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VOCA Neighbors Form New Community Association

Sedona Arizona's Village of Oak Creek Association represents over 2300 homeowners

Sedona Arizona’s Village of Oak Creek Association represents over 2300 homeowners within an area of approximately 25 subdivisions

Sedona AZ (January 7, 2015) – The following is a letter to the SedonaEye.com editor:

In 2009, (Yavapai County) Supervisor (A.G.) Chip Davis told me if I did not like the way VOCA or Big Park Council worked, I should form my own group. Some of your neighbors and myself have done just that:

FAIRWAY OAKS NEIGHBORS ALLIANCE

“Strength in Community”

We live in a fabulous, unique community. Like many communities, people assume things are being taken care of by others while they go on with their busy lives. All is not being taken care of by many others, rather just a few.

The same few people sit on VOCA Board, VOCA Committees, Big Park Domestic Wastewater Improvement District Board (Sewer), Red Rock Road Enhancement Maintenance District Board (“SID”) and Big Park Council year after year. Some of these boards are appointed if only one person runs. Some of these board members have been seated with appointed positions for years. All decisions being made by the same few people with their own ideas of how things should be.

We have recently had multiple resignations of new VOCA board members and VOCA management that left for various reasons including ethical. We need more than the occasional one brave person to face things alone with no support system.

VOCA is no longer mailing The Villager to out of town association members, which total a large percentage of the association. Some members without computers/email are being left out.

Most disturbing? 

Former VOCA board member Barbara Gordon resigned in protest over perceived clandestine board activities

Former VOCA board member Barbara Gordon resigned in protest over perceived clandestine board activities

Some residents in the Village fear retaliation for voicing their opinion. This is not “community” minded and the decisions being made now have the potential to cost many homeowners tens of thousands of dollars. We must rally to bring “community” back to the community.

Can we afford to continue to be complacent or fearful as a community?

We have sewer expansions looming via future special improvement districts within special improvement districts. Doesn’t that sound expensive? We have a water shortage in the West that will need to be addressed in a small area with three golf courses.

Growth is coming. Density building is coming.

We, your Fairway Oaks neighbors, think it is so important for Fairway Oaks Subdivision and others to be strong and aware at this time.

Please send us your email so that we may continue to keep you informed in a timely manner so that you may have a voice in the decision-making processes before they happen. Share this with all interested parties.

For updates, send your email to fairwayoaksneighbors@yahoo.com or write to PO BOX 21248, Sedona, AZ 86341.

SAVE THE DATE: Tuesday, January 13, 2015, 3:00 PM is a SPECIAL VOCA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING in the VOCA Community Center, 690 Bell Rock Blvd, Sedona AZ 86351. A request has been made by Big Park Domestic Wastewater Improvement District for a Sewer Line Easement on Oakcreek Country Club Golf Course. The request also shows this proposed sewer line coming into Fairway Oaks Subdivision.

SedonaEye.com article on SR Hwy 179 medians weed abatement issues brought about changes to the management of the VOC special improvement district - Photo by Brent Geer Maupin c2010

SedonaEye.com article on SR Hwy 179 medians weed abatement issues brought about changes to the management of the VOC special improvement district – Photo by Brent Geer Maupin c2010 SedonaEye.com

Are plans available? This requested easement is approximately 280 feet long and 15 feet wide. This easement request is on a parcel that is valued at about 2 million dollars. Does the other side of this parcel already have a pipeline running from BPDWID?

Why is this parcel already taxed much higher than VOCA’s other public golf course parcels?

What happens to the value of this SR179 facing parcel should we allow an easement of this size?

Will the easement area be rendered unbuildable in the future? What affect will an easement approval have to the 14th hole? Will we have to reimburse OCC golf members for inconvenience? How much? How long?

Why this particular lot right now? There are no permits for this lot to build at this time.

Another empty lot close to 179 made the same request and no easement was requested. Why?

BIG PARK DOMESTIC WASTEWATER IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT passed this ordinance on November 19, 2013 – Section 401.A – Mandatory Connection: Any property within the boundaries of the District, with a sewer mainline running adjacent to or within 100 feet of the property is required to connect to the District wastewater system in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance.

Is there a special improvement district in Fairway Oaks being proposed to BPDWID at this time? We are already in the BPDWID, what does that currently mean for Fairway Oaks residents?

Two parcels sold last week in Fairway Oaks Subdivision advertising sewer. I believe the connection is through Bell Rock Plaza. I believe each lot paid approximately $20,000. Are these two parcels in a special improvement district?

