The Villager

COTTONWOOD – On Nov. 20, the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors will consider a residential-to-commercial rezoning application for a parcel at the southeast corner of SR 179 and Jacks Canyon Road.

When a small group of VOC residents held a Fire Evacuation Plan Community Forum Oct. 15, it became clear right away that the subject had touched a nerve with the VOC community. Approximately 150 concerned citizens came to the forum, causing a scramble for more chairs and too few handouts.

October marks the beginning of the last quarter of the year, and this results in a host of activities for the VOCA Board, committees, and the general management team. The two top priorities are related our financials:

There have been no new planning and zoning applications submitted for recommendations and comment since July, but Yavapai County is still progressing through the many the Village has addressed earlier this year.

My neighborhood is Las Piedras, a residential area to the east of the first traffic circle in the Village.

Sunday, Dec. 1 (the Sunday following Thanksgiving), the VOC Church of the Nazarene will host its annual Community Thanksgiving Leftovers Potluck, 12:30 p.m., at 55 Rojo Drive, (approximately ¼ mile south of the Hilton roundabout).

The Boards of Directors of Keep Sedona Beautiful (KSB) and Save Our Ancient Red Rocks (SOAR) have voted to merge their organizations, including their boards, programs, and assets.

If you’re fortunate, you will meet special people in your lifetime - people who have what sounds like a heartbreaking story, yet, after spending time with them, you walk away feeling encouraged, uplifted, more at peace, as if the world is OK and so are you.

Please join Keep Sedona Beautiful at its Preserving the Wonder™ Speaker Series on Wednesday, Nov. 13, for a presentation by Darren McCollum, which will address climate change and its impacts on the southwest.

The five-course meal and wine pairing were chosen to demonstrate and educate the students with various types of preparation. The students selected and wholly prepared the dessert.

Celebrate Veterans Day by attending a speaker program about the original “fly girls.”

Learned the hard way. I swear, I will never repeat this mistake. (OK, had said the same a year earlier, and somehow, I fell into the same trap now, in 2019…).

Everyone loves a winner. If an investment is successful, most people naturally want to stick with it. But is that the best approach?

Local gardeners are experiencing growing seasons that have become more and more unpredictable each year. Where can we find seeds that thrive in our hotter, dryer, and uncertain conditions?

A big congratulations goes to Oakcreek Country Club’s Women’s Golf. Throughout the spring and summer the women with the lowest handicaps (who are available to play) compete with seven other clubs to earn the award for the lowest overall gross and net scores.

Help “Light the Village” this year. We’ll be having our annual Holiday Lights contest in December. Awards will be handed out for the top three businesses that create a beautiful light presentation in our Sedona Village.

After 2½ hours of deliberation, the Yavapai County Planning and Zoning Commission narrowly approved recommending the Colt BBQ & Spirits Restaurant application. After failing the first vote, a re-vote passed 5-3 to send the application on to the Board of Supervisors.

As we settle into the last quarter of the year both the temperatures and activity seem to have declined, resulting in a somewhat shorter meeting than we have had recently.

First and foremost, thank you, VOCA members for the feedback coming from the member forums as well as our email addresses regarding the Reserve Study and increase in annual assessments. We will continue to consider all the input provided to us, and have working sessions of the board and the finance committee, along with at least an additional member forum on Oct. 8, before any decisions regarding what goes on the ballot gets decided.

Keep Sedona Beautiful's Oct. 9 Preserving the Wonder™ Speaker Series features a presentation about Fossil Creek by Marcos Roybal, Fossil Creek project coordinator, Coconino National Forest, Red Rock Ranger District.

Currently, about 9,000 students are sponsored by Rotary clubs every year. Typically, secondary school students are sent to another country for a year-long stay, generally living with multiple host families during the year and being expected to perform daily tasks within the household as well as attend school in the host country.

Village of Oak Creek attorney Elizabeth McFarland was recognized as the Arizona Community Foundation of Sedona Volunteer of the Year at the 19th annual Spirit of Sedona luncheon.

Mr. Tamaliza replaces Walter’s in the ranch house, next to Chase Bank on SR 179. The Gonzalez family, owners of the Tamaliza Group of restaurants, has brought their winning tacos, tamales and burritos to the VOC from their main kitchen at Tamaliza’s on 89A, near the airport.

In late 2016, President Barack Obama designated 1.35 million acres of undeveloped public lands in southeastern Utah as Bears Ears National Monument. On December 4, 2017, President Donald Trump shrank the monument by 85 percent, an action that was immediately challenged in lawsuits that could take years to resolve.

SEDONA – As part of National Fire Prevention Week, Sedona Fire District will host an open house and pancake breakfast at Fire Station #3 in the Village of Oak Creek Oct. 8, 7-9 a.m.