Town Council

MINUTES BUDGET COMMITTEE VIRTUAL MEETING ALTA TOWN COUNCIL BVIRTUAL MEETING Wednesday, February 8, 2023, 1:30 PM Alta Community Center (virtual), 10351 E. Highway 210, Alta, Utah PRESENT: Mayor Roger Bourke Councilmember John Byrne Councilmember Sheridan Davis Councilmember Elise Morgan Councilmember Carolyn Anctil (arrived 2pm for Town Council meeting) STAFF PRESENT: John Guldner, Town Administrator Chris Cawley, Assistant Town Administrator Jen Clancy, Town Clerk Molly Austin, Deputy Clerk ALSO PRESENT: Cameron Platt, Legal Counsel Polly McLean, Legal Counsel Craig Heimark, Treasurer NOT PRESENT: Mike Morey, Town Marshal BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING 1. CALL THE BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING TO ORDER 00:00:00 Mayor Bourke started the budget committee meeting of February 8, 2023. 2. DISCUSSION OF THE FY24 BUDGET 00:01:25 Craig Heimark started by reminding the committee that last October he gave a slide presentation that listed recommended changes to the Town’s budget process. He said we would divide the budget process into the three underlying drivers of increases or changes in the budget, specifically 1) changes in payroll and staff 2) changes in outside vendor contracts, and 3) changes in our schedules projects. There was also a suggestion to update the financial reporting to help the councilmembers and citizens understand where and why Town funds are being spent. Craig was happy to report progress is being made on all these efforts. Craig updated the committee on the Mike Swallow wage study. The main take away so far are that top level employees are underpaid compared with the market. He said that councilmembers would need to decide how to address the salary discrepancies and whether the Town has sufficient staff to accomplish its goals. The sense of the committee was to get a Town Manager in place before considering the addition of new positions and use a phased approach to address staff wages. Alta Town Council Meeting February 8, 2023 1 Craig reported that the Capital Projects Committee would be meeting soon. Jen walked the committee through a summary of the changes anticipated for outside vendors and gave a brief overview of the summary cover sheet that’s being developed for simplified reporting. 3. MOTION TO ADJOURN 00:32:55 MOTION: Mayor Bourke motioned to adjourn, and John Byrne seconded. VOTE: All in favor. The budget committee meeting was adjourned. TOWN COUNCIL MEETING 1. CALL THE REGULAR TOWN COUNCIL MEETING TO ORDER AND DECLARATION 00:33:05 Mayor Bourke called the regular meeting of the Alta Town Council to order for February 8, 2023. Pursuant to his February 1, 2023 determination Mayor Bourke said that it is in the community’s best interest to hold this meeting virtually without an anchor location. 2. CITIZEN INPUT 00:34:15 Jen Clancy reported there were no written public comments received. Dan Ketner requested that the Town consider taking over the Alta Resort Shuttle, the Night Shuttle, and Town Shuttle programs. He said that he had been doing it for a long time and was tapped out. He added that he thought the Town would be more eligible for grants. 3. FRIENDS OF ALTA UPDATE – TARA MORIN 00:38:40 Tara Morin introduced herself as the Operations Manager for Friends of Alta. She provided the council with an overview of what the organization has been up to. She reported that the Executive Director, Kody Fox took part in a KUTV Fresh Living segment today regarding the gondola proposal. She also reported they were in the fifth year of the Black Rosy-Finch study, had hired someone to monitor the legislative session for them, continued to work with various individuals and businesses to monitor an oppose the gondola proposal, and were preparing for the annual Alta Gala. They are also preparing for various fundraising and stewardship summer events. Tara said all events are posted on social media and encouraged folks to sign up for their biweekly newsletters. 4. SHUTTLE UPDATE: RESORT SHUTTLE, TOWN SHUTTLE, NIGHT SHUTTLE – TOM SCHNEIDER 00:48:55 Alta Town Council Meeting February 8, 2023 2 Chris Cawley reported that Tom Schneider had provided some January shuttle ridership numbers and he had a summary of shuttle contributions to share while Tom reviewed the programs. Tom reported that in January almost 12,000 people rode the three shuttles that operate daily in Alta. He projects that between 40,000 and 50,000 people would ride the shuttle this winter season. He said the program is not sustainable the way it is managed with various sources of funding. Tom reported that the day shuttles funding will end before the season ends and that he is not comfortable being in the position of asking for more money. He added that some of the funding sources previously received may not be available in the future and that various contributors have stipulations for the program if they are to contribute which adds complexity to the management of the program. Tom reported that you need at least three shuttle buses to run these program and that he would need to purchase a new shuttle to operate the program “as is” next year. Carolyn Anctil observed that she didn’t feel that the funding correlates with the usage and doesn’t feel it’s fair, she’d like to see individuals pay. Adrienne Ruderman offered that the original shares in the shuttle program were determined by bed count at particular properties. Tom said he thought the Town should take over the funding and let someone else operate the shuttles. He offered he would be willing to operate the shuttles again (he supports the Town soliciting bids from other companies) but needs to know what the plan is because he would need to purchase a new shuttle which costs $160,000 and needs to be ordered by April. It was noted that for all three shuttles to operate the same way as this year the budget would be $220,000 which is roughly 10% of the Town’s budget. 