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Council hears debate over mini‑sweeper, bike coordinator, police EV pilot and other decision packages
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Summary
At the April 15 work session staff and the Citizens Budget Working Group discussed several decision packages including a compact sweeper for the new parking garage, a full‑time bike/ped coordinator, a police electric vehicle pilot, hazardous‑waste door‑to‑door pilot and an additional IT support and court specialist position. Council asked for more cost/implementation detail before taking action.
Sedona staff presented a set of decision packages and council and the Citizens Budget Working Group concentrated their questions on implementation, ongoing costs and alternatives.
Public Works Director Kurt Harris described a compact street sweeper intended for the new Uptown parking garage and shared‑use paths. Harris said storage will be at the new garage, warranty coverage would limit near‑term maintenance expenses and the machine includes attachments for pressure washing and leaf/vacuum work.
Harris also outlined a request to expand the existing part‑time bike and pedestrian coordinator role to full time to manage the growing shared‑use network; staff said the city will expand from roughly 4 miles to 12 miles of paths in the near term and needs field coordination, volunteer management and safety oversight.
Police Chief Stephanie Foley presented a pilot electric vehicle (Chevy Blazer) as a single take‑home patrol vehicle to test range and duty‑cycle suitability. Chief Foley and volunteer advisor Lance Waldrop said the vehicle shows promise but cautioned that the department has not yet fully benchmarked patrol range under Sedonaduty cycles; staff plan to add DC fast chargers at municipal sites to reduce potential downtime.
Other packages discussed included a hazardous‑waste door‑to‑door pilot (about 200 homes) to reduce traffic at centralized collection events, an IT support position aimed at reducing the burden on technical specialists who currently handle police and enterprise systems, and a court specialist request to address high caseloads and turnover. The city manager described the court position as "tier 2" pending further operational review and possible offsets.
Councilors repeatedly asked for clearer operating‑cost impacts (for example, staffing hours, charging infrastructure and spare‑vehicle plans for a police EV), clearer procurement options and more complete ROI materials for programs proposed as pilots.
Why it matters: the decision packages include both one‑time capital purchases and recurring staffing requests that would be part of the FY2026–27 budget. Council requested more implementation detail and confirmation of operating impacts before committing to new positions or long‑term capital buys.
