On Aug. 21, the mayor, council members, and city administrators anticipated opposing views on how to use a gift from the Salt River Project. The gift is the Pera Club building and the 15.59 acres it sits on. The deed states the city bought the multimillion-dollar property for $10. According to Mayor Bill Diak, the Salt River Project originally purchased the property from the City of Page for $7.

Four years of negotiations between the City of Page and SRP were done in secret. Newly released public documents show former mayor Levi Tappan, Mayor Bill Diak, Vice Mayor John Kocjan and City Manager Darren Coldwell were part of the negotiations.

Coldwell rolled his wheelchair away from his station at the foot of the dais and gave an impassioned talk to the audience. He explained the sequence of events and the reasoning behind decisions. He highlighted that the city’s booming tourism is placing increasing demands on City Hall. More staff are needed, and the current building’s layout won’t handle the growth. Two conference rooms and a closet were converted into offices. He said even though the Pera Club building is a little smaller, its layout makes it possible to set up cubicles and utilize the space better.

“There was no hidden agenda,” Coldwell said, addressing council meeting attendees. “This has been confidential as Council knows, the whole time along. I've kept them in the loop with the understanding that they kept their mouth shut because SRP didn't want to [release] it because there were other people that wanted it. There were two other crews that we were going against that had the opportunity for the facility as well.

“Until a month ago, and they literally hand delivered the deed to me and the keys to the facility, we weren't sure that we were going to get it. So, was it done quietly? Absolutely. But it was done quietly, and it was done under the radar at the request of SRP, not at the request from staff to keep you out of the loop. That wasn't the situation at all. So, that's my nuts and bolts of it.”

Diak and Coldwell argued in favor of moving City Hall to the Pera Club, which was the original intent when Tappan and Coldwell first approached SRP. Ever since the Frost Park showdown at the March 22, 2023, council meeting, the city has been under the microscope. After Frost Park it was Streetscape, and now it’s the Pera Club.  The pushback by a handful of activists is disrupting city plans. Streetscape, for example, appears dead in the water after years of planning and investments.

Objections to moving City Hall to the Pera Club building took a different turn. Many of the same people involved in Frost Park, Streetscape, and the councilor recall were quick to jump on how the Pera Club should be used. Facebooks posts with misinformation were stirring up anger, encouraging people to voice objections at the council meeting. The different turn was when members of the Canyon Club voiced their concerns. The influential club has a long history of donating time, materials and money for the benefit of Page. Members are frequently seen volunteering their time and raising money for civic projects like Grandview Overlook, Memorial Plaza and shade structures located around town and at Horseshoe Bend.

“The Canyon Club has made it a policy to stay out of city politics and city policy, but it seems that the club has been thrown into the issue of moving City Hall,” said Canyon Club President Ken Sichi. “I would like to impart what the club's feeling on how moving City Hall impacts the Memorial Plaza. The Memorial Plaza in front of City Hall was specifically picked for a reason. The club wanted it connected to City Hall. We didn't want it to be part of a strip mall or next to a hotel parking lot; we wanted it to be located where there would always be some calm and a chance for reflection. The club and local donors invested a considerable amount of time, money, [and] resources in its construction and location.

“After all, the Memorial Plaza honors our local heroes, service members, police and EMS personnel. It shouldn't be an afterthought. It shouldn't be pushed aside and marginalized by a hotel strip mall or some other commercial business. The location was picked intentionally next to City Hall because it is part of City Hall and because it is part of who we, the citizens of Page, are. Please keep in mind the Memorial Plaza wasn't meant to be a park on its own or some kind of park addition. This is, and will always be, the city's Memorial Plaza, and its location and what it's adjacent to matter to us.”

Canyon Club member and former councilor Dennis ‘Dugan’ Warner also addressed council.

“I was on Council in 2020 when Mayor Tappen wrote this letter. I had no idea that the words, including ‘relocating City Hall,’ [were] there. I don't think any of us did. There was never a discussion. It was never brought forth either in an agenda item or an executive session. We were very supportive of the mayor communicating with Salt River [for] the acquisition of that property because it fits exactly what we had in long-range vision for our recreational facilities.

“In my tenure at the time I was on City [Council], the ones I knew did not know about it and if they did, we would have nipped it then. There would not be a discussion now because there's no way the five of us would have supported this idea.”

Several citizens addressed Council, all in support of using the Pera Club as a recreational facility and not as a new home for City Hall. After citizens had their chance to speak, Diak walked from the dais to the audience and showed them the plans he and Kocjan presented SRP as negotiations were in progress. He explained future plans for each part of the sports complex and newly acquired Pera Club property.

“You can see the lap pool, wading pool, regular swimming pool, basketball courts and handball courts,” said Mayor Diak. “All of that is planned; it's a multi-year project. Why? Because we can't afford to do it in one year, so you build in phases.” 

Going by public and councilor comments, the prospects of moving City Hall to the Pera Club appear off the table. It also appeared city staff were caught off guard and didn’t have enough time to prepare a formal presentation. The item was put on the agenda by Kocjan.

Coldwell said he and city staff would begin working on plans and costs for a recreation center and City Hall at Council’s directive.

“Give us an opportunity to do some rendering so that we have something to show,” said Coldwell. “You're going to have to give us a little time.”

Kocjan made a motion. “I move the Pera Club be used as a recreation facility to accommodate the pool and splash [pad] with the essentials needed and that City Hall remain in its current location.”

Councilor Steve Kidman seconded the motion.

“I'm not ready to vote yay on the motion yet because I do think that a next step in my opinion would be to give very clear direction to staff on what we'd like to see,” said Councilor Kenna Hettinger. “I want to be very intentional about how we spend that money so I don't want to just blue-sky it what could we do with every single building.”

 “I really liked what Cheryl Weiss said. I would love to see some indoor activities, recreation activities,” said Hettinger, referring to citizen comments made earlier. “The Parks and Rec Department is doing an incredible job with soccer -- going on right now. I would love to see them explore things that they could do indoors.  I also agree with Amanda [Hammond]. I think you're the one who said that we do want to take care of our city employees. I don't want them to feel like us moving in this direction is because we don't appreciate everything they do. I like that the city is expanding, that we're doing more, all of these are good things, so I think that would be very helpful to bring up as part of -- if it's not part of this budget-- next year's budget discussions to make sure that everyone has a place to come to work that's not a closet. Those things are important, but I think as a next step, we could give direction to City staff on what we're thinking so that they can come back and present what those options would look like.”

When it came to a vote, Kocjan and Kidman were outvoted by the other five councilors.

Instead, Council went with Hettinger’s recommendation and directed staff to “bring more data to City Council regarding the costs of renovations for a recreation center at the Pera Club and a City Hall remodel of the existing City Hall.”