City to fund 80% of visitor center for one more year – Sedona Red Rock News

The Sedona Chamber of Commerce’s Uptown Visitor Center will remain open following the Sedona City Council’s decision on April 9 to fund 80% of the center’s operations for the coming fiscal year given the possibility that the city could take over the property in the future.

Prior to its public meeting, the council held an executive session “for legal advice and consideration of the purchase of properties in the vicinity of [State Route] 89A and Forest Road for future Visitor Center use.”

“Our Visitor Center helps to inform decisions that are in Sedona’s best interests,” Chamber President and CEO Michelle Kostecki said. “By being welcoming, we have that much more ability to influence visitor behavior. Therefore, the Visitor Center really is a critical part of destination stewardship.”

The center averaged 600 visitors per day in March, and so far in April it had averaged 750 per day.

“We did see increases of 8% to 10% in January and February compared to January and February of last year,” Kostecki said. “The Uptown Visitor Center remains the second busiest in the state next to the Grand Canyon,” out of a total of 67 such centers statewide. Current walk-ins for the fiscal year through February were at 84,755, compared to the chamber’s goal of 150,000 for the full year.

Kostecki also addressed previous speculation from the dais that a brick-and-mortar visitor center could be replaced by kiosks around town, reminding council that the chamber had formerly used such a kiosk outside the Visitor Center. “Some folks were engaging with it, but then they would come up to the counter to validate what they were getting from the kiosk, so it didn’t really save time,” Kostecki said.

The chamber’s estimate for the cost of Visitor Center operations in fiscal year 2025 was $370,900, of which the city’s share at 80% would be $296,720, plus a management fee of 15%, for a total city contribution of $341,228.

“We have significantly reduced expenses,” Kostecki said, describing next year’s ask as “a savings of roughly $83,000 from this year’s budget … We just really, really scaled back in many ways.”

“This is a place to manage the destination,” Best Western co-owner Randy McGrane said during public comment. “To me, the location is critical if we have a Forest Road garage there … I strongly support continuing to fund the Visitor Center.”

“When you leave there, you are no longer a guest, you are almost like family,” mayoral candidate and former Vice Mayor John Martinez said. “It is very, very important to maintain this … if you lose this, you lose a very big thing.” He then asked the council to increase the Visitor Center funding to $500,000.

Sedona Lodging Council President Cheryl Barron similarly requested that the city fund 100% of Visitor Center operations and said that of 14 visitor centers around the state serving similar communities, 12 receive 100% of the bed tax collected in their communities. Barron added that as the city is not yet ready to run a visitor center, it needs to be funded “until the time the city can take it over.”

“I very passionately feel you should continue the Visitor Center, at least until you can replace it with something better, and that may never happen,” said Pete Sanders, a local tour business owner, who commented that he gets 40% of his customers from Visitor Center rack cards but has not yet gotten a single referral from the city’s Scenic Sedona tourism website. “Let’s not throw out what’s been working.”

“Kick it down the road another year and do some serious homework to figure out how the Visitor Center fits into the city’s master plan,” Al Comello said.

“The one thing that just troubles the heck out of me is the business community is not telling us they want the Visitor Center. They’re just not,” Councilman Brian Fultz said. “We’ve gotten more email from volunteers of the Visitor Center than we have businesses in the community … Why does the business community not tell us that this matters?”

“I really do think we’re kicking the can down the road,” Councilwoman Melissa Dunn said. “I don’t want us to keep kicking this can down the road … we need to have an understanding of what the right Visitor Center is for Sedona … we need to be aware of what it is people are really doing.”

“It’s probably a somewhat appropriate kick this year,” Councilwoman Kathy Kinsella said. “We’re not yet far enough along to have really defined what we need … so kicking the can down the road is probably in order … I’m not comfortable with where things are but I don’t have a better option at the moment.”

“I don’t feel that the businesses have enough skin in the game,” Kinsella added.

“I think it’s what we need to do now,” Councilwoman Jessica Williamson said. “Kicking the can down the road would just not be doing anything.”

“I am absolutely convinced that the Visitor Center is well run,” Councilman Pete Furman said. “But here’s the thing that keeps tripping me up. We all recognize that 5% of our visitors are coming there. But you look at the visitor intercept data that we studied from our tourism bureau, 15% of the people that are here usually or always look for one. We’re getting a third of them into our Visitor Center. Something is not right. Something isn’t working … that speaks to me that our approach isn’t right … the future of the Visitor Center looks radically different.”

Furman added that of around a hundred people he talked to on the trails, five told him they had used the Visitor Center.

“You lost me when you came in with the building value allocation change,” Furman continued, referring to an adjustment the chamber had made to the value of the building in the proposed budget. “I just don’t like the concept of the fee.” The council eventually approved the contract for next year’s funding by a 6-1, with Furman opposed.

City council proposes local DMV to control OHVs – Sedona Red Rock News

City council proposes local DMV to control OHVs5 min read

A potential city of Sedona ban on off-highway vehicles is back on the table following the Sedona City Council’s April 9 consideration of the Greater Sedona Recreation Collaborative’s recommendations for increased restrictions on OHV use on US Forest Service lands surrounding Sedona — but with a twist.

