Page City Council approves sale of city land for family bowling center after transparency debate

The Page City Council approved Ordinance 736-2548 on final reading to sell a city-owned parcel at the northeast corner of Coppermine Road and Osprey for use as a family-friendly bowling center. Councilors moved and seconded the ordinance and approved it by voice vote.

The vote followed public comment and a lengthy council exchange about the city’s practice of using executive sessions for real-estate negotiations. Chuck Strob, a Page resident, urged the council to provide more public information about land sales, saying the planned executive session on “portions of parcel numbers 80216 009 J and 80101 014a” was not transparent and that residents deserve parcel location, size and buyer identity when possible.

“it’s a huge piece of Page — it’s over 700 acres — and it’s going to be discussed behind closed doors; this doesn’t appear to be transparency at its best,” Strob said during the public-comment period.

Councilor Amanda Hammond cited Arizona open-meeting statutes and the city code and recommended the council adopt a new practice of publishing parcel numbers, general location, size, prospective buyer and proposed use on agendas or backup materials before moving to executive session. The city attorney and staff replied that detailed contract backup — including the buyer’s name, exhibits, survey and meets-and-bounds — had been included in the published agenda materials and in newspaper publication for two weeks, and that executive-session materials remain exempt by law.

At the public meeting before the vote, Councilor Hammond outlined the parcel’s general location “generally at the northeast corner of Coppermine Road and Osprey, across from the fire department” and identified the buyer in the public materials as Kane Scott. The ordinance approved the sale by negotiation and the accompanying purchase agreement; the transcript records the final-reading approval without a roll-call tally for that motion.

Why it matters: The sale is intended to bring a privately operated, family-oriented amenity to Page. The debate before the vote highlighted tension between confidentiality for negotiating leverage and council members’ stated interest in greater routine transparency about city land transactions.

Next steps: The ordinance passed on final reading; staff said the publication requirement had been completed and the council proceeded to approve the contract. Any necessary closing steps, contract signatures or related staff work were described as administrative in the meeting.