Could it be that the need to purchase land and build a host of planned and unplanned projects on the west (Prescott) side of Mingus Mountain is behind a redirection of the funds?

Opinion: During its November 2022 Board meeting, the Yavapai Community College Governing Board unanimously approved a series of new capital projects in concept for the east side of Yavapai county (Sedona and the Verde Valley). The tentative  budget for them exceeded $20 million.

The decision to move forward with the Sedona/Verde Valley projects had  emerged only after there was an extensive study conducted by several experts hired by the College. They diligently gathered hard data and sought community input through a series of public meetings to assess the needs and future direction of the College. The projects for Sedona/Verde Valley were labeled “priorities” by the experts. The details and recommendations were all included in the College’s 3-5 year detailed Master Plan.

The Governing Board decision was warmly greeted by Sedona/Verde Valley residents, who feared that the Prescott-dominated administration was increasingly neglecting rural Yavapai County’s needs. The positive reaction was further reinforced when College leaders actively promoted the capital projects  in a closed meeting in the spring of 2023 with local east county politicians, framing the capital decisions as reflecting significant investments in the region’s future.

However, for reasons still unclear, after only a few months, the Prescott-based College leaders began retreating from commitment to the experts’ recommendations and the priorities for the east side of the County. Eventually, as time passed, aside from $3 million earmarked for remodeling Building “M” on the Verde Valley Campus and $550,000 for a possible prefabricated, twelve bedroom student apartment, the remaining projects were apparently abandoned.

Vanished are the experts’ plans and alleged priorities for a much-needed $9.25 million student housing facility, an $8.04 million expansion for a fermentation and craft brewing program, and $608,000 for a Commercial Driver Training program and testing site. What remained, as noted above, was the renovation of Building “M” on the Verde Valley Campus, and a vague promise of a prefabricated small student housing project costing an estimated $550,000. An estimated minimum of $17 million had disappeared.

Some now suspect that the College’s Prescott-based leaders may have quietly decided shortly  after the November meeting not to spend the money on the priorities on Sedona/Verde Valley projects, despite the expert’s recommendations.

For some, the actions of the College’s leadership resemble politicians seeking clever ways to invent a perception that something is being done for Sedona/Verde Valley while actually tucking the money originally tentatively approved into a west side purse for future use of west side projects. For example, in early 2023, to the surprise of east side residents, the College was discovered grading land on the Verde Valley Campus  80 plus vacant acres for a small, unplanned 10-space trailer park. The idea of such a project had once been briefly broached during a  2022 Governing Board meeting where then Sedona/Verde Valley Governing Board representative Paul Chevalier voiced strong disapproval of such a  project. It was neither brought back to the Board for a vote after the brief discussion nor does it appear as a capital project in the College’s budget.

The costs of the tiny  trailer park, which appear almost insignificant,  have never been revealed to the public. It is a minor project, intended, some suspect, as an attempt merely to appease local residents and create the perceptions mentioned above.

Meanwhile, Prescott-Campus based executives embarked on a capital spending spree for the College’s west side of the county shortly after the November meeting. They moved forward swiftly with the planned $12 to $19 million (or more) renovation of the Prescott Campus library (building 19). In a surprise, unplanned move they  purchased and began renovating a 42-acre church camp for at least $11 million.

In May 2023, the Prescott leaders received Governing Board approval for an unplanned $11 million expansion of the west County  CTEC facility. Though the CTEC expansion was paused after Arizona’s governor denied a request to fund it, or a portion of it, it is believed that the College continues to quietly seek funds for this project.

The College began actively fundraising through its Foundation for funds to construct a planned health sciences facility at the Prescott Center. The projected estimated costs range from $14.5 million to $30 or $40 million, all of which  depend on the final approved plans.

Construction of an unplanned new culinary school facility on the Prescott Campus is underway, at an estimated cost of $1.5 million. This facility may compete directly with the existing culinary program in Sedona.

Smaller projects appear to be going forward, such as a $650,000 road sign near CTEC (land purchased, sign estimated to cost $500,000 according to budget). The new Commercial Driving facility, a Prescott Campus apartment for visiting faculty, and renovation of the Prescott Campus cafeteria are among some of the other projects completed in the last few months on the west side of the County. All of which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

At its September 2024 meeting, the Governing Board held a closed secret executive session to discuss the potential purchase or lease of additional land in Prescott. While the specific details of the meeting remain undisclosed, it is widely suspected that the discussion involved funding for a new  west-side project.

Given the numerous planned and unplanned capital expenditures on the west side of the County, one might rightfully question whether funds originally allocated for Sedona and the Verde Valley have been quietly diverted to finance this surge of projects. For some, the available evidence strongly points to that conclusion. What do you think?”