Who in VOCA or Fairway Oaks Subdivision was consulted before placing sewer in to our subdivision? Should we have been notified? Are we one of only two improvement wastewater districts in unincorporated Yavapai County with a mandatory connection ordinance?

VOC businesses have been adversely impacted since 2008 by the struggling economy - Pictured is the Sedona Trading Company which closed its doors in 2013. A VOC pizza businesses relocated to its space from elsewhere within the same plaza in 2014.

VOC businesses have been adversely impacted since 2008 by the struggling economy – Pictured is the Sedona Trading Company which closed its doors in 2013.  From elsewhere within the same plaza, a VOC pizza business relocated to the STC vacated space in 2014.

If so, why were we selected? Is sewer connection mandated in unincorporated Yavapai County?

VOCA has an ongoing business relationship with BPDWID and Improvement District Services Inc. We must be careful not to allow conflict of interests to enter the decision making process: www.improvementdistrictservices.com/

Please get involved before any decisions are made about our golf course or an easement into Fairway Oaks Subdivision. We will not be the only subdivision to be affected by this process.

In 2011, the VOCA Board held a workshop with BPDWID to discuss sewer. There were other targeted subdivisions within our 25 subdivisions. Is your home on that map? Can you afford not to participate?

For further information and updates, please send an email request to fairwayoaksneighbors@yahoo.com.

Please call VOCA at 928-284-1820 to confirm meeting time and date or check vocaonline.com

THANK YOU.

Fairway Oaks Neighbors Alliance, Sedona AZ 86351

For the best Arizona news and views, read www.SedonaEye.com daily!

For the best Arizona news and views, read www.SedonaEye.com daily!

24 Comments

  1. Thank you says:

    Thanks Fairway Oaks. This is a great way to start the year. If we want to stay a small place, we have to pull together. I had good friends move because of things like this. Please keep us updated on the Sedona Eye too!!!!

  2. Barb Gordon says:

    I have never referred to the board meetings as “clandestine.” I have referred to the “closed” meetings. Many of the closed meetings violated the VOCA by-laws and state laws. The laws are in place to protect homeowner rights. Many of the closed meetings involved the decision to hire a property management company. Those discussions should have been in the open. In my opinion, the board also misled the membership by distributing inaccurate and biased information. These were some of the reasons I resigned from the VOCA board.

    I congratulate Fairway Oaks and the effort to create an open and fair atmosphere in your subdivision. There are 24 other subdivisions within VOCA. It is my hope that everyone can live in a cooperative, safe and fair community where reasonable decisions prevail and bullying is not tolerated. VOCA has a long way to go…

  3. clandestine= characterized by, done in, or executed with secrecy or concealment, especially for purposes of subversion or deception; private or surreptitious:

    Their clandestine meetings went undiscovered for two years.

    If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck? It’s probably a duck.

  4. Thanks to those joining our email list and sending great feedback and ideas. Yes, any subdivision may join the email list.
    We have had a great response. We have so many good and caring neighbors. Get involved! There will be an update after the Tuesday Meeting.

    Thank you, Sedona Eye, for allowing Freedom of Speech.
    Your neighbors.

    FAIRWAY OAKS NEIGHBORS ALLIANCE
    “Strength in Community”

  5. Char says:

    We hear lots of intimidation is going on by those in charge, be nice to your neighbors, it’s a long fall for bad reputations, board needs to clean up its act & get back to basics, good job Sedona Times, lively space.

  6. Sedona Mafia says:

    Sedona intimation is the way things are done here. Go with the flow. You don’t matter, we want you to agree with our agenda. That is why the city of Sedona pays the regional groups with sales tax and bed tax. The regional groups pad their pocket books and promote outside interests and those that did not contribute to the tax basis. If you really want to stop intimation then it is time for EVERYONE to stop enabling and endorsing it. Stop asking the city to pay for outside interests. If you continue to take what is not yours then you are feeding the Sedona Mafia who honestly LOVES getting your money and control. VOCA dues are peanuts compared to what the Mafia cost the businesses in the city limits to pay for VOC promotion. The entire Sedona region needs to clean up its act and get back to basics.

  7. Huh?

    The chamber is expanding in a power grab. Don’t you want the chamber to control everything? Do your reading. Get back to us.
    POWELL MANIFESTO http://reclaimdemocracy.org/powell_memo_lewis/

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce spends much more on lobbying than on campaign contributions — it is one of the most powerful lobbying groups in Washington. Since 1998, the Chamber has spent more than $1 billion dollars on lobbying, the first organization to pass that milestone according to OpenSecrets.org.