5. ALTA CHAMBER AND VISITOR’S BUREAU REPORT – BRANDON OTT 01:18:00 Brandon Ott introduced himself as the President of ACVB and Marketing Director for Alta Ski Area. Brandon gave updates on the Alta Shuttle, Time Well Spent campaign, and membership dues. He highlighted that the mission statement had been recently revised to enhance the experience for locals and visitors as opposed to simple attracting more people. Chris Cawley provided an overview of the 2022/23 amended budget of $70,736. Chris reported he is working on the contract to facilitate the contributions from the Town’s budget to ACVB for this fiscal year. 6. ALTA SKI AREA UPDATE – MIKE MAUGHAN 01:36:25 Mike Maughan reported that they had put together a proposal that’s been submitted to the USFS to replace the roadside parking with parking in the wildcat parking lot. Mike has an upcoming meeting with the forest service on site for them to review the ski area master plan and projects for the next year. He reported he met with UDOT today to discuss what can be done in the next 3-5 years regarding up- canyon congestion (slick roads and canyon closures) and down-canyon congestion caused by main line closures. Mike said the business levels this year are close to where they were last year in terms of the number of skiers. Icon visitation is down a little for Alta whereas for the other Cottonwood Resorts are 25-50% greater thus far. There is record snowfall through the end of January. They are working with UTA to understand if there will be any changes to ski bus service next year and have submitted a plan to UTA to adjust the top of the wildcat ramp to see if it’s acceptable to UTA to allow buses to make the turn so Alta Town Council Meeting February 8, 2023 3 they could service both the GMD and Albion lots. He commented this could alleviate some of the need for the shuttles. Mike commented that John Guldner would be greatly missed, his knowledge and understanding of the ordinances in Town has been invaluable. He thanked John. 7. APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA: JANUARY 11, 2023 MEETING MINUTES, TREASURER’S REPORTS, AND STAFF REPORTS 01:48:30 MOTION: Mayor Bourke motioned to approve the consent agenda including the January 11, 2023 minutes, and staff and financial reports, and Sheridan Davis seconded. VOTE: All in favor. The consent agenda including the January 11, 2023 minutes, and staff and financial reports was unanimously approved. 8. QUESTIONS REGARDING DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS 01:49:20 John Byrne asked Jen Clancy how much of the $564,000 in the water fund might be moved to next years budget? John Guldner chimed in that he thought $370,000 for Peruvian Estates West, and close to $100,000 for Grizzly Gulch. Jen Clancy added that they were likely to only spend $10,000 on the water meter project this year. 9. MAYOR’S REPORT 01:51:00 Mayor Bourke reported he was amazed at how well the Marshal’s Department and others keep us all safe and moving. He stated that roughly 25 years ago the Town had received an award for organizing the road committee. To date, the Alta website is reporting 493” of snow breaking records since 1981/82 season and we have more snow forecasted for next week. The Town experienced several incidents of fraudulent charges to our bank accounts that have now stopped due to efforts of John Guldner. The Mayor signed a letter that went to District Ranger Bekee Hotze that recommended elimination of some roadside parking between the wildcat ramp and the DPH as a safety measure. The District Ranger informed the Mayor it would take some time for her to act on the parking proposals as she is quite short staffed. The Mayor mentioned HB 276 and noted that if enacted it would open the water provisions and require Salt Lake City to provide water to areas outside the service area boundaries, including the undeveloped lots in Albion Basin. The bill has been referred to committee and will not be enacted in this session, but we expect to see it again. The Mayor attended the Wasatch Front Regional Council meeting on January 26 and while its usually a benign affair, on this date there was a huge crowd (~100 people) with standing room only mostly made up of people there to oppose the gondola. The staff engaged in an exercise to identify significant issues and challenges over the next 3 years and the top results included staffing and human capital as well as infrastructure. He announced that every two years, two of the council seats expire and he would like more candidate than fewer candidates (not a reflection on the two incumbents) in the upcoming election. Alta Town Council Meeting February 8, 2023 4 Mayor Bourke said a newsletter piece about John Guldner’s retirement had been circulated. He then caringly reflected on how John had advised him over the years. He thanked John for all he has done for everyone. 