Building 55 torn down; unclear what, if anything, will replace it; cost of possible replacement and overall purpose of project not found in Master Plan or most current approved budget

Building 55 at the Chino Valley Center was recently demolished. From all appearances, it seemed old and in need of repair or replacement.  However, attempts to find details regarding the cost, purpose, or even the existence of a planned replacement building in Community College records have been unsuccessful. No mention of the project appears in the latest Master Plan or the $100 million budget. The Blog has reached out to the College for more information about the project and will update readers with any new developments.

SOURCE: Yavapai Community College Pagebook posting by unknown author.

Tips, videos, instructions on how to improve your gardening found on his Facebook

Professor Justin Brereton

Yavapai Community College Professor of Agribusiness, Justin Brereton, is truly giving back to the Verde Valley communities.  He has created videos and instructions on how you may improve your garden in his  horticultural postings on Facebook. They are terrific!

It is clear that Professor Justin is  dedicated to promoting the Community College and the agriculture programs in Yavapai County.  He spends long hours working in the greenhouse and outdoor garden at the Chino Valley Center. His students have often commented that he is the “best instructor they have ever had.” He continues to brainstorm new ways to meet the community needs in sustainable agriculture.

If you are doing any gardening in the County, don’t miss out on his clear explanations and suggestions about how to use and improve your plants.  You’ll find a wide range of matters ranging from his explanation of how chickens benefit your garden to how easy it is to grow your own from a cutting.  And much more.

You may go directly to his web site on Facebook by clicking here.

Developer has yet to apply for permits

The latest word from Chino Valley Town management is that the developer intending to build a raceway in close proximity to the Chino Valley Yavapai Community College center has yet to apply for various permits that will start the process going.  It is thought that his fear of investing thousands of dollars in permits, etc. and having the College veto the project after the Town approves it is just too risky.

Recall the Governing Board Chair, without formal agendized approval from the Board, refused to allow Chino Valley Town management to make a presentation to it about the raceway.  Also recall that the College has the power because of a 2002 agreement to veto at any time a raceway near the Center.

The Governing Board inaction has irritated, if not angered, a number of people in Chino Valley.

College opposed raceway project in 2002; Current Governing Board refuses to cooperate with Chino Valley Council on 2017 proposal by denying town opportunity to make a presentation or decide whether it opposes or favors the project

Any cooperation with the Chino Valley Town Council on the question of developing a raceway about a half mile from the Yavapai Community College Chino Valley Center was rejected by the Governing Board at its March 7, 2017 meeting.  The decision came as Chino Valley was asking to make a presentation to the Governing Board in April about the proposed project and ask the Board  to determine whether it would veto  the project.  An intergovernmental agreement between the College and the Town of Chino Valley, which was executed in 2002, provides the Governing Board with a veto over construction of a raceway near the College’s Chino Valley Center.  The Governing Board has not changed its view of non-cooperation since the March decision.

This is not the first time the College has been embroiled in the question of whether a raceway should be located at the Old Home Manor property. In 2002 a developer sought to build a raceway  near where the Center is located.  John Morgan, associate dean for the Chino Valley Center back in 2002, told the local newspapers that the college may reconsider its plans to expand the Center  using $3.5 million of a $69.5 million bond passed by voters in November 2000 if the Chino Valley Town Council approves the racetrack.  In a telephone interview, he told a reporter from the Daily Courier that “The way the racetrack has been proposed is questionable in its compatibility. It is in conflict to what Yavapai College has planned for future growth out here.”

In a letter to the Town Council in 2002, then Community College President Doreen Daley said: “Given the proximity of Yavapai College’s Agribusiness and Science Technology Center to the projected site, building and operating this racetrack would expose the college to a number of negative factors. Equine science is a core of the agribusiness technology program, and with our plans to switch a great deal of our equine training/riding classes to the weekends beginning this summer, the track poses a threat to both animals and humans. Additional noise from operations and intrusions due to sound amplification systems would be impediments to student learning. There is no doubt the sound will carry great distances across a wide-open Chino Valley, which does not have natural buffers.”  (Sources: Daily Courier, Feb 5, 2002; Feb 12, 2002.) Read More→

Keeping Chino Valley in the dark on intergovernmental raceway agreement until a Town vote

It wasn’t on the agenda for discussion. In fact, it wasn’t mentioned anywhere on the agenda. Yet, the Yavapai College Governing Board decided in the last four minutes of the long March 7, 2017 Board meeting, without asking first for a formal vote, that  Chino Valley could not make a presentation to it in April about the proposed raceway near the Chino Valley Center. The Board will wait until a final vote by the Chino Valley Town Council approving the raceway before it will show its hand.

According to Board Chair Sigafoos, an informational presentation given by Chino Valley would simply “fill up the room” with Chino Valley people and “hi-jack” an April Board meeting. He also said, “we don’t have a dog in the fight.” This statement no doubt came as a surprise to the Chino Valley Town Council and its citizens. Chino Valley Board representative, Pat McCarver, agreed with Sigafoos.

