Verde Valley Community Development Organization’s Executive Director Mary Chicoine presented council with the work of her organization during its Jan. 13 meeting, and said that she will likely have a future material ask from the city of Sedona. No action was taken by council.
VVCDO’s primary focus is addressing Verde Valley housing shortage and it has established the Verde Valley Community Land Trust — a program designed to provide homeownership opportunities for middle-income families by acquiring land. VVCDO also convened the regional Housing Advisory Committee, created a comprehensive developable land database in collaboration with local municipalities and Yavapai County and completed a cost-to-build-a-house study.
The project will require the Town of Camp Verde to authorize a zone change to increase the density from two to five homes an acre, in order for VVCDO to hit its target.
The Verde Valley Community Land Trust works under a land-lease model, where homebuyers only purchase the house structure, not the land, which the trust leases to them for 99 years. This results in lower down payments and mortgage bills, VVCDO stated. When homes are resold, the trust creates new land-lease agreements with the new buyers.
Chicoine announced that VVCDO is going to be asking the city of Sedona for financial support but “at this time, I don’t know what the specific request to the city of Sedona will be,” she later wrote. For more about VVCDO, contact Chicoine at administration@vvcdo.com.
One member of the public spoke against VVCDO.
Historic Preservation Commission
The Historic Preservation Commission will continue ahead after presenting council with its 2025 accomplishments and having a full roster of members, consisting of Chairman Nate Meyers, Vice Chairman Steve Segner and commissioners Jack Fiene, Bob Woods and Karen Stupak.
HPC cited accomplishments including: Filling all its vacant seats, adopting a formal work plan, receiving training from the Arizona State Historic Preservation Office, starting an initial historic survey of buildings and touring landmarked properties.
The HPC has previously had difficulty filling its seats, so its membership was cut from seven to five in 2023. Council decided in October 2024 to continue HPC through 2025 and reevaluate it prior to this year’s service provider contract renewal with the Sedona Heritage Museum.
“I’m just really grateful to the City Council for the trust they put in us last year, saying, ‘We hear you. You want to do something,’” Meyers later said. “‘You want to get this commission moving in the right direction,’ and then giving us the time to do that.”
Earlier in the meeting, council accepted a $20,000 matching grant from the Arizona SHPO to update the city’s Historic Resources Survey, last updated in 2014, and identify buildings of local historical significance.
“As the Historic Resources Survey may include buildings more than 50 years old, the last survey would have only looked at buildings constructed in 1964 or earlier,” the packet reads. “Now, the survey may include properties constructed in 1976 or earlier. While not all of these properties will be eligible for historic landmark status, documenting them will provide a more complete history of Sedona.”
“Our built environment is what contributes to a sense of place, and it’s part of what makes Sedona unique — aside from our beautiful red rocks — is the architectural history of this place,” Meyers said. “So I’m excited to see what other buildings are out there.”
Council unanimously approved contracts with Cactus Transport II, J. Banicki Construction, Harris/Ebers and Sunland Asphalt & Construction to handle street and pavement repairs as needed throughout the year, with a budget of up to $1,288,000. One member of the public spoke against the item.
The council packet highlighted Cactus Transport II’s work for the city during the 2025 fiscal year, including a 0.26-mile asphalt overlay on Soldier Pass Road, pavement treatments on 1.56 miles in Oak Creek Knolls and Cline Road subdivisions, and seal coating and slurry sealing over 13 miles of streets throughout Sedona.
The city’s new Engineering Supervisor, Jon Ebersm also introduced himself to council.
“It’s a pleasure to be here. I’ve been working in northern Arizona since 2008 first with Coconino , County Public Works and with a dot, then for private consultation … then briefly with city of Flagstaff, and then Grand Canyon National Park,” Ebers said.
City Council will be meeting with the Sedona-Oak Creek School District during the council’s work session on Wednesday, March 25.
“It’s just a session about how we can work together on our shared needs, increasing the number of families who live within Sedona and the offerings that we have to families with school-aged children, and the ever looming topic of housing affordability,” SOCSD Superintendent Tom Swaninger, Ph.D., said.
2026 Election
The Sedona City Council 2026 election is starting to take shape, with William Grosz, Henry Silbiger and Vice Mayor Brian Fultz filing statements of interest to run for mayor in August.
Interim Mayor Holli Ploog is not seeking the post and will return to being a regular councilwoman once the new mayor is elected.
Three seats on council are up for election this year: Councilwoman Melissa Dunn’s, who will be seeking reelection; Fultz’s seat; and the seat of Councilman Pete Furman, who is not seeking reelection. So far, Lita Loesch Boyd and Jean-Christophe Buillet have filed statements of interest for City Council.
