Archive for Sedona Campus – Page 9

Sedona Center, Nov. 1 & 2 – “Sky…Diamonds”

Play addresses living with Alzheimer’s Disease

Event 5The Yavapai College Sedona Center (4215 Arts Village Dr., Sedona) will host a production of the 90-minute, one-act play, “Sky…Diamonds,” on Saturday November 1 and Sunday November 2.  Tickets are $15 for students and $12 for seniors in advance, or $20 at the door.

Show times are at 7:30 p.m. on November  1 and 2 p.m. on November 2. Tickets can be purchased at Crystal Magic, Webers IGA, Mt. Hope Foods and OLLI at the Yavapai College Sedona Center. For more information, please click here.

The show will be presented in Sedona by the Red Earth Theatre in Association with Yavapai College Sedona center.

Sedona resident argues option property should be purchased

Sedona resident Joel Staadecker argues option property should be purchased

JOEL STAADECKERSedona resident Joel Staadecker appeared before the Governing Board on October 15. He lauded the changes that have taken place over the last nine months on the Sedona campus and described the renewed citizen interest in the Community College. He also stated that the possibility of exercising the option to purchase the property, referred to as the Miller Brothers property, was an “incredible opportunity.”

He said it was a “magnificent chance” to acquire a building at possibly a favorable price.

Mr. Staadecker’s speech to the Governing Board may be viewed by clicking here.

Future of Sedona Center

OLLI luncheon jumpstarts talks about the future of the Sedona Center 

OSHER LIFE LONG LEARNING 2The Sedona branch of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) jumpstarted the community discussion about the future of the Sedona Center at its “Lunch and Learn” meeting this Wednesday, October 1. An excellent article describing the discussion at the meeting was written by Ms. Yvonne Gonzalez of the Verde Independent and can be found by clicking on this link.

 

Open house at Sedona Center

College plans open house at Sedona Center on October 14

Event 5The public is invited to attend the open house for the Sedona Center of the Yavapai Community College on Tuesday, October 14 at 4:30 pm. In its press release, the College says the event “celebrates the culmination of 12 years of hard work to ensure the continued success of the Sedona Center. Come to learn about Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), Community Education, and Regional Economic Development Services.”

The Sedona Center is located in Sedona at 4215 Arts Village Drive. Please contact Karen Jones for more information at karen.jones@yc.edu, or 928-776-2307.

Visions for Yavapai College’s Sedona Facility

OLLI takes lead in opening discussion about the future of the Sedona Center for Arts and Technology Wednesday, October 1, 12:30 

The first fall session of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute’s (OLLI’s) “Lunch & Learn” program will be devoted to discussing issues related to community college education in the Verde Valley. The program, free and open to the public, will be held Wednesday, Oct. 1, 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in room 34 of the Sedona Center (across Rte. 89A from Red Rock High School).Event 5

Guests are invited to bring their lunch or come for complimentary coffee, tea, water and a little snack. An informal discussion begins at 12:30 p.m., followed by speaker presentations starting at 1 p.m. The session is titled “Moving Forward: Visions for Yavapai College’s Sedona Center.” The discussion is related to Yavapai College’s formation of a committee to provide ideas for community college education in the Verde Valley. The committee will include representatives from Sedona, and the Oct. 1 program is intended to identify ideas that Sedona’s representatives might bring to the committee.

Brief presentations, followed by discussions, will be made by: Rob Adams, City of Sedona mayor; Linda Buchanan, community education coordinator on the Verde Valley Campus; Dave Lykins, superintendent of Sedona-Oak Creek Unified School District; James Perey, executive dean of the Yavapai College Verde Valley Campus; Mike Raber, City of Sedona senior planner and chair of Western Gateway Community Focus Area Work Group; Robin Weeks, OLLI director/coordinator; Jennifer Wesselhoff, president/CEO of the Sedona Chamber of Commerce; and Ruth Wicks, Verde Valley Community College advisory committee member.
To read the entire announcement of this event in the Verde Independent, please click here.

