Check outlines road safety grants, water, VOC building

On April 8, Yavapai County Board of Supervisors Vice Chairwoman Nikki Check [D-District 3] hosted a Town Hall at Sedona Fire District Station 1. She discussed infrastructure and capital improvements by the county, along with representatives from several county departments that discussed their work.

The board’s top priority is currently infrastructure. In the last year, it has completed a rural services study to outline areas of need.

Check said that in District 3, which includes Sedona, Cottonwood, Clarkdale, Jerome, the Village of Oak Creek and parts of Cornville, she is focused on how to provide county services. Part of that, she said, has involved early discussions with Basil and Mimi Maher, who made a $10 million bid to purchase the Big Park Community School property from the Sedona-Oak Creek School District, which Check sees as a potential location for some permitting services and/or the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office.

Parking Restrictions

The intersection of Boynton Canyon and Boynton Pass roads could also see transportation improvements and parking restrictions, Check said, announcing that the county has applied for a Transportation Alternatives Grant from the federal government to identify safety projects.

“If you’ve ever been out there on a busy spring day, the roadside parking really creates a lot of hazards,” Check said, adding that it will probably require a National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 study.

In spring 2024, Yavapai County constructed a $40,000 half-mile “no parking” zone from the Sedona city limits north to the intersection of Boynton Pass and Long Canyon roads, citing the safety hazard of pedestrians along the road shoulder.

Check said that due to overuse at the intersection of Boynton Canyon and Boynton Pass roads, a similar “no parking” zone there is “likely.”

“But we want to do all that without further limiting recreation opportunities,” Check said. “So the scoping document, in my mind, one of the outcomes would be to find alternative recreational opportunities that could be expanded, like maybe you could expand the parking lot at Doe Mountain Trailhead.

“Or possibly you could increase [public] transit opportunities, or possibly put in some road systems, to keep people safer like curbing.”

This is the fifth and final year that the Transportation Alternative Grant is included in the federal budget, Check said, but added she’s optimistic the program will be renewed.

“The challenges observed at Boynton Canyon Road are similar to those along Dry Creek Road,” U.S. Forest Service Fire Communication Specialist Ivan Diego Knudsen wrote. “We are actively looking to improve both traffic and pedestrian safety across all trailheads and roads in the area. Whether a NEPA process and/or environmental analysis are needed depends on the option selected.”

Water

The recently relaunched Water Resources and Open Space Committee — made up of county and municipal representatives that Check pushed for on the campaign trail — restarted earlier this year and is focusing on stormwater recharge and water infiltration as its early priorities.

Board Actions

Check highlighted several administrative changes the board made over the year, including how items can be agendized, and appointments.

“You may be reading a little bit here and there about Yavapai College and their policies and procedures in the NEWS, which makes for good reading,” Check said. “But I think that story highlights the importance of how policies and procedures impact the public process. One of the changes we made was that the chair can’t block an item from coming onto the agenda permanently.

“If you have two supervisors who want to see something go on the agenda, there’s a method for it to be agendized.”

The public will have a second opportunity to weigh in on the Verde Valley Master Transportation Plan this summer, Check said. The plan helps develop transportation policies over the next 30 years and develop a list of infrastructure projects.

Public Works Roads Manager Verl Cook gave an update on his biggest project in Districts 2 and 3 with the Arizona Department of Transportation: The construction of the $6 million roundabout at the intersection of Cornville and Tissaw roads that started in January.

“They’re about a third of the way through that project,” Cook said. “They’re working on the northeast side of it now. Next month, they will transfer all that traffic over, and they will start on the southwest side of that, closing off Tissaw. No traffic will be routed through Verde Santa Fe, and the anticipated end to that project is August.”

Sheriff

Over the last two years, residents in unincorporated Yavapai County have lost $12 million to various scams, with the average loss between $20,000 to $30,000, and “the average age of the person being scammed about 60 to 85,” Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office Public Affairs Officer Steve Brazell said.

One way to help prevent becoming a victim of property fraud, highlighted during the meeting, is to sign up for the free Recorded Document Alert service through the Yavapai County Recorder’s Office at yavapaiaz.gov/recorder. The service notifies property owners when a document is recorded in the name of a specific individual or business within the county.

“Since 2024, four out of five are new supervisors,” Check said. “There’s a lot of new ideas and a lot of good energy.”

That trend will continue in 2026, with Dee Jenkins [R-District 2] announcing she is not seeking the full term. Voters will decide her successor this fall.