Williamson Valley News

WVCO 2024 Annual Meeting and District 4 Town Hall

The WVCO 2024 Annual Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 20, 2024 6:30 PM at the CAFMA Fire Station 57 Facility on Outer Loop Road. Supervisor Craig Brown and management from the Public Works, Emergency Management, and Development Services organizations will be on-hand to discuss County activities specifically related to the Williamson Valley. Public Works will present the results of the latest Traffic Study as they relate to Williamson Valley Road. Several proposals apply to the Southern segment from Pioneer Parkway to the Prescott City Limits.

An important topic for the meeting will be an explanation of the need for additional members to serve on the WVCO Board of Directors. The Board has operated with an open seat all year and is now facing additional openings.

WVCO 2023 Annual Meeting and Election

The WVCO 2023 Annual Meeting was held on Tuesday, March 21st at the CAFMA Fire Station 57 Facility on Outer Loop Road.  A excellent turn-out of WVCO Members and other interested individuals showed up for the busy event.  Following a review of the Organization activities for 2022, the bi-annual election of Directors was conducted with the seated Board of Directors being re-elected.  There is still one seat vacant and interested individuals are encouraged to contact existing Board Members to learn more about what duties are involved. 

The Yavapai Sheriffs Department presented a multi-media program on Scams and Identity Theft well worth watching.  Members of the Board discussed several important issues impacting the Valley over the last few months and encouraged neighborhood communities to identify local representatives who can serve as liaisons between their community and WVCO.  One of the goals for the next year is to increase the number of Williamson Valley residents and property owners with whom WVCO has contact.  A new section entitled WVCO Meeting Minutes has been added to the About Us tab on the Website.  The Minutes for the Annual Meeting can be found there along with the meeting presentation materials..

a l e r t  Y A V A P A I

The old CODE RED emergency alerting system used by Yavapai County Sheriff’s Department has been replaced by a new system called alertYAVAPAI effective November 1, 2022. The old system is no longer functional and all residents and property owners need to sign-up for the new system.

Details are available on the YCSO Website at: https://www.ycsoaz.gov

WVCO 2022 Fall Meeting and District 4 Town Hall

The WVCO Fall Meeting was held on Wednesday, October 26th, in conjunction with a District 4 Town Hall.  Returning to our long held schedule, WVCO hosted a County Town Hall led by Yavapai County District 4 Supervisor Craig Brown.  Directors and Managers from several key County Departments were in attendance to share current activities that affect the Williamson Valley.  They answered many questions from the audience of over 55 Members and residents.  The meetings was held in person at the CAFMA Fire Station 57 facility on Outer Loop Road..

AGENDA for Town Hall

CWAG LD1 Water Issues Candidate Forum

An important forum was held in conjunction with the CWAG October General Meeting. The Legislative District 1 Senate and House candidates responded to important questions aimed to illustrate their attitudes and positions regarding water management in the District. Northern Arizona has big water problems that the current state legislature has failed to address. The forum was designed to help you determine if the new legislators will be up to the task of ensuring a secure water future. How they will develop regional cooperation to reduce rural groundwater pumping. What their ideas are for a regional stormwater recovery and recharge program to reduce the overdraft. Questions were sent to the candidates in advance and are posted in the forum information under “Current Issues” at www.cwagaz.org . The forum was recorded as a Zoom Meeting and is available for viewing on the CWAG Video Archive Page.

 

County Community Planning

The County effort to update the 2023 Comprehensive Plan came to a conclusion with a final hearing before the Board of Supervisors earlier this year.

The Williamson Valley area was basically excluded from participating in the development of the Plan when the County decided it was not a defined community.  Surveys developed by County Staff and the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee excluded the Williamson Valley and lumped it in with portions of the City of Prescott and the area known as Iron Springs. To the displeasure of many WV residents, a portion of the Valley already populated by rural ranches is being designated for large scale development.

Even though WVCO was not active in the plan update, several residents and property owners from the area attended the public meetings and attempted to have their voices heard.

The key to the effectiveness of the Comprehensive Plan will be determined by residents making sure that periodic audits are performed, and by monitoring County Staff and Planning Commission actions.    .

A special section of the Williamson Valley Website has been dedicated to Planning and the WVCO Board has developed materials to assist residents and property owners in understanding the components of the Plan.  [See Planning tab on Menu]

 

WVCO 2022 Annual Meeting

The WVCO Annual Meeting was held using Zoom on February 23rd with over 40 attendees.  Speakers from the Public Safety Sector made presentations covering their organizations and explaining how they support the Williamson Valley.  The Yavapai County Sheriff Department provided a detailed description of their Northern Area Command and introduced the new Commander effective March 1st.  They provided a very comprehensive report of the crime statistics for the area.  CAFMA and the Williamson Valley Fire District provided similar descriptions of their operations, explaining how they all work together to provide coverage.  Supervisor Craig Brown topped things off with an update of County government activities.

 

WVCO 2021 Annual Meeting

The 2021 WVCO Annual Meeting was held using the Zoom On-line Meeting Application on February 23rd. In addition to the regular business meeting where an Annual Report was presented and the Board of Directors was elected, four mini-educational programs were presented.  The programs included: 1) A presentation by the President of the Citizens Water Advisory Group where he described CWAG and their purpose, 2) Life Line Ambulance describing their operations in Northern Arizona and explaining the specialized contract they offer to residents of Williamson Valley to help defer some of the expense when emergency medical services are required,  3) David Williams, Director of Yavapai County Development Services, describing the planned process for producing an updated County Comprehensive Plan, and 4) Supervisor Craig Brown discussing the County efforts to provide COVID-19 vaccinations for all residents and answering questions from the membership about County activities.  The meeting seemed to be appreciated by those able to attend.

Stringfield Proposed Development

The level of community interest in this proposed project has been minimal and the WVCO Board has agreed to not take a position at this time.

The Yavapai County Board of Supervisors approved the Zoning Change Request which would allow the developer to propose a Planning Area Development which is currently described as 340 residential units. There are stipulations attached to the approval which require authorization to access the land over what is currently State Trust Land, and provisions for water and sewer utilities to be provided by the City of Prescott.

The developer received approval from the County to form a Water Improvement District to manage the water and sewer services. Although little public information is available, it appears that in January of 2021 the City of Prescott negotiated an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with a new Water Improvement District.  It is reported that the State Trust Lands Trustee has agree to provide an access and utilities easement across the land that they were unwilling to sell to the developer.

The level of local area interest in this development continues to be very low and WVCO has received no indication of adjacent area resident concerns.  The major outstanding concern appears to be the failure to consider possible flood control issues resulting from the development of this property. The County has assured local residents that a complete flood control study will be performed when the developer applies for the Planned Area Development.