THE WILLIAMSON VALLEY NEWS
February 2012
ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER
This year we are saving money, paper, trees, ink and recycling costs by posting our newsletters to our website! Future newsletters will be emailed, providing we have your email address, but will also be posted on our website.
This newsletter is published by the Williamson Valley Community Organization, Inc. (WVCO) to bring you news of the Williamson Valley Community and to seek your support and participation in the organization. WVCO was formed to represent the citizens of Williamson Valley in their mission to preserve their rural residential lifestyle and community character through appropriate planning.
WVCO's CURRENT BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Craig Brown, PresidentRichard Clemmer, Vice PresidentSandi Brown, Secretary/TreasurerVirginia DuBroy, MemberCori Gunnells, MemberDave Hollenbeck, MemberChris Stoner, MemberJim Stoner, Member
ADVISORY BOARD COMMITTEE
Noel Campbell
Ken Janecek
Brent Mathews
Ken Mino
George Price
Curt Weaver
Buz Williams
WVCO ANNUAL MEETING
February 16, 2012, 6:30 pm
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Davis Learning Center.
3700 Willow Creek Road, Prescott, AZ
The WVCO 2012 Annual Meeting will be held on Thursday, February 16, 2012 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at the
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. All WVCO members and those interested in the organization are invited
to attend. (If you have not already done so, please renew your membership. We need your help.) The business portion of the meeting will include a review of the past year's activities, presentation of the organization's financials and discussion of future activities.
Mr. Tim Barnett, Chief Executive Officer and President of the Yavapai Regional Medical Center, will be our featured speaker. Mr. Barnett will discuss the Breast Center, Emergency Room, Family Birthing Center, Healthcare Reform, Physician Recruitment, and Volunteer Services, followed by a Q&A period.
PROPERTY OWNERS - TAKE NOTE!
ATTENTION! THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION ON YOUR PROPERTY’S NOTICE OF VALUE MAY BE SUBJECT TO A CHANGE. WE HAVE BEEN INFORMED THAT LEGISLATION IS PENDING IN PHOENIX
TO RESCIND THIS ACTION UNTIL 2013. HOWEVER, IF YOU SHOULD RECEIVE A NOTICE, SUBMIT IT
AS REQUESTED. WE WILL KEEP IN CONTACT WITH THE ASSESOR'S OFFICE FOR ANY UPDATES
AND KEEP YOU INFORMED OF ANY CHANGES.
Property owners will soon be receiving the 2013 Notice of Value. DO NOT DISREGARD THIS NOTICE or it may cost you. The information on this notice tells the property owner how the property is classified on the Assessor's records. This Notice of Value will include an affidavit form, which the property owner must complete and return to the Assessor's Office within the prescribed time frame or the property will automatically be changed to Residence "Other" (Class 4) classification.
Primary Residence (Class 3) and Residence "Other" (Class 4) properties have the same assessment ratio which is set at 10%, but the "Other" (Class 4) properties do not receive the State Aid to Education Credit. This credit is reserved for property owners that have Owner-Occupied (Class 3) properties or fall under the prescribed allowance.
Consequently, if you are a Class 3 property owner and you fail to complete the affidavit form, your property taxes will increase.
REDISTRICTING OF YAVAPAI COUNTY
The Department of Justice has approved Map A Alternate as submitted by the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors. The 2010 Census results require the County to have 5 Supervisor Districts. Williamson Valley will be in District 4 (effective January 2013) where it was formerly District 1.
The new supervisory districts can be viewed on the county website at
POTENTIAL CANDIDATES FOR THE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS -
DISTRICT 4
The election for the 5 Supervisors will take place in November, 2012, coinciding with the Presidential election. The new County Board of Supervisors will take office in January of 2013. District 4 is new and has no incumbent. 15 potential candidates have pulled packets. WVCO will keep you posted on any new potential candidates. At the time of this writing, only our President, Craig Brown, William Blankemeier, Walter Burcham, Richard Busby, Charles Cruise, Lynn Duke, Ray Melhad and Gary Warren have taken the next step and formed campaign committees.