    Total for Business Associations in 2014 : $120,217,561
    US Chamber of Commerce $91,935,000

    http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/indusclient.php?id=N00&year=2014

  8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijOU7SpJzh0

    The community is responsible to protect our fire fighters and first responders. What will you do now that you have the information? This isn’t a political discussion; it is a scientific discussion. Have it.

  9. N. Baer says:

    Interested in seeing what your exposure to cell tower signals are? The recommended distance from which properties should be located is 4 miles. You will be shocked to see how close your location is to the signal, as I was. It explains many of the medical issues I’m having. http://www.antennasearch.com At the very least these antenna need to reduce the power of their signals.

  10. The firefighters sent a cry for help in 2004 and for some unknown reason went totally silent. I contacted the union in DC when comments were being taken by the FCC and they did nothing. They could have written. The did nothing by choice, so, no, it is not up to community to protect them, SFD made about 168,000 in cell tower rental fees in 2013. We all need protection. the schools have them and the kids need protection.

  11. Firefighters did nothing by choice? Would bet they were threatened or backed into a corner or bullied. People are afraid or feel helpless. Too many powerful are corrupt. Americans used to be proud of “doing the right thing.” Seems like too many are proud of “getting away with cheating.”

  12. JOhn says:

    You people are nuts. Get psychiatric help or please find a hobby!

  13. Judy Stein says:

    Can somebody please explain to me how this topic has anything to do with the firefighters?

  14. It has nothing to do with Sedona politics either but freedom of speech prevails. Obviously this is a troubling concern to someone.
    Just like JO JOhn who can read an entire intelligent article and reply like he did.

  15. Judy Stein says:

    Good morning folks. I am new to SedonaEye having just moved here from. I was told by my VOC neighbor how important this site is to inform my husband and me about the issues in my new community. After reading this article, I see my neighbors were wrong, with distracting postings, it hardly seems worth my time. I wish you folks would stick to the facts. We have some very important issues facing the VOC and need a stable outlet of info

  16. Warren says:

    @ Judy Stein — Have you tried the Sedona Red Rock News? Everything there is very simple, just like the Weekly Reader we got in second grade. You’ll like it I’m sure. No “distracting postings” at all, and letters to the editor are heavily censored to ensure that.

  17. When I moved to Sedona, I was told you needed to live here six years before you opened your mouth or voiced an opinion. That was good advice as it turned out.

    You have moved into what is known as “the village of old creeps”, you must never open your mouth or voice an opinion, just sweep issues under the carpet. I think you will like it there.

    Welcome to the dark side. Take up golfing, it is very inexpensive.

  18. Good morning. Miss or Mrs or Ms Stein, have you read the comments from top to bottom? Avail yourself. Have you read comments to other articles? Avail yourself. The dialog here would never have happened without the open door politics and community spirit of this publication and its readers. I’ve read many articles and comments like yours that defame or degrade this publication and still they print it. Why? Let’s call that what it is. Guts. Correct me if wrong but why are you degrading the hands that feed your brain? Courage takes many forms. As a minority there is no greater threat than the loss of free speech and religion in America and both are worth fighting to preserve at any cost. Others may prefer a socialist progressive agenda and that is a right in this country, but its a false bill of goods for me in America. Thanks should be your words for this publication, thanks you are being given an opportunity to disparage and point words outward. Feel good about the conversational value in the search for truth. Support it. Dick Rosen NYC

  19. sharlett says:

    To NY, NY: Wish you would move to Sedona and wait out the residency requirements and then run for Council in City of Sedona! You make more sense than anyone who is on our Council or those folks “running” the VOC!

  20. Subject: notes from VOCA board meeting January 28, 2015
    From: memberalliance@use.startmail.com
    Date: Sun, February 1, 2015 09:08
    To: memberalliance@use.startmail.com

    I apologize if this is a second email with this information. I also apologize if you are receiving this and you do not want it. You are being sent this via a request that you made to receive VOCA information.

    Some additional notes:
    1. Mary Ann Waldron voted NO to the motion to extend the restaurant inventory payment of $3800. It was due on February 3 and the other board members voted to extend the due date to March 30. The attached notes indicate Waldron abstained. Waldron emailed the correction. Apparently she is quite concerned that members are informed she vote NO.

    2. Waldron insisted the date for the member forum is April 7. A letter was sent to the board asking for them to reconsider the late date and schedule the forum to time with the receipt of the ballots. Holding a forum so late (about a month AFTER the ballots are received) is a waste of time, in my opinion. They were told that last year after a the low attendance forum. A huge percentage of ballots had been returned before the forum last year. A very direct email reply from Waldron stated again, the date is April 7.

