On June 19, the Camp Verde Town Council voted unanimously to oppose the construction of a road connecting State Route 260 with Cornville Road, passing through the Middle Verde Road area, after hearing local opposition, mostly from Middle Verde residents who argued that the road would damage the rural character of the area.
On July 31, the council held a work session to discuss in more detail the plan that they had previously rejected, bringing together representatives from the Federal Highway Administration, the Yavapai-Apache Nation, the Copper Canyon Fire and Medical District and Yavapai County. Despite the council’s previous opposition to the project, the meeting saw more forceful arguments in favor of the road and some more sympathy from the council than last month. No official decisions could be made at the meeting.
Dan Cherry, of Yavapai County Public Works, started off the discussion with a presentation on the county’s rationale for the project, going back to a 1990 Camp Verde Land Use and Transportation Study, which first argued for the need for a road connecting Middle Verde Road to State Route 260. Cherry pointed to expectations of increased traffic in the area, leading to higher congestion and longer travel times.
But the argument that seemed to gain most traction among the council came not from the county but from Camp Verde’s fire chief Terry Keller.
Keller made the case that transit across the Verde River and I-17 can be difficult in the case of an emergency and having another point of entry for the Middle Verde area could make a big difference.
“Having this route would improve perhaps not our response times for our own staff here locally in Camp Verde and around the area, but it certainly would improve the opportunity to get backup support from other surrounding agencies,” Keller said.
Another concern that got a sympathetic ear from the council was the possibility that rejecting the federal government funding could lead to problems in seeking future grants from the Department of Transportation . Yavapai-Apache Nation Chairwoman Jane Russell- Wienecki highlighted the importance of federal grants to her community and expressed concerns about rejecting funds.
“We’d never give money back because we know we’d never get it again,” Russell-Wienecki said at the meeting.
Representatives from the Federal Highway Administration did not confirm this view of potential impact of rejecting funding, but Cherry argued that it could have serious repercussions in the future.
“[FHA representative] Carla [Petty] is being extremely diplomatic,” Cherry said. “People review these grant applications. They’re humans and they do look at past performance measures. If the region shows an inability to deliver a project, that is remembered and that is something that could have consequences.”
Even after hearing more arguments in favor of the road, the Camp Verde Town Council still displayed their skepticism of the whole project.
“Has anyone made any estimates about what’s that going to cost?” Bill LeBeau asked. The county representatives were not able to give a specific number, but District 2 Supervisor Tom Thurman insisted that the costs of the new road would not cut into county transportation funding for other roads.
Multiple members of the council expressed a feeling, argued by opponents to the road, that the county and the federal government had not heard their input enough.
Petty insisted that the FHA is committed to continuing to listen to the community’s concerns.
“We are going through the NEPA [National Environmental Policy Act] process and it is intended to give us the evaluation and allow us to make an informed decision given public input.”
Jon Hecht can be reached at 634-8551 or email jhecht@larsonnewspapers.com
