2/4/2007 4:00:00 AM Davis still fighting for county voice in Verde partnership
By PAULA RHODEN
The Daily Courier
PRESCOTT ‹ Supervisor Chip Davis wants equal treatment for board members. On Monday, he will revisit the county's membership in the Verde River Basin Partnership.
He said that if Supervisor Carol Springer represents the county and is a voting member of the Upper Verde River Protection Coalition, he should have the same opportunity on the Verde River Basin Partnership.
During its Jan. 16 meeting in Cottonwood, the board voted 2-1 that Davis has every right to attend partnership meetings as a private individual, but he could not represent the county.
Supervisors Carol Springer and Tom Thurman opposed county participation in the partnership.
Springer said she could not support another special interest water group and that the VRBP had yet to seat the board approved by the members.
"I forgot at the time that six months prior to the Jan. 16 vote, I made the motion to join the UVRPC and with that Carol received voting rights, all of us could participate," Davis said. "She is also asking the board for money for the UVRPC."
The chairman was referring to a request from the UVRPC for a three-year county commitment for $55,000 annually for watershed programs.
Springer did not comment on the agenda item.
Thurman, however, said, "It seems that from the beginning of growth in the Yavapai County area there has been a fight for water. Name calling from person to person is nothing short of childhood games and it must stop. The art of politics is compromise and I am going to try to have east and west Yavapai County become one."
The board agenda includes two other high-profile items capital improvements and the Williamson Valley Road widening project.
Thurman will introduce a proposal to keep the criminal courts in downtown Prescott.
"Keeping the criminal courts in downtown Prescott hinges on Yavapai County acquiring property to relocate the Sheriff's Office, jail and adult probation. The board will discuss purchasing property during Monday's executive session," Thurman said.
Public Works Director Phil Bourdon said he recently negotiated a $2.8 million agreement with Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. for design services for Williamson Valley Road four-lane widening project from Pioneer Parkway to Outer Loop Road.
Bourdon said the design work includes public coordination efforts, traffic engineering and access control plan, and environmental studies. The scope of work also includes a more extensive design effort for the trail system.
Bourdon said price of the design contract appears high until people compare it with the $1.5 million design contract for two-mile Williamson Valley Road project north of Prescott Parkway.
Springer said she is "excited to move forward" with the road project.
"What made the contract more expensive is the addition of more concern for landscaping and trails. We want to make the design more user-friendly for all modes of transportation, not just vehicles," Springer said.
The board will meet at 9 a.m. on Monday in the supervisor's hearing room at the Administrative Building, 1015 Fair St., in Prescott.