Potential Candidate filings can be followed on the county website at
WVCO will plan a "Meet the Candidates Forum" for one of our monthly Community Meetings once those candidates have formed the required campaign committees and qualified for the Primary Ballot. Watch our newsletters for further information.
Having a Supervisor who cares should go a long way to ensure Williamson Valley's and District 4's needs are heard, considered and acted on appropriately.
ELECTIONS
Before voters go to the polls on November 6th to choose the nation's leaders, local citizens can cast a string of ballots in municipal and statewide elections.
Feb. 28: Presidential Preference Election
The Presidential Preference Election is a closed election, meaning voters must be registered in the party in order to vote on that party's ballot. Two parties have candidates for this Presidential Preference Election - Republican and Green. The Democratic Party chose not to participate in this election.
• Jan. 30: Last day to register to vote
• Feb. 2: Early voting begins
• Feb. 17: Last day to request an early ballot by mail
• Feb. 24: Last day to vote early in person
The county website also includes detailed information about voter registration and previous election results.
Call Yavapai County Voter Registration at 771-3248 for more information.
VOTING CENTERS
More information on the elections, including your voting center, may be found on the County website at:
WILLIAMSON VALLEY ROADWork continues on the City portion of the Williamson Valley Road Project. The road will be reduced to one lane, with some closures, Monday through Thursday. The primary alternate route is Pioneer Pkwy. When completed, the road will reflect the county section of road except it will have a bike lane on both sides, as well as sidewalks. Drainage will be as it is now through tributary creeks. The City Road Department Hotline number for questions is
541-7825.
WILLIAMSON VALLEY ROAD - NORTH PROJECT
The County is continuing to buy Right-of-Way properties for this project. One wonders why, since the County has stated that the project is at least 10 years off.
The Blackjack Ridge Road Committee sent a letter to the County requesting that a turnout for Blackjack Ridge
be added to the currently scheduled resurfacing of Williamson Valley Road. This request was rejected, as being outside the scope of the proposed project. Subsequently, our President and Vice President met with Public Works Director, Byron Jaspers, to discuss the road project further and revisit the Road Committee's request for
a turnout. As a result, Director Jaspers met with a member of the Road Committee on February 6th and Mr. Jaspers agreed to make a substantial improvement to the right-hand turn lane onto Blackjack. He is also considering the possibility of a left-turnout lane for southbound traffic to improve safety at the intersection. He stated that he would install traffic counters at the intersection within 30 days. On February 7th, the counters were installed. It seems that Mr. Jaspers is a man of his word.
Director Jaspers also stated that the resurfacing of Williamson Valley Road from Pioneer Parkway to Outer Loop will begin in May and should be completed before the 4th of July. They plan to scarify the top 1" of the existing surface, place that material on the road shoulders and place 2" of new asphalt on the scarified surface. I am sure you have noticed the County Road Dept. is already grading the shoulders and doing some additional work in preparation. Also, prior to paving, they will replace the sub-base on a short portion of the existing roadway, just north of the new section at Pioneer Parkway. Surely you have noticed that section is very badly deteriorated. The County will also resurface some of the existing turnouts.
The expected usable life of the proposed work is 8-10 years and is a reprieve from the widening to 5 lanes. However, it is just that - a temporary reprieve. WVCO will continue to monitor this issue and advocate for a more reasonable road plan.
The County has acknowledged that maintenance is also required on Williamson Valley Road from Outer Loop to Hootenanny Hollar which is estimated to take place in 2014-2015.