Although the GSRC report recommended the introduction of a limited permit system to reduce the number of OHVs on public lands, council members took issue with the U.S. Forest Service’s rejection of that recommendation in the frequently asked questions document released with the report, in which USFS staff stated, “A limited-use permit system is a heavy-handed management approach burdensome to both the visitor and the implementing agency. While not off the table in the future, the Forest Service will first prioritize management approaches that are lighter-handed.”

Meetings of the GSRC were closed to both the public and journalists who tried to attend. The Sedona Red Rock News asked to attend the GSRC meetings but was told by Keep Sedona Beautiful President and GSRC representative Craig Swanson that meetings were private.

Acting Red Rock District Ranger Alex Schlueter repeatedly said that this would continue to be the district’s policy during the council meeting when asked for clarification by Mayor Scott Jablow about a permit system.

“No, at this time,” Schlueter said.

Jablow and Councilwoman Jessica Williamson both described themselves as “frustrated” by Schlueter’s approach.

“Broken Arrow is the longest-running problem in the city,” Jablow said.

“A limited permit system on Morgan Road for Broken Arrow. That was our one request,” Vice Mayor Holli Ploog said.

“There was an expectations gap,” Councilman Brian Fultz said, adding that he did not accept that a limited entry permit system “principally for Morgan Road” would be heavy-handed. Councilwoman Kathy Kinsella said that “there was an expectation” that the city would be able to get the Forest Service to agree to implement a permit system “by going through this exercise.”

“I was hoping to hear a little more enthusiasm from the Forest Service,” Councilman Pete Furman said. “The heavy-handed approach is just necessary.”

“It’s just not right,” Williamson said. “Morgan Road objectively needs to be done.”

Councilwoman Melissa Dunn suggested using Morgan Road as a pilot program to phase in the implementation of permit-only OHV access to forest lands throughout the city.

“You want to talk about heavy-handed?” Dunn said to Schlueter. “The city could do some pretty heavy-handed things that will make the Forest Service feel very uncomfortable about the decisions that they’ve made, and we’re about to discuss that after this.”

Following public comments by Morgan Road residents Carl Jackson and Christine Adams, who argued that permits should be required for access to their public street, the council moved to reconsider an OHV ban, which had been tabled on Sept. 12, 2023.

“Not much has changed. They’re still considered unsafe,” City Attorney Kurt Christianson said. He added that the proposed text of the ordinance had been updated to clarify that it would only close city roads to OHV use, not state highways such as State Routes 89A and 179.

Christianson additionally reviewed the implementation of the voluntary agreement that the city had entered into with the four OHV rental companies in Sedona last September. Depending on establishment and type of vehicle, the rental companies had achieved 100% compliance on enhanced customer education, limiting rental usage on Morgan Road and installing recognition flags; between 71% and 100% compliance on installing turn signals; between 29% and 100% compliance on installing quieter mufflers; between 24% and 100% compliance on governing OHV speeds to a maximum of 35 mph; and had worked with GSRC to promote safe use of OHVs.

“Especially after tonight, I think we need to move forward with the ordinance to make the impact to the Forest Service,” Jablow said. However, he added, since he considered that the rental companies had acted responsibly, he proposed creating a city permit system “for just their vehicles” to allow their continued operation on city streets. “If there’s interest, we can move forward with a vote in a month or so.”

“Whatever we do, we have to protect these companies,” Ploog said. “We have to also do something for vehicles that are owned by individual residents who live here,” who would also have to be able to obtain permits if they were willing to meet the equipment requirements. “We would be encouraging good behavior … I kind of like this idea.”

“I think it bears looking into,” Williamson said. Fultz also stated he would be willing to support a city permit system.

“I’m willing to have an open mind and consider,” Furman said, while Kinsella said there was insufficient context to have a reasonable discussion of the idea.

New City Manager Anette Spickard, attending her first regular council meeting, pointed out that implementing such a system would require staff “to create basically a miniature DMV function at the city for this one class of vehicle,” which would take a few months.

“This is not solving the problem of limiting the number of vehicles that we want to have go down our streets,” Dunn said, pointing out that once all rental and resident-owned OHVs had obtained permits under a city permitting system, there would be no reduction in their numbers. “I think it’s going to add another layer of complexity to everyone who’s eventually going to get a Sedona permit if they’re going to come here … Eventually you end up with everyone potentially having the permit.”

“Only if they meet the requirements,” Jablow said. “That’s a good thing. Then we don’t mind because we know they’re a little bit safer.”

“The permit aspect is actually supportive of safety,” Fultz said.

Dan Candler of Outback ATV encouraged further discussion of a city permitting system, while Dave Swartout of Sedona Off Road Center commented that “it’s a whole ‘nother bureaucratic thing. Maybe it’s good for us. Maybe we can charge these people from out of town a hundred bucks to get a permit or something, do the inspection.”

“If this is a Forest Service problem, I’m not sure doing a permit in the city makes a lot of sense,” Swartout added.

By majority agreement, council directed Spickard to start looking into permits.

Councilmembers Interview – Podcast April 14, 2024 – Democratic Perspective (verdevalleyindependentdemocrats.org)

The Complexities And Challenges Of Managing A Small City. Steve Williamson welcomes three members of the Sedona City Council: Pete Furman, Melissa Dunn, and Brian Fultz to discuss some of the more controversial issues facing the city.

None of the three had ever been elected to office before. Furman was an engineer, Dunn is a sociologist, and Fultz is a small business entrepreneur. All chose to run for City Council for different reasons.