Highlights of the November 12th Meeting
President’s Report – Camille Cox announced that Mike Ryan has volunteered to be chairman of the standing Dark-Skies Committee that the Council created last month. Phil Feiner and Dave Norton are also members of the committee, and other interested VOC residents are invited to join (send and email to: info@bigparkcouncil.org).
Vice President Carolyn Fisher was congratulated for being awarded the prestigious Spirit of Sedona award by the Arizona Community Foundation of Sedona. Camille summarized Carolyn’s accomplishments and contributions to the community over the years and led a round of applause.
Secretary’s Report – Phil Feiner welcomed the following new appointees: KC Kinsey, Representative for Cathedral View 2; Vanessa Trujillo-Tenbrink, Representative for Verde Valley School; Dave Blauert, Alternate Rep for Sun Dance HOA; Terry Adair, Representative for La Barranca I.
Treasurer’s Report – Neil Pope presented the current financial standing, which is in good order. Regarding the 2021 Budget, he recommended changes including a reduction in the expense for meeting room rental and an increase for more ElectionBuddy online balloting. A updated budget will be presented for approval at the December meeting.
2021 Officers – Three position had a single candidate and were elected by acclamation: Camille Cox, president; Mike Ryan, treasurer; and Mary Pope, secretary. Dave Norton was elected vice president by majority via electronic ballot.
Revised Bylaws Review Session – Co-Chair Nancy Maple presented and led discussion. Each month the Council is reviewing a section of the bylaws to recommend changes towards improving the organization’s alignment with its Mission. These incremental changes are being aggregated to be approved as a complete revision in 2021. A straw voting system is used to determine consensus. This month’s review session was on Membership:
Proposed Bylaws 3.2 recommends increasing the voting requirement for new Member acceptance to 2/3. After discussion it was agreed to retain the Current Bylaws majority vote requirement, providing a quorum is present at the meeting at which the vote is taken. The Council also agreed not to require Members to “continually meet criteria” without a process in place to accomplish this. The method of audit will be a Policy document, not a bylaw requirement.
Proposed Bylaws 3.3a eliminates the possibility of subdivisions (neighborhoods) already represented from becoming members. Although there was agreement to keep the Current requirement that these groups should have the opportunity to become Member Organizations, there was much discussion on how this would be accomplished. The recommended wording for a sub-group to join on its own was unanimously accepted with the description changed from “Subdivision” to “Neighborhood”. This accommodates parent Residential Member Organizations such as VOCA and Las Piedras, and also allows organizations like the Sedona Golf Resort (who have differing types of neighborhoods within their RMO) to increase their representation.
Proposed Bylaws 3.4 limits Business Member Organizations to a single umbrella association. The value of businesses as investors in the community was discussed in detail. Carolyn Fisher reminded the Council of rationale behind the Current three member limit, including concerns that too great a number could skew the organization into more of a “Chamber of Commerce”, rather than a balanced organization representing the entire community. It was unanimously agreed to keep the Current limit of three Business Association Member Organizations.
Requirements for the three Membership categories (residential, business and education) were presented in a chart format. In the interest of time, after this meeting Representatives will receive a survey to express their views of various criteria. Results will be presented and discussed in December.
Proposed Bylaws 3.5 – Termination of a Member Organization
The Proposed Bylaws recommendation to reduce the Termination of a Member vote from ¾ to 2/3 touched upon several key concerns. It was agreed that this article will be rewritten to require a discussion at a Regular meeting prior to a vote of the entire Membership. ¾ of all eligible voters remains the standard.
Termination of Membership for non-payment of dues. It was felt that the proposed deadline of March 1st was not ideal. It was decided to retain the Current requirements, removing the word “written” from “written notice” to allow for electronic communication of latency.
Planning & Zoning Committee – Chairman Mary Morris explained the committee’s recommendations on the proposed revision to the Zoning Ordinance on Towers (phone, internet etc.) It was agreed that these changes are a good step forward, but concerns were raised regarding notice of new/revised towers to the surrounding residents and property owners. It was felt that current County notice requirements are not sufficiently wide, as tall towers may visually impact a large expanse of view scape. The Council voted to accept the P&Z Committee’s recommendation to approve the County’s proposed modifications with a recommendation to require notification to property owners within one (1) mile from the site (not the tower itself) in all directions.
Art/Craft Tent Show Use Permit Renewal – County Development Services denied the renewal on the basis of objections brought forth by the BPRCC in addition to major concerns from the Fire Department and ADOT. The promoter has the option to apply for a new Use Permit.
Community Plan Committee – Chairman Camille Cox reported that the County has scheduled a series of three virtual meetings to educate communities on the requirements and process for submission of Community Plans to be indexed in the updated Yavapai County Comprehensive Plan. Nov 19 and 21 are “Introduction to the Community Vision”, Dec 3 and 5 are Discussion on the 8 Elements, and Dec 17th is for General Questions and Clarifications. In addition to the Community Plan, the County’s Comprehensive Plan is being revised, and there are openings for citizens to join an Advisory Committee. Interested individuals should send an email to info@bigparkcouncil.org for meeting information.