Supervisors accepts grants to repair and improve the Sedona Airport
In short order the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved its Community Service Agreements totaling $280,390 for 11 organizations across the county during its Sept. 16 meeting in Cottonwood.
“Our communities should know that Yavapai County is a good partner in solving problems and embracing opportunities,” Vice Chairwoman and Supervisor Nikki Check [D-District 3] said. “The organizations really represent that sentiment because they’re solving problems and embracing opportunities, and we’re there to partner with them.”
In Sedona and the Verde Valley, the county granted Friends of the Verde River $28,500, Verde Valley Regional Economic Organization $25,000, Sedona Community Center’s Meals on Wheels program $15,000, and The Station on 6th $15,000 for its Meals on Wheels program.
About $3,000 of the county’s contribution to the Friends of the Verde River is going to fund the Verde Front, an ad hoc public lands group, but Friends of the Verde River is the fiscal agent, according to Check.
“Also last year was our first year funding Meals on Wheels providers, and we’re continuing that trend to try to make a positive contribution for those who are served in unincorporated areas,” Check said.
Sedona Airport
The board selected J. Banicki Construction to repair the Sedona Airport’s Helicopter Six-Pack for $489,091. The project was originally approved by the board during its Aug. 19 meeting.
As a consent item, the board approved a $99,623.58 with Dibble and Associates Consulting Engineers as part of the Helicopter Six-Pack project.
The project will be funded by an Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Airport Improvement Program Grant from the Federal Aviation Administration covering 95% of the project amount, an Arizona Department of Transportation Aeronautics state grant match, to cover 2.5% of the project, and Sedona Oak-Creek Airport Authority reimbursing Yavapai County for the 2.5% sponsor match obligation, the board packet reads.
The Six-Pack repairs are not anticipated to cause traffic woes to residents around Airport Mesa area because work will be done at night, according to Airport General Manager Ed Rose.
The board also approved an ADOT Aeronautics State Match Grant of $71,746, as part of the $2,869,848 project to repair the airport’s infield drainage.
Victim Compensation
The board unanimously accepted a $285,032 Victim Compensation Grant from the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission going toward the salary of a county victim advocate position and will reimburse victims of crime.
“The County Attorney’s Office has received this grant in one form or another for about 10 years,” County Attorney Chief Deputy Bill Hughes said. “It’s an important part of the funding for the services that the county provides to victims of crime, about a little less than a fourth of the grant goes for a victim services employee who’s a victim advocate. The rest of the grant, the vast majority of it, goes to provide for compensation to members of the public who have been victims of crime and are in desperate need of some quick compensation.
For example, if someone is killed in a crime, the fund can help the next-of-kin pay for funeral expenses, Hughes said.