WATER ISSUES
Regarding the recent article in the Daily Courier on the billion dollar pumped-storage hydropower project proposed for the CV/CF ranch in the Big Chino area, it presents yet another challenge to our water future. It has been estimated that 1,000-1,200 acre feet per year of water would evaporate from the surfaces of the storage lakes. The water to be used would be pumped from the Big Chino aquifer. With proper recycle and recharge, that is enough water for 10,000 people. This project would be using our scarce water resources to produce power instead of the previously proposed solar project, which would use almost no water. When you live in a desert, it seems that one should use the resources you have in abundance [solar] and not waste the resource that is critically challenged [water]. It is yet to be determined if either project would be economically feasible.
On Feb. 2nd, US Geological Service (USGS) representatives met with the Technical Advisory Committee of Yavapai County’s Water Advisory Committee (WAC) and interested parties to discuss the USGS’s Northern Arizona Regional Groundwater Flow Model (NARGFM). USGS was to respond to the specific concerns letter prepared by the tri-cities consultant to justify their conclusion that the model is not adequate to evaluate the impact caused by the proposed pipeline to pump water from the Big Chino Water Ranch.
The concern of the tri-cities appears to be that, if the model is run, the results could show that pumping from the ranch would reduce the flow in the Upper Verde River and taint the public’s view of the project. That would contradict the tri-cities opinion that pumping would have no effect on the Verde River. After often contentious discussion, the USGS suggested that almost infinite amounts of money can be spent to improve any model, but there is a point beyond which the incremental improvement is not cost effective.
Other than overly expensive measures, there are only two refinements that they recommended.
1. Where the tri-cities have concerns that known data and knowledge exists that was not used in the model, that information can be easily inputted to develop the sensitivity of the model to show if that missing data would make any difference.
2. Where the tri-cities believe more field experiments and measurements like new wells, gravity measurements, storage measurements [pumping existing wells] are required, that work can be done to improve model inputs. There was no indication of the cost or who would pay for the work or whether it would improve the results. This vital water issue should be an ongoing concern to all in the area.
The Citizens Water Advocacy Group, a group dedicated to a reasonable approach to our water future, has shown strong support for USGS to proceed with making a model run. That group's current agenda can be seen at: http://www.cwagaz.org/calendar1.htm
YAVAPAI COUNTY REVISED COMPREHENSIVE PLAN (formerly "General Plan")
The entire Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC), not just the sub-committees, met on February 9th to review the "initial draft" of the Yavapai County Comprehensive Plan. Members discussed, as well as suggested, revisions to the draft in conjunction with the supervision of Steve Mauk, the Development Services Director for the county, and his staff. This process will continue until the editing is completed, at which time it will be presented for public review. The comment period for public review is expected to commence in early March. Pending public review and finalization by the CAC and the Development Services staff, it will be presented to the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors for approval or denial. One of the key issues for WVCO will be what rate of population growth the County adopts. The rate adopted in the previous plan led to vastly overblown projections which were then adopted by the Central Yavapai Metropolitan Planning Organization (CYMPO). CYMPO then justified widening Williamson Valley Road to 5-lanes. CYMPO is now making its own analysis of future population growth. The adopted population rate of growth will affect everyone, the least of which is water and the fate of Williamson Valley Road.
ADOPT-A-ROAD TRASH PICK-UP DAY
WVCO has adopted a mile of Williamson Valley Road between mile markers
3 and 4. Our next trash pick-up day is scheduled for 9:00 AM on Saturday, February 11th. This is a good chance to get acquainted with other WVCO members and to keep our road looking nice. Please bring water, gloves, and hats. We will provide orange vests, pick-up-sticks, and bags! Call 928-778-1046 and leave a message for Virginia Dubroy if you can help. We need you!
WILLIAMSON VALLEY REAL ESTATE NEWS
Following are the annual real estate sales and median sale prices for Williamson Valley including the area north of Longview Estates, Hootenanny Hollar/Morgan Ranch and northwest.
Year Number Sold Median Sales Price2007 73 $600,000
2008 73 $564,000
2009 92 $434,700
2010 97 $354,900
2011 121 $349,400