    We should consider holding our own forum with the candidates. Suggestion is to wait until we find out who the candidates are. If we end up with the two board members whose terms are expiring running again and the third a cohort…. we might as well stop trying to make things better.

    PLEASE spread the word that we need fair and reasonable people to apply to be a candidate. Even if we just get several people to allow for real conversation during the election process, we NEED candidates.

    3. Notice in the notes that the sewer easement was not voted on and there were statements made that clearly indicate conversations by board members went on behind the scenes. Business as usual, they meet in ways that circumvent the open meeting laws and by laws or just plain violate them.

    The next board meeting is labeled as a “work session.” Nothing in the state laws or bylaws that allows the board to prohibit members from commenting at a “work session.” It is still a meeting of the board and members are entitled to comment on every agenda item at board meetings. But it is doubtful the board will allow members to speak. The topic is “changes to the policies.” The policies are supposedly allowed under the bylaws because the board can create “rules.” This board and other boards have used this to create policies that, in some opinions, circumvent the bylaws and state laws.

    Thank you for your interest.
    Member Alliance

  21. Strength in Community
    Feb 2
    To Strength In Community

    Neighbors:

    Notes from other community members working under the name Member Alliance.

    Please contact this group if anyone can help by attending any meeting and taking notes. This is how we are able to keep an eye on committees and actions made. Even if you can attend one meeting every couple months, it would be a huge help.

    Please contact member alliance for more information.

    We, in Fairway Oaks have been attending other meetings beside VOCA and you would be amazed at what they share at one meeting and not the other. It is like a puzzle and by more neighbors stepping up to do a little piece, together we can have the information we need and also hold these committees accountable.

    We all work and it is not possible for a few to attend all the meetings that need coverage in order for us to be effective. Please volunteer. Fairway Oaks Neighbors Alliance will be updating you soon on the easement request into OCC Golf Course and Fairway Oaks Subdivision.

    Thank you.

  22. This section of the BPDWWID was passed November 19, 2013:

    Section 401.A – Mandatory Connection Any property within the boundaries of the District, with a sewer mainline running adjacent to or within 100 feet of the property is required to connect to the District wastewater system in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance.

    This was a standing room only meeting and people were told it had nothing to do with unsewered areas. Most people left. We feel it has everything to do with unsewered areas.

    We are not opposed to sewer. We are against mandatory connection. We have been given conflicting answers about no one ever being forced to hook up in 42 years. Only new construction and failed will be required to hook up, if a new assessment area is formed we will be forced to hook up. It depends how you ask the question.

    Unincorporated Yavapai County had not mandated sewer.

    We are trying to place this topic(401.A) on the next agenda which will be 9:30 am, Tuesday, Feb. 17 at the VOC Firehouse. Someone had to drive to Prescott with 8 copies to make a formal request and then were told to email other questions. Prescott.

    Please go to:
    http://www.improvementdistrictservices.com/bigparkdwwid/bpdwwidannualbudgets.html

    Look at this budget.

    This begs the question: Where is all the money going that our community is paying for sewer? To other cities? Other states? That is for another time.

    The BPDWWID map has not been updated since 2006. Sewer has been installed in Fairway Oaks on two lots. What does this mean to our residents?

    Right now, we need to organize the subdivision, get an idea of who is opposed to forced sewer connection. We want anyone that wants sewer to have the opportunity, but for those with working septic to be able to choose to keep it. We want choice and that is very doable with all the other subdivisions that will be targeted after Fairway Oaks.

    If you have received this letter, we are asking you to respond with a for or against forced sewer connection so we may attend the meeting with some statistics on behalf of the subdivision residents. We will be forming a petition for our residents of Fairway Oak in the near future.

    We have a large amount of emails that were sent to be put on our list but have not yet voiced an opinion. Please respond as soon as possible. If you have responded, please do so again. We will alert you when the agenda item is placed. We are asking for support and attendance for this upcoming meeting.

    Thank You.

  23. SEDONA GOLF RESORT SPEED LIMIT

    There have been recent reports of cars exceeding the speed limit and driving dangerously in SGRCA neighborhoods. If you witness this type of incident, it is recommended that you call the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Department dispatch line at 649-6449, extension 0.

    The speed limit within Sedona Golf Resort is 25 MPH. While it may be difficult to maintain this speed, it is necessary for safety reasons and due to our narrow roads.

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