Sedona property settlement repurchase agreement

Cultural Park property owners given repurchase right in final property settlement documents

AGREEMENTThe Sathcupa Corporation, which owns the Sedona Cultural Park property, received a right of first refusal to repurchase the Sedona Center as a part of the final property settlement reached in August. Under the agreement, the Community College is obligated to notify Sathcupa of its intent to sell the College Property at least 45 days before entering into any binding agreement to sell the Property to any third party. The Sathcupa Corporation then has the right, within 30 days thereafter, to purchase the College Property for the 96% of fair market value as determined by an appraisal reasonably approved by the Community College and Sathcupa.

Section 14 of the final agreement containing the repurchase clause follows below:

14. Right to Repurchase. At the Closing, the parties shall record a ocument terminating Sathcupa’s right to repurchase as set forth in the First Amendment to Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions, recorded on December 17, 2002, Book 3985, Page 262, in the Yavapai County Recorder’s Office and the Corporation Special Warranty Deed, recorded on September 11, 1998, Book 3600, Page 519, in the Yavapai County Recorder’s Office, and terminating Sathcupa’s right of first refusal as set forth in Section 7.3 in the Old CC&Rs. In its place, YC shall grant Sathcupa a right to repurchase the YC Property if YC elects to sell the YC Property. YC shall notify Sathcupa of its intent to sell the YC Property at least 45 days before•entering into any binding agreement to sell the YC Property to any third party, and Sathcupa shall have the right, within 30 days thereafter, to purchase the YC Property for the 96% of fair market value as determined by an appraisal reasonably approved by YC and Sathcupa (“Repurchase Price”). If Sathcupa does not timely or properly exercise its right to repurchase, YC may for one year thereafter sell the YC Property to any third party for the Repurchase Price (or greater), without any further rights of Sathcupa to purchase the YC Property. If YC does not sell the YC Property for the Repurchase Price (or greater) before the expiration of that one-year period, Sathcupa’s right to repurchase shall be reinstated, and (a) a new appraisal and (b) new notice from YC to Sathcupa shall be required before YC may sell the YC Property.

Sedona land settlement

60 day option to purchase additional land contained in Sedona land settlement not publicly discussed by Governing Board

The Community College was given a 60-day option to purchase additional land adjacent the Sedona Center as a part of the land settlement with the current owners of the Cultural Park property. The option available to the Community College includes a large business building locally referred to as the Miller Building that is located on this land.

There has been no public discussion of this provision by the Governing Board. The following is the language found in section 17 of the settlement agreement and a copy of the sketch contained in the agreement.

17. Option to Purchase Additional land. Sathcupa hereby grants YC an option to purchase the corner parcel bordered by Highway 89A, Cultural Park Place and the Sathcupa Exchange Parcel, as depicted on Exhibit B (the “Option Parcel”). YC may exercise this option by giving written notice to Sathupa on or before 60 days after the Closing Date (the “Option Deadline”). If YC fails to exercise this option on or before the Option Deadline, the option will lapse. The purchase price for the Option Parcel shall be fair market value as determined by an appraisal, but in no case less than One Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($1,500,000), reasonably approved by YC and Sathcupa and with an effective date within 60 days of the Option Deadline. If YC exercises the option, the parties will enter into a written agreement that will set forth the closing date, the purchase price (based on the appraisal), the title and property review period, the closing cost allocations, and any other standard provisions customary and necessary for such a purchase and sale. YC’s purchase shall be subject to any current lease(s) with tenants encumbering the Option Parcel. A separate escrow shall be opened with Stewart Title & Trust of Phoenix, Inc. for the sale of the Option Parcel.

