a process. We therefore request that, prior to the March 12th deadline, the City Council ;

(1) convene public hearings and invite public comment, including from regional American Indian tribes, on its contract renewal, and (2) hold a vote, in public, on its decision to renew that contract.

Regardless of one’s orientation to these issues, the local and regional consequence of the City’s renewal decision will be significant and long-term. Taking into consideration the recent MOU signed with the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission in a unanimous 6-0 vote, we encourage you to provide the public and yourselves every opportunity to consider those implications before rather than after decisions are made.

Thank you Friends of Flagstaff's Future !