Given the March 7 discussion, it is clear that the Governing Board is in no mood to cooperate with Chino Valley. Nor is there an interest in educating the entire board on the matter so they can be better informed if and when they are asked to decide whether to approve the raceway. Consequently, Chino Valley officials must plow ahead with the Raceway proposal and spend thousands of dollars on the project without knowing the District Governing Board’s position.

So far, the District Governing Board and President Wills have created a bewildering mountain of confusion for Chino Valley. The following outlines the story:

1. Because of an intergovernmental agreement between the College and the Town of Chino Valley executed in 2002, Yavapai College holds a veto over construction of a raceway near the Chino Valley Center. The Town is considering allowing construction of a raceway near the Center.
2. The members of the Governing Board have not received any preliminary information at a Board meeting where the matter could be discussed. A Board discussion about the project would give College President Wills direction in the matter. And help educate Board members about the intergovernmental agreement and concerns about the location of the raceway in relation to the College’s Chino Valley Center.
3. The College and Governing Board members have received approximately 300 email requests for information from persons interested in the raceway project. Those requests have gone unanswered. According to president Wills,  she sent the emails unanswered to Chino Valley Town officials.
4. President Wills made a presentation to the Chino Valley Town Council on February 14, 2017 without informing the Governing Board she was doing so. To confuse the matter, she spoke on behalf of the College and not the District Governing Board. This made little sense to the listeners. Furthermore, she suggested there were obstacles to the raceway that had to be met while also saying the final determination is with the Town. (Her speech can be viewed by scrolling down this Blog about 4 pages; Feb 28 post.)
5. Governing Board Chair Ray Sigafoos sent a letter to Chino Valley officials before to the March 7 Board meeting without prior approval from the Board. He  stated in the letter that the Board would not allow a presentation to be made to the Board until there was a final vote by Chino Valley. To be clear, this Board policy statement was never brought before the Governing Board for discussion.
6. At the March 7, 2017 Governing Board meeting there was no mention on the agenda of a report or discussion about the Chino Valley raceway.
7. During the final minutes of the Board meeting, Sigafoos reported on his letter. His action was informally approved by Pat McCarver, the Chino Valley representative on the Governing Board. It was also informally approved by the Second District representative. The way this was handled raises a technical question about whether the Arizona open meeting law was violated.
8. It is clear from the March 7, 2017 discussion, which appears below, that the Governing Board will not act and will not inform itself of the issues surrounding the raceway and the potential impact on the College until after the town votes on the issue. It places Chino Valley in a very difficult position because it doesn’t know what kind of study, if any, would meet Governing Board requirements or whether any requirements will be required. So much for cooperation.

You may view the discussion held by the Governing Board on March 7, 2017 below.

Board Refuses to comment on proposed motor sports raceway at Old Home Manor; Chair of Board refuses Council request to make presentation to Board

Yavapai College continues to put its head in the sand and hide from Chino Valley citizens on the question of whether a  proposed motor sports raceway on the Old Manor property in Chino Valley can be built.  The College has by contract a right of first refusal and can block the project.  The Town Council, frustrated at the refusal of the College to act, has decided to move ahead on its own and “force” Yavapai College to act.

A six minute video prepared by the Blog  of the 20 plus minutes of the Town meeting discussion held March 21, 2017 can be found below.  It focuses only on that part of the discussion by the Town Council that focused on Yavapai College’s refusal to say one way or the other whether it would use its right of refusal to block the project. 

Here is what the Blog has been able to discover so far:

(1) Dozens of emails from Chino Valley residents to Governing Board members have gone unanswered. In fact, an estimated 300 of them were simply dumped in the lap of the Chino Valley mayor by President Wills.

(2) President Penelope Wills addressed the Chino Valley Council on February 14 about the proposed project.  She did not tell members of the Governing Board during their meeting on February 14 she was going to do this. That night she claimed to be speaking for the College but not the Board at the Town Council meeting.  (Her speech to the Chino Valley Council can be found in an earlier post on this Blog.)  This is odd, to say the least.

(3) The Chino Valley Town Council voted February 14 to make a presentation to the College Governing Board.

(4) In a letter dated March 7, 2017 and signed by the Board Chair, Ray Sigafoos, he stated the Governing Board would not allow the Town Council to make a presentation to them as the Council had hoped. (See video below.)

(5)  The letter from Mr. Sigafoos was not presented during the March 7 Governing Board meeting so that members of the Governing Board could vote to send or not send it.

(6) The Town Council is frustrated, if not angry, by the College’s tactics.

The complete Town Council meeting of March 21, 2017 can be accessed by clicking here. 

Again not on agenda

  The community college Governing Board  remains mum on the question of whether to approve development of a raceway close to the Chino Valley campus. The issue, which is several months old, is something the Board appears to be avoiding. The issue was not the March 7 district governing board agenda. At best,  it may find a spot  on the April agenda. 

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