The alley behind the old Safford Theater that runs from Central Avenue to Fifth Avenue will remain closed after the issue died for lack of a motion at the Safford City Council's meeting June 22.

The agenda item was requested by Vice Mayor Jason Kouts to address the problems businesses that share the alley were experiencing.

Kouts previously stated the businesses were suffering because trash collections were taking place outside of the alley and, with the alley blocked off with a fence, deliveries have to be accessed from Main Street. Kouts also said the trash Dumpsters' placement was detrimental to the beautification of the Downtown area. The alley has been closed to through traffic since the city erected a fence to keep people away from the theater in October 2007. Several reports to the council warned that the unreinforced masonry walls of the theater were unsafe and in poor condition.

City Manager David Kincaid said the situation came down to a risk-reward situation. He said the council would have to decide if the risk of allowing delivery vehicles in the alley outweighed the risk they may pose to the integrity of the theater.

To solve the trash collection problem, Kincaid and the city staff decided to remove the Dumpsters and replace them with 90-gallon rollout containers to be placed in the alley behind the businesses. He said sanitation workers will roll the containers out to the street on garbage collection days, empty them and then put them back.

Mayor Ron Green said he believed the theater preservation is a worthy project he'd like to see done.

"I think, for the long term, I think to be able to save the theater and have it rebuilt with some grant money, it will be a real asset to the Downtown in the future," Green said.

Green owns several properties Downtown, including Candy's Ice Cream Company located next door to the theater.

It has been more than four years since the owners of the theater, David and Susan Duros, solicited advice on how to save the theater. Susan has been working the last two years on procuring a variety of grants to pay for stabilization and refurbishing. Mayor Green said a time to decide what to do with the theater is quickly approaching, and a pending engineer’s stabilization report may help decide the theater's future.

Kincaid said the report on the stabilization possibility from Trueline Engineering could be delivered as early as the beginning of July.

In other council news:

• The council voted 6-1 to approve a contract extension with City Prosecutor Wyatt J. Palmer, with Vice Mayor Jason Kouts casting the lone dissenting vote. According to the new contract, the service agreement is for one year, and the city may renew the contract for up to two additional one-year terms.

Palmer's contract with the city was previously for six-month intervals with the option for two renewals. At Palmer's last contract extension, Kouts requested the position be put out to bid. According to Kincaid, Palmer was the only one who submitted a bid.

• Mayor Ron Green announced the city will build a handicap ramp at the Mt. Graham Safe House to be compliant with state laws. Vice Mayor Kouts volunteered himself and a crew to build the ramp, and the concrete will be donated by Tri-County Materials. Kouts is the owner of Kouts and Sons Construction. According to Green, the only city money spent on the project is the engineering time it took to draw up the sidewalk. He invited all council members to join in on the project when a date is selected for construction.

• The council unanimously approved a lease agreement with National City Commercial Capital Company LLC for the lease of 30 E-Z-GO electric golf carts for use at the Mt. Graham Municipal Golf Course. The lease is for 48 months with monthly payments of $2,115.90.

City Manager David Kincaid said numerous carts currently in the care of the golf course are in disrepair and the new lease agreement would give the city 50 carts in good working condition. He added the golf carts are the only thing at the course that makes a profit.

• The council unanimously reappointed Dalton Overstreet to the city's Planning and Zoning Commission for another four-year term. Overstreet has served on the commission for eight years.

• The council approved a request for about $379,000 in federal funds for the construction and improvements of phase six of the multi-use path. The city would pay a match of $22,000 for the project.

Phase six would entail multi-use segments to be constructed near the Copper Heights subdivision traversing parts of the Highline Canal and 14th Avenue, and through the proposed Township subdivision traversing the Highline Canal from the existing path near Eighth Avenue to Highway 191.