A proposed lease-to-purchase agreement between outgoing Yavapai County Supervisor Donna Michaels [D-District 3] and the Sedona-Oak Creek School District for the county to take over the beleaguered former Big Park Community School appears to be dead.
Michaels did not respond to an interview request to discuss the state of her proposed “Heart of the Village: Repurposing Big Park School,” a plan for the county to purchase BPCS, located at 25 West Saddle Horn Road in the Village of Oak Creek.
Michaels lost her reelection bid to challenger Nikki Check, the former mayor of Jerome, by over 42 points in the July 30 Democratic primary election, 71.4% to 28.6%. Check will face the Republican nominee, Mingus Union High School Governing Board President Lori Drake, in November.
Michaels will leave office after the November election and be replaced by the winner of the general election.
Neither Check or Drake have expressed interest in reviving Michaels’ proposal. Check said that she could see the conversation potentially picking up again in future space studies for the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office substations or for the Yavapai County Free Library District. Such talks would likely require a letter of intent.
Sedona-Oak Creek School District
When asked if he considered Michaels’ proposal to be dead, SOCSD Governing Board President Randy Hawley said, “At this point, yeah.”
“We have heard nothing from the county or from [Michaels] for months, so we assume that that’s dead,” he said. “That is why we put [the option to sell BPCS] on the ballot for November. Now that doesn’t mean that we can’t go back and work something out with if they come forward with a proposal. If the voters say we can sell it to a private entity, that doesn’t mean we have to. We can still go back and work with the county if they’re willing to do that. But at this point, it appears very unlikely they’re willing to do that.”
“We don’t have the personnel or that want to be landlords, and that’s why, when Michaels came to us, we thought it was a great idea and we went with that,” Hawley said. “But that’s not going to work out. That’s why we voted to put it on the ballot to get permission to sell it.”
“It seems doubtful to me,” SOCSD Superintendent Tom Swaninger responded when asked the same question, adding that he was not aware of any interest by anyone in the county government other than Michaels. “I would always keep the door open … I have not closed that door, but nobody’s walked through that door, either.”
SOCSD has the ability to sell its property to another government agency, but requires voter approval to sell it to a private party.
“That property is one that is structurally not improving, and it would not be prudent of us to invest in a property that does not serve students,” Swaninger said. The roof of one or more of the buildings is in need of repairs at an estimated cost of $146,000 and administering the property costs the district approximately $14,000 per year. Swaninger has said elsewhere that proceeds from the sale would be used to increase security at the district’s other schools.
The current tenants of the former school are the Sedona Public Library, which runs a branch at the location, and a church. The Rotary Club of Sedona Village also runs a community garden on the property. SOCSD staff have said the district will honor all existing leases and that neither organization is at risk of having to relocate for the moment. Hawley said that a freeze on adding new tenants put in place in response to Michael’s proposal will remain in effect.
The nonprofit Emerson Theater Collaborative vacated a space at The Collective shopping center and was set to rent space at BPCS as a performance venue prior to the SOCSD’s board’s approval of Michael’s personal letter of intent; it has since been using the nearby Verde Valley School.
The SOCSD Governing Board will hold a special meeting on Monday, Sept. 23, at 5 p.m. in the auditorium at BPCS to answer resident questions and take comments on the proposed sale.
“We’ll see what interest is generated, and if we feel that there is a need to hold a second [forum], we will,” Swaninger said.
County Study
No county official or supervisor other than Michaels had expressed an interest in Michael’s proposal for the site and county staff deferred all questions about the proposal pending completion of its space study, which did not include the Big Park property.
Video courtesy Yavapai County
“That space study should be completed by the end of this month, and at that time, we will be able to align what the county can do, and the negotiations or the conversations can begin,” Michaels said during a Yavapai County open house at the Sedona Public Library in the Village on Feb. 27.
Initial discussion of the study’s recommendations by the Board of Supervisors took place on Aug. 21.
Yavapai County Public Information Officer David McAtee stated on Aug. 22 that the board currently has no plans to consider Michael’s proposal further at this time.
“The focus of this report is to make recommendations that prioritize department and office needs to make the most effective and economic use of county-owned and leased facilities and land over the next two decades,” the report from the space study stated. “Every effort should be made to find an existing facility for sale that can be configured to meet the specific needs of the relocating department[s] or office[s] … Purchasing a building will always be less expensive than constructing a new facility of similar size.”
The study included a list of properties that it recommended the county either build or buy, such as a data center in Cottonwood and eight other buildings. The Board of Supervisors tabled an amendment on Jan. 17 that would have added BPCS to the study.
YCSO Substations
One of Michael’s recurring suggestions during her public pitches for the purchase proposal was that the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office could use part of the school for office space and a staging area for search and rescue operations.
While the study report did include recommendations for expansion of YCSO by building new substations in Cornville, Cottonwood, West Sedona and the VOC, it also recommended that the YCSO vacate its lease for its current substation at 6446 Highway 179, Suite 217 and build a new dedicated 2,000-square-foot facility instead.
YCSO Sgt. Anthony Horn told the BPRCC on Aug. 8 that the department plans to remain at the current VOC substation for the foreseeable future. The lease for YCSO’s current building in the VOC was extended for one year on Aug. 7 at a cost of $16,620 for the 820-square-foot space.
“We’re also working on fixing our internet in there so I get my personnel to actually work out of that office, but the Board of Supervisors won’t approve that until that lease is signed,” Horn continued. “Once that lease is signed, you’ll see more cop cars there.”
“I know rumors have been that we are looking at other places [such as] the Big Park school,” Horn said. “The Big Park school has been talked about within the command staff and our board of supervisors. Financially, I don’t think that’s going to happen, and if it did it’d be years out.”
Horn also noted in his presentation that the VOC has little demand for YCSO.
“I’m happy to report that we don’t stay busy,” Horn said. “Lately, biggest things is going to be the Verde Valley School Road and parking problems down by the [Red Rock] crossing … We have your typicals, a theft here or a fraud here. But thankfully the Village of Oak Creek has not kept us busy.”
The Gensler report also recommended that the county do two more separate space studies specific to libraries and YCSO substations.
