ADOT response may delay City Council “lights” reconsideration

by Cyndy Hardy

SEDONA, AZ – July 8, 2008 – There is a good chance the Sedona City Council will not discuss reconsideration of its approval of an advisory committee’s recommendations for pedestrian safety measures at a July 21 special meeting as expected.

The special meeting was scheduled on June 24 after the council agreed to reconsider its June 10 action that approved the committee’s final report.

The June 10 action altered the committee’s recommendations in a manner that caused the Arizona Department of Transportation to hold internal deliberations that some say could, at worst, put the agency’s original proposal for 76 street lights back on the table.

ADOT officials have scheduled their internal discussion for July 14, City Manager Eric Levitt said.

Mr. Levitt said he has never felt so “in the dark” as he does about this ADOT meeting. Agency officials who have worked closely with the city on the pedestrian safety issue cannot talk about what is happening at the state level, he said.

“I don’t even know if the public will be allowed to attend it,” he said.

Mr. Levitt expects that ADOT officials will submit a proposal to Director Victor Mendez, although he cannot say for certain.

ADOT officials have indicated that Mr. Mendez must personally approve the agency’s next move, according to Mr. Levitt.

The City Council doesn’t want to act on a possible reconsideration until it knows more about ADOT’s position.

The issue whether to reschedule the special meeting was added to tonight’s agenda at about 2:30 p.m. on July 7, according to the revised agenda, which met state laws regarding 24-hour public notice.

Mr. Levitt said there is concern whether the result of ADOT’s internal meeting will be available to the council and to the public in time for the July 21 date. The city could receive anything from a phone call to a package of written material.

Also, no one from ADOT can attend the July 21 meeting, Mr. Levitt said.

Council members discussed rescheduling the special meeting for August 12; however, they decided to leave the date as scheduled for July 21 just in case. If ADOT’s response warrants a change, they can do so with a cancellation notice 24 hours before the meeting.

The City Council set its deadline to decide for the end of business on July 16 so that ample public notice can be given through local media outlets.

Sedona.biz will post any updates as soon as they become available.

© 2008 Cyndy Hardy. This article may not be reproduced, republished or distributed without written permission from the author. Contact the author at cyndyhardy@msn.com.

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