Says it is reformulating plans for the project; estimated price tag now up to $12 million
The Yavapai Community College District Governing Board was informed by the Prescott-based College executives at the March 21 Board meeting that the College was delaying further action on developing a brewing and distillery project somewhere in the Verde Valley until 2025-2026. The price tag on the project is projected by the College to have jumped from around $9.6 million approved in 2022 by the Board to around $12 million in the draft budget it presented to the Board at its March 2023 meeting.
The College explained at the March meeting that it was “reformulating” its plans for the project. But offered no further details. (See video clip of capital presentation to the Board by clicking here.)
Recall that back in May 2022 the Yavapai Community College Prescott-based Executives asked the District Governing Board to approve a budget for the coming academic year that expended slightly less that $10 million for the brewery project. The Governing Board’s formal vote approving the expenditure was 4-1. Third District Board Representative Paul Chevalier voted “no.” He explained his “no” vote saying he had serious concerns about the project and was not provided with sufficient information by the College executives to make an intelligent decision about it.
(Note that the project was included among a host of projects approved “in concept” in November 2022 even though it had already been put into the budget and approved and an estimated price tag was a little over $8 million. See last chart appended.)
When the Governing Board voted on the project in 2020 it possessed sparse information about it; only broad, generalized ideas. Moreover, the Board had not debated or even discussed the pros and cons of using $10 million for a brewery project versus using it for other projects in the Sedona/Verde Valley area.
Also recall that following the May 2022 meeting, Mr. Chevalier made several attempts to obtain additional information about the beer project from the Community College. However, its executives shut the door on him at every turn, with approval from the Governing Board Chair. In frustration Chevalier was forced to submit a Public Records Request, which is allowed under Arizona law, to the Community College asking for details and data about the brewery project. In response to the legal request, the College finally provided him with more information about the project.
A big surprise about the project came a mere five months after approval in the College Facilities Management Newsletter of October 2022, which the Blog believes few members of the public read, if they know it even exists. In a brief statement in the newsletter the Administration said that it had “postponed” development of the Verde Valley beer brewery project. Nothing more.
In November 2022 the newly elected Sedona mayor, Scott Jablow, briefly spoke at the College Governing Board meeting. He said that many of the Sedona voters he had met during his campaign for mayor had expressed little if any interest in seeing the College expend millions of dollars on a brewery on the east side of the County.
Jablow said that “many of the people” he spoke to “were concerned about” what the Governing Board and College were doing “with the taxpayer money from the Yavapai side of Sedona.” According to him, they told him that “a brewery was not necessary for our region. That the money being spent — $10 million dollars – is unheard of when we don’t have the need from any of our brewers . . ..” (See video clip for complete statement.) “They feel it is a waste of money,” he said.
Another surprise was in store for Sedona/Verde Valley residents when the Prescott executives announced at the March 2023 Governing Board meeting in Sedona that the project was being delayed at least until 2025-2026. Associated with that surprise was the estimate that the price tag on the project had now grown to an estimated $12 million. (Prices attached to the project have varied from $8 million, possibly lower, to $10 million, and now $12 million. It is unclear if the estimates that appear in various charts are construction costs only or in some cases are construction plus other costs.)
One can only surmise if there are other surprises coming in the future for this project.
