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.
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.