10. OPEN PUBLIC MEETING ACT TRAINING, Q & A – POLLY MCLEAN 02:04:00 Polly McLean reviewed a presentation outlining why and how Town business can be conducted in a transparent place. She identified the spirt of the Open and Public Meeting Act (OPMA), reviewed what a meeting is and is not, who has to follow OPMA, what makes a quorum, how to use email for Town business, electronic meetings, the reasons for closed-door meetings, notice requirements, public comment, minutes and recordings, emergency meetings, and violations of OPMA. 11. DISCUSSION ON AN ORDINANCE TO ESTABLISH THE ROLE OF TOWN MANAGER 02:16:15 Mayor Bourke said an ordinance has not been drafted. With John Guldner’s departure we are going to revisit how the Town staff operates. The Mayor explained that in promoting the title of Town Manager he hadn’t duly understood the State definition of such a title and so he now preferred to refer to this position as chief of staff. He expects a draft ordinance by the next council meeting. John Byrne asked the Mayor what issues he had with the title and noted, to him a Town Manager could be whatever the town council defined it as in an ordinance. John explained the bigger issue in creating this position by ordinance was to decide if the position is unempowered and a conduit (no real authority), or if some of the Mayor’s powers and duties should be delegated to the Town Manager via an ordinance. This would separate the day-to-day operation of the Town and leave the legislative and policy responsibilities to the Mayor and council. He said essentially you are delegating authority to execute the policies of the governing body. He added that this is also about right sizing the Mayor’s responsibilities. Cameron Platt said there were three main areas he was looking for direction from the council on. He felt the title ultimately didn’t matter much because we can write the ordinance to delegate the duties that the council wants. He does need direction on the chain of authority, and where that should go. He also asked what authority the council wants to give to the person in this position? He highlighted talking about executive duties is important because if you delegate the executive duties to the manager it will remove some work from the mayor, but that move could also increase the work for the council and he wants to council to understand this shift in practical application. Cameron summarized the decisions as what chain of authority does the council want for this position and what duties do they want the manager to do. Craig Heimark added that a job description for the Mayor could also help. Sheridan Davis agreed this role should be an empowered role and sought clarification on if the Town manager could be fired by the Mayor without the consent and approval of the council. Cameron explained under the current framework the Town Administrator is appointed by the Mayor with advice and consent of the council and the Town Administrator derives their authority from the Mayor’s authority and so the chain of command goes through the Mayor. The Mayor could dismiss a Town Administrator under the current framework without input from the council. Alta Town Council Meeting February 8, 2023 5 Mayor Bourke clarified that in his model the Chief of Staff works and takes direction from the Mayor; that he/she does not take direction from individual councilmembers, but consensus of the council via the Mayor. It’s the Mayor’s role to sort it out what’s okay and not okay with the town council. The Mayor said the town’s chief of staff needs one boss. John Byrne asked if the person would be empowered or just doing what the mayor asked, and suggested we would be better off if the person was executing the will of the governing body which includes the Mayor but isn’t the Mayor alone. (Elise Morgan left the meeting) Mayor Bourke indicated the ordinance could be drafted and bounced off the councilmembers in advance of the next meeting to collect input. John Byrne offered to help Cameron on the empowered manager side of things. 12. NEW BUSINESS 02:51:25 Polly McLean brought up that the Utah League of Cities and Town’s has a legislative policy committee that meets once a week during the legislative session and the Town’s participation is outdated and should be updated. The Mayor suggested he, Chris Cawley, and Cameron Platt sign up and no one opposed. Carolyn Anctil asked about the noise ordinance. Cameron shared that the Marshal’s department had issued two warnings for the noise violations. There has been some discussion amongst staff about following up with the property owners regarding noise mitigation plans. 13. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION TO COMMENCE A CLOSED DOOR SESSION FOR DISCUSSION OF THE CHARACTER, PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE, OR PHYSICAL OR MENTAL HEALTH OF AN INDIVIDUAL AS AUTHORIZED BY UTAH CODE SECTION 52-4-205(1)(a) 03:01:00 The Mayor reported there was not a reason to hold a closed door session today. 14. MOTION TO ADJOURN 03:03: 45 MOTION: Sheridan Davis motioned to adjourn, and John Byrne seconded. VOTE: All in favor. The meeting was adjourned. Passed this 8th day of March, 2023 _____________________ Jen Clancy, Town Clerk Alta Town Council Meeting February 8, 2023 6