The Big Park Regional Coordinating Council non-profit group will hold a Zoom meeting on Thursday, June 22, between the Sedona Oak Creek School District and Yavapai County to discuss the proposed lease and purchase agreement for the Big Park Community School campus. We talked.
Residents have asked for answers about how the deal will affect their neighborhood, but SOCSD and Yavapai County District 3 Superintendent Donna Michaels has an answer, as the lease has not yet been finalized. could not provide.
“School district and county attorneys are not working together to develop lease agreements,” said SOCSD board president Randy Hawley. “We are not going to do anything until it is developed.
The meeting was relayed from Michaels’ office. Mr. Michaels hosted Mr. Hawley and BPRCC Chairman John Wichart. The meeting was held in response to the BPRCC’s announcement on Friday, June 16, that Mr. Michaels’ lease proposal was discussed after Mr. Michaels’ presentation on the matter to the SOCSD Board of Directors on June 13. It was the first time he had been made aware of it.
The SOCSD Board was originally scheduled to vote on the next steps in the proposal on Friday, June 23rd. “It seems our community is hearing about this plan for the first time and we feel the community needs to know more about this plan, especially how it will be managed,” a BPRCC press release said on June 16. was announced in
Wichert said the community has heard interesting ideas about how organizations like Spectrum Telehealth and Verde Valley Caregivers could use the facility to provide telemedicine options for VOC residents.
“Unfortunately, information was lacking,” Wichart said. “It depends on what articles people read and what forums they attend. , expressed concern about the lack of information about SOCSD’s proposal to lease Big Park schools to Yavapai County.”
Michaels called her presentation on the issue “really vague.”
“Because when you start something, you first want to make sure there’s an anchor for that project,” Michaels said, adding that caregivers from the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office, Spectrum Telehealth and Verde Valley will eventually has also expressed an interest in the property, he added.
When the board closed BPCS five years ago, SOCSD was $1.3 million in debt. Since then, the school district has amassed her $331,000 operating fund.
“We use the same process for leasing to counties, exactly the same process,” Hawley said. “Until now. No one had expressed any concern about how we were doing, with no idea what was going on, but suddenly, ‘We don’t know this.’ So this fuss happened. ”
Hawley emphasized in his opening comments that the Sedona Public Library in the village, which currently rents property from SOCSD, is not in danger of closing, further talks about expanding services are underway, and no one is currently renting. bottom. The land will be evicted under a lease to the county.
Later in the meeting, Hawley also noted that the school board had been discussing a county lease since the September board meeting.
According to SOCSD pastor Dave Dahlberg, this reassurance from SOCSD was recently passed on to one of its tenants, the Christian Faith Fellowship satellite campus.
Resident Carolyn Fisher told Michaels during a meeting on Thursday that Michaels attended the BPRCC regular meeting on Thursday, June 8, prior to the SOCSD presentation, without mentioning the lease once.
Fisher also asked Michaels who would manage the property under the lease. Michaels said it should be managed within the Verde Valley, but he did not say who would manage it. Michaels also said it was not her position to bring up the matter at the June 8 meeting.
“I’ve never been told by anyone in the office or in public that I was withholding any information,” Michaels said. “That’s a negative comment on my honesty. If I know something, don’t worry, I’ll share it.” It is not intended to cause exactly ”
“We don’t approve of anything that doesn’t provide some sort of oversight of how it operates, who is allowed to be there,” Hawley said.
The topic of local control came up in the second half of the meeting
“I have no intention of [the property] It’s about being Prescott-centric,” Michaels said. “They didn’t know about this idea. We support it, but we do so through the process of voting for the people out there to support it, whether it’s the school board, the county superintendent, or many other organizations. I have to raise it.”
Wichart suggested that Michaels and Hawley be present at future BPRCC meetings as a means of improving communication.
YCSO
Hawley revealed that SOCSD is working to provide administrative space to the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office under a separate agreement than the one proposed by Michaels. The contract requires roof repairs to be completed before signing the lease. Repair costs are covered by the county and will be deducted from the final lease payment.
A resident expressed concern about the noise impact of YCSO operations on Oak Creek Country Club Estate. Michaels said the traffic survey is due to be completed and the YCSO wants to set up a prison-free administrative office on site.
library
Yavapai County Librarian Superintendent Cory Christians also stressed that there are no plans to close the on-site Sedona Public Library Branch, saying the district would “rather than have the same library 100 feet away, but more space.” We will discuss supplementary services that we believe may fill the gap.” “Stay away from SPL.”
“We could provide complementary services to what the library already provides,” the Christians said. “Specifically, a maker space with 3D printing, a STEM lab. As an example to get investors, we go and build what they need.If the Prescott Center for the Future is also our next-door neighbor, it will work well with that. will be done.”
Christians added that Michaels and Michaels are in discussions with the Verde Valley Caregivers Coalition about providing telemedicine on campus and will be in discussions with the University of Arizona and the State Library about funding the idea.
In connection with the debate, Michaels also said he is seeking re-election next year.
