At a meeting of the Camp Verde Town Council on April 17, Zach Wolfe, a leader of the group of Middle Verde residents calling themselves Verde Disconnect, stood before his elected representatives and offered an extensive refutation of plans by the Yavapai County to build a road between State Route 260 and Cornville Road, which has been dubbed Verde Connect.
As a Middle Verde resident, Wolfe focused on what he sees as potential negative impacts from the road on the rural area, which he worries could lose its distinctive character if a major road went through it.
He highlighted the goals of the Camp Verde General Plan, which has specified the need to preserve Camp Verde’s rural character and agricultural industry.
“Consider what is lost to development,” Wolfe said. “Middle Verde is more than place on a map. If you don’t live here, how can you tell us what’s best for our town?”
Wolfe’s presentation was not the only one taking aim at the county project. Two weeks earlier, on April 3, a resident spoke to the council, claiming to represent a group in Middle Verde.
The representative took issue with many of the claims — both of necessity and financial feasibility — of the county and the firm it hired for the project, Jacobs Engineering. He also has insisted that the road is a bad move for the town of Camp Verde economically, as he believes it will direct traffic away from the State Route 260 corridor that the town sees as important to its future development.
“I think we’re cutting our own growth,” the Middle Verde resident said at the meeting. “Any place that is bypassed dies.”
The Middle Verde resident argued that the county’s traffic studies should not be relied on since they predate the completion of construction on State Route 260 and said that he doubts that the county’s cost estimates are reasonable. He believes that building a bridge over the Verde River along with a road through the rural area will cost far more than expected.
Both presentations came with a crowd of local Camp Verde residents in opposition to the planned road. Members of the Camp Verde Town Council have not made official statements on the coming road, but Mayor Charlie German expressed thanks to both presentations after they completed. German expressed hopes for a joint session with leadership of the Yavapai-Apache Nation in the near future in order to discuss the two governments’ shared interest in the potential construction.
The Town of Camp Verde has little direct influence over the road project, which is being enacted by the county after receiving a $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation in December. However, both the groups that presented before the council hope they can get the town of Camp Verde to take an official stance against the project.
“I want them to tell the county ‘no,’” the said. “The town actually has no real power. The county has the power. Having said that, they said in their last presentation — they said Camp Verde has the most say because it goes through Camp Verde, so it helps.”
“I want the Town Council to stand up and oppose a connection to Middle Verde,” Wolfe said. “They have the power to do that. I think it’s in the county’s best interest not to ruin relationships.”
“Legally, I’m not sure if we have any legal recourse,” Camp Verde Town Manager Russ Martin said. “From a political level, I assume [the council] would have the opportunity to address this with the supervisors.”
Yavapai County District 2 Supervisor Tom Thurman and District 3 Randy Garrison, who have both been strong advocates of the project, say that they intend to hear out the concerns of Middle Verde residents and that they believe that an acceptable plan for the construction that allows the county to build the road they feel is necessary without upsetting the town of Camp Verde. They stress that the road will be completed, even with the opposition.
“The more appropriate response right now in the process we’re under is to be part of determining areas you don’t want to see it going and areas you do want to see it going, rather than trying to fight the process or the idea that there’s going to be a road at all,” Garrison said.
He said that the plans for construction had not made the decision to definitely put the road through Middle Verde, or Camp Verde, at all and that, as the process continues, the county is happy to adjust its plans to deal with concerns, but not to let the whole project be derailed.
“We’re building the road. People need to get that in their head,” Garrison said. “We’re building the road, so be As part of putting it where low you want it, not fighting as whether we’re going to do it or not.”
“I’m concerned with their concerns,” said Thurman, who represents Camp Verde in the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors. He pointed out that with the project still not having narrowed down proposed routes, the opposition could be angry about plans that may never materialize. “I don’t think they’re riled up for nothing. I think they’re riled up prematurely. Until we have a route where it’s going to be, I’m just telling people to calm down, hold on, let’s finish our public participation portion of this project and then we can start complaining.”
Thurman also pushed back on what he believed was “misinformation” from some of the opponents of the project. He insisted that the new road would remain relatively low traffic, and would not divert enough motorists to be able to bypass Camp Verde.
“I would never ever shove anything down anybody’s throat,” Thurman said. “I’m not that way, and there’s no reason to take eminent domain and buy people’s houses or anything like that.”
