The Graham County Interfaith Care Alliance is attempting to unite the Gila Valley's numerous denominations to consolidate help for the homeless into one source.

Bob Bigando and Ann Johnson presented the new alliance during Monday's Graham County Board of Supervisors meeting. Bigan-do said by consolidating efforts to help the homeless, it will be easier to provide the services needed to provide permanent housing, permanent employment and when necessary, medical treatment.

"We expect to work primarily through the churches in Graham County," Bigando said. A memo from Johnson to the board said, "Both the public agencies and the churches are often forced to turn away the homeless because of a chronic lack of funds." He said Southeastern Arizona Community Unique Services (SEACUS) has agreed to provide case management for the proposed program.

Supervisors Herrington, John and Palmer told Bigando and Johnson there is a community need for the service, and their efforts are appreciated.

Bigando and Johnson requested that Chairman Palmer sign their funding application, which the board unanimously approved. The alliance will be applying for funding from the Department of Economic Security that will be specifically designated for helping the homeless. Previously, this money was not available to the community because there was no specific group acting as an advocate for the homeless.

Unanimous approval was also granted to a revised version of the county's drug-testing policy. Graham County Health Director Neil Karnes said the new policy features drug-testing policies to safety-sensitive positions. This includes random and post-accident testing for employees of the Graham County Sheriff's Department.

A memo from Karnes to the board said, "All other staff that do not have Commercial Driver's Licenses or that are not law enforcement-related, will still be subject to reasonable suspicion and post-accident drug testing requirements of this policy."

John spoke highly of the policy and said it could have been beneficial in the past. Palmer said he hopes to expand the policy to include more groups of county employees.

The board also approved a new bloodborne pathogens policy that was amended for the first time since 1992.

Karnes said the policy will now include employees of Animal Control and the Graham County Juvenile Detention Center. The revisions also "clearly establish the responsibilities of the affected departments and their staff." The new policy will be distributed to all departments included under its coverage, Karnes said.

In other action:

Parks and Racing Director Casey Faunce received approval for overtime wages for the Graham County Horse Race Meet. He said the overtime increase would be 10 hours of work, which would be spent helping with games and other activities.

Faunce said planning for the event is going well and the only unpredictable element will be the weather.

"Our barns are fuller than they've ever been," he said. There will be nine races per event day this year.

Graham County Chief Probation Officer Brady Lee requested approval for the purchase of two computers and a fax machine. His request was unanimously approved.

"A couple of computers need to be purchased for the Superior Court," Lee said. He said the fax machine for the department is 12 years old, and it will need to be replaced soon.

County Elections Director Judy Dickerson received approval for the purchase and payment of modems into the county's Model 100 voting tabulators. The board agreed that it would be best for a person from the machine's company to come to Graham County to add the modems to the machines (as opposed to shipping the machines to the company) so the county would have them for May's general election for the Safford City Council.

Chairman Palmer noted that Graham County was one of the first to purchase these machines, and yet the county received little funding in comparison to other counties. He said he will continue to meet with state representatives to try and get funding for the machines.

Graham County Sheriff Frank Hughes received approval for his department's undercover vehicles license plates.

The board approved an agreement between the Sheriff's Department and the Coronado National Forest. Graham County Manager Terry Cooper said the annual agreement is important because, "They pay for one of our deputies up on the mountain."

Supervisors also granted approval for Hughes' request to send Ida Carrasco to a grant-writing conference. The conference will hopefully prove helpful in the acquisition of more funding, he said. Carrasco will also be meeting with a law enforcement officer from Peoria who has experience applying for grants.

Hughes also received approval for a more efficient categorization of the Sheriff's budget. The new budget system is more efficient because it categorizes numerous line items into one. For example, the following budget items will now be combined under one general item known as "Travel expenses": mileage, per diem expenses, vehicle rental, other travel expenses, other travel expenses for prisoners/witnesses, per diem training and other travel experience training.

The board approved an intergovernmental agreement between the city of Safford, the town of Thatcher and the town of Pima for Animal Control Services.

An intergovernmental agreement between Safford, Thatcher and Pima for Dispatching and Centralized Radio Communication Services was also approved. An agreement between the same three towns and Wide Area Network Communica-tions and Services was also granted approval.

Supervisors happily approved an easement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Prisons to install a freestanding communications tower at the Swift Trail Federal Prison.

Herrington said the county needs the tower to improve its communications systems.

The board approved an agreement between the county and the Fire Management Division of the State Land Department regarding the use of field substations during fire season.

An injury claim against the county was sent to the county's insurance provider. Jorge Garcia filed an injury claim after falling on the steps of the General Services building, Cooper said. The board denied the claim and sent it to the insurance provider in the event that Garcia chooses to sue the county.

A request for a liquor license by Lawery Rhodes was granted. Rhodes is the new owner of the Mt. Graham Market and had to reapply for the license (even though the previous owner held one) so it would be under his name.

Board approval was granted to Republican Precinct Committeemen Mike Fox (Precinct 14), Jeanette Malloque (Precinct 4), Sean Wenham (Precinct 7) and David Wayne Griffin (Precinct 6).

Right-of-way authorization for Stockton Road was approved by the board for segregation of a roadway through a parcel of land owned by the county. Cooper said this was a necessary action to delineate that the road will be going through county property.

The board received applications to provide an assessment of Graham County's needs in regards to the County Jail. The assessment was awarded to an architectural firm known as the DLR Group.

Supervisors opened bids for the annual asphalt contract. The board ordered that the bids go for staff review. This means the staff will make sure the bids are for the items requested and for the proper amounts before a final decision is made.

Planning and Zoning Director Greg Petz presented Ethel Bryan's request to name an easement Sparky Lane. Her request was approved as John and Herrington noted that Sparky was the name of their alma mater's (Arizona State University) mascot.

Bryan said she wanted the name in honor of her 14-year-old dog.

Sparky Lane is located near Power Line Road and Drageda Drive, Petz said.

To contact John Kamin, call 428-2560 (ext. 240) or e-mail him at johnk@eacourier.com.