The Sedona Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau hosted their Community Pulse meeting this past Wednesday.
Many community members attended to hear what goals the city has and to ask questions of the presenters.
“I enjoyed it because there were a lot of different topics that were presented, a lot of good information, and some things that maybe I will want to follow up on more,” West Sedona resident Sheldon Finklestein said.
Fly Friendly
General Manager of the Sedona Airport Ed Rose spoke on the airport’s issues, including the updates on the Fly Friendly Agreement.
“We are in the middle of revisiting the Fly Friendly Agreement, making sure of the helicopter operators,” Rose said. “So we’re looking to see what we can do, legally, to encourage these helicopter operators to fly higher.”
A few residents brought up their concerns with the noise levels in the Chapel and Cathedral area, specifically from helicopter tours. But Rose reminded the community that the airport cannot enforce helicopters to fly at a certain distance, outside of the Federal Aviation Association requirements.
“Once they lift off the ground they are in FAA territory, so there’s nothing I can do. There’s no enforcement mechanism whatsoever. I can only ask them to comply,” Rose said.
Another helicopter tour company, Apex, has also joined the voluntary agreement to fly away from highly occupied neighborhoods. The three companies that run these tours all have only two tour helicopters each.
“No, we did not put the airport thereafter the city was built. The airport was there then the city grew around it,” Rose said.
OHV Regulation
U.S. Forest Service Red Rock District Ranger Amy Tinderholt gave an update on recent off-highway vehicle discussions.
“I want to highlight the great work that is being done by the Sedona Chamber and the Red Rock OHV Conservation Crew,” Tinderholt said. “They have been working with Tread Lightly! to produce a number of videos on Youtube focusing on Sedona ethics, like how do you act on the trail.”
The USFS will be helping the ROCC to install a fence at Diamondback Gulch to prevent drivers from going off of the trail and causing more damage. On top of looking into fences to limit OHV traffic, USFS will be looking into speed advisory signs in the 152C and 525 areas. These will advise drivers to maintain 15 mph while on the trails.
Tinderholt also touched on the additional staff that will be dedicated to monitoring and enforcing OHV regulations. Funding for the staff and the fence project will come from 1% of the ROCC revenue that is strictly dedicated to rider education, resource protection and trail maintenance. The forest also plans on applying for federal OHV grants to fund upcoming projects.
Transit
With the city’s trailhead shuttles slated to begin in late March and the micro-transit service this upcoming fall, Sedona Transit Administrator Robert Weber presented on the project’s progress.
“The federal government loves these projects. It’s a regional asset, it’s promoting sustainability,” Weber said. “So I think these are all very strong projects.”
The transit administration team is gearing up to propose more federal funding for the transit projects, including a maintenance and operations facility that is proposed to be near the wastewater treatment facility with charging for an entire no-emission, electric fleet for transit project for their long-term goal.
The city already received ADOT grants for purchasing microtransit and trailhead shuttle vehicles. Weber also said he has been hearing interest from neighboring communities to partner in the overall project, such as Cottonwood’s transit team and the Apache Nation.