Sketch of land transfer

 

Governing Board focus on Verde Valley over next year

Governing Board Chair Sigafoos’ summary of retreat puts focus on Verde campus and Sedona Center over next year

Ray sigafoos 2

Yavapai Community College Board Chair Ray Sigafoos summarized a portion of the recommendations being made as a part of the Board’s spring retreat.  The retreat was held September 8-9 on the Prescott campus.   The Board recommendations included the following:

A.  Expand Career and Technical education in the Verde Valley.

B.  Expand Community event opportunity in the Verde Valley.

C.  Expand programming at the Sedona Center.

D.  Work/educate the Verde Valley Advisory Committee to the Governing Board.

E.  Board needs more information before deciding on an independent administrative college for the Verde Valley.  Prefers to wait until the Verde Valley committees have time to work with the Board and College.  The additional costs of setting up an independent Verde Valley campus was estimated by the College staff at $1.2 million dollars.

Mr. Sigafoos’ comments on this issue can be viewed as he delivered them at the September 9 Board meeting, by clicking here.

 

Sedona Taxing District Support at $6.6 million made public

January revelation details how much tax revenue coming from Sedona Taxing District for Community College education

On January 17, 2014, at the request of Sedona’s mayor Rob Adams, a detailed analysis was prepared by Sedona financial experts that unearthed how much in property taxes was being paid by residents in the Sedona Taxing District to support Yavapai Community College. As far as one can tell, there had never been such an analysis made by any taxing district in Yavapai County.

The analysis revealed that residents of the Sedona Taxing District were annually paying a total of $6.6 million dollars to support Yavapai Community College. This  was a stunning revelation for taxpayers and politicians. 

SEDONA TAXING DISTRICT CHART 1

 

The analysis came at a time when the College had stripped the Sedona Center for Arts and Technology of all its classes including the outstanding Film School program.  The College was clearly preparing to sell the property because it claimed it was not a good teaching facility and there were access issues that it had not settled in a dozen years.  

The disclosure of the the taxes paid and the potential closing of the facility outraged citizens in the Sedona and throughout the Verde Valley.  With the help of the well-informed Sedona mayor and City Council, and citizen outrage, the College changed its mind in about a month and reached an agreement about access.  It then changed its mind about selling the property suggesting it probably never had intended to do so in the first place–it was only “contemplating” a sale. The public revelation of the amount of taxes being paid no doubt played a major role in the reversal.

 

Saving the Sedona Center shows strength of citizen action

Deal preventing the sale of the Sedona Center finalized 

Responding to an outpouring of Verde Valley and Sedona citizen outrage at the March 4 Governing Board meeting over the possible closing and sale of the Sedona Center for Arts and Technology, a stunned and shaken Governing Board quickly reversed its course. Within about 30 days of the meeting, it had reached a tentative agreement with an adjacent land owner over access to the facility that had gone unresolved for about 12 years.

SETTLEMENT SKETCH SENT WITH NEWS RELEASE

YC offers a total of 2 for credit courses in fall, 2014. Ten noncredit community education classes (7 in Sedona) have just been announced.

The College announced in a news release dated August 26 that it had finally completed and the Governing Board had approved the details of the agreement. Click here to read the news release by the Community College. Click here for news release in Verde Independent.

The college received about 3 acres of property contiguous to its facility in exchange for five acres the college owned elsewhere in the Cultural Park. The contiguous property will provide additional student parking and direct access to Highway 89A. The college plans to spend an estimated $1.5 million to add parking spaces and create an access road. Work is scheduled to start later this fall.

The final agreement signaled a major victory for the concerned citizens of the Verde Valley and Sedona who worked with local officials (and the Sedona Redrock News that alerted citizens) to head off the sale of the Sedona property. The idea of selling the property was a part of the 2014-2024 Community College development plan that put 97% of development in Prescott/Prescott Valley.

The College says it can now “focus on what additional programming can and should be offered at its Sedona Center.” It plans to “celebrate” (to remove the egg on its face) the deal on October 14.