City Council Agendas & Minutes

MINUTES CITY COUNCIL MEETING FRUIT HEIGHTS CITY 910 South Mountain Road April 23, 2024 WELCOME: Mayor John Pohlman called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. PLEDGE & OPENING CEREMONY: The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Council Member George Ray, with Mayor John Pohlman conducting the opening ceremony by offering a word of prayer. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor John Pohlman, Council Member Gary Anderson, Council Member Florence Sadler, Council Member George Ray, Council Member Mark Cottrell, Council Member Eileen Moss was excused. CITY STAFF PRESENT: City Manager Darren Frandsen, Public Works Director Layne Leonard, City Planner Jeff Oyler, and Deputy Recorder Hailee Ballingham. VISITORS: Dale Kunkel, Jim Crismer, Linda Crismer, and April Pohlman. CITY COUNCIL TRAINING: Council Member Florence Sadler talked about the last chapter in the Powers and Duties book. Cities and towns have logical sections called "cleaning up the town." She stated the city had a successful Ridgerunner last year that listed the top five code violations for cleaning up the town: overgrown vegetation, abandoned vehicles, junk and debris, overgrown trees, and RVs on the street. If neighbors have issues, they can resolve them themselves or inform the city. There are clearly defined rules in the city code, such as no plants larger than 12 inches and no poison oak or ivy. Notice and inspections are given before the city acts. PUBLIC COMMENT: Dale Kunkel: I am a resident of Fruit Heights City. I’d like to start my comments with stating that generally I approve of and support the work of this legislative body. However, I have some concerns related to city council actions in recent weeks, coming close to, if not crossing over, lines of assembling as a quorum in a public meeting and potentially inappropriate public comments made at those meetings which may include a failure to declare a “personal interest“ conflict and casting a vote despite the obvious conflict. Title 52. Public Officers. Chapter 4 Open and Public Meetings Act 52-4-103(7) (a) "Meeting" means the convening of a public body or a specified body, with a quorum present, including a workshop or an executive session, whether in person or by means of electronic communications, for the purpose of discussing, receiving comments from the public about, or acting upon a matter over which the public body or specified body has jurisdiction or advisory power. Reviewing the exceptions for a “meeting“ I do not find any exceptions for a planning commission meeting. Instead within the exceptions, likely support of such a meeting with a quorum present. The final option “B” demonstrates. Title 52–4–103 7 (c) states (c) "Meeting" does not mean the convening of a public body that has both legislative and executive responsibilities if: (i) No public funds are appropriated for expenditure during the time the public body is convened; and (ii) The public body is convened solely for the discussion or implementation of administrative or operational matters: (A) for which no formal action by the public body is required; or (B) that would not come before the public body for discussion or action. Clearly, these items were going to come before the public body, in this case, the City Council for a discussion or action. During the planning commission meeting on March 26, 2024, all five council members were present for part or all of the public meeting. In addition, the “Monitoring” city council member made a public statement with a quorum present. I would remind city council members that Title 52–4– 03 8 states. 1."Monitor" means to hear or observe, live, by audio or video equipment, all of the public statements of each member of the public body who is participating in a meeting. 2."Participate" means the ability to communicate with all of the members of a public body, either verbally or electronically, so that each member of the public body can hear or observe the communication. The role of the city council member assigned was to monitor, not participate. It is clear that the city council member’s participation had an impact on the planning commission members as one of the planning commission members referenced the city council member’s comments on record in the meeting. Utah code10-3-1308 municipal officers and employees ethics act Investment creating a conflict of interest with duties -- Disclosure. Any personal interest or investment by a municipal employee or by any elected or appointed official of a municipality which creates a conflict between the employee's or official's personal interests and his public duties shall be disclosed in an open meeting to the members of the body in the manner required by Section 10-3-1306. It is my opinion that a household family member appointed to the planning commission creates a clear conflict or “personal interest” on the household family member elected city council member, and as such, the council member should declare a “personal interest” conflict and refrain from voting or commenting on matters which their household member will also vote on. Please do not construe my comments as an attack on any individual member or the city council as a whole. I’m simply asking you to review your duty and responsibility and your ethics and from this point forward, be better. Doing so will limit the liability that our city and inherently the taxpayers of the city may incur. Also, my statements are my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of my household members who are also residents of Fruit Heights City. PRESENTATIONS: April Pohlman gave a presentation on CTC (Community That Cares). Fruit Heights has City formed a coalition with several communities, including Farmington and Kaysville, collaborating with behavioral health to establish this coalition and have hired a prevention coordinator. There is a working group based on volunteer involvement. The coalition surveys 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th graders in Utah to gather their perspectives and assess risk and prevention factors related to delinquency and substance abuse. This data is used to create an action plan. One example is focusing on rewarding pro- social behavior as a protective factor. We are currently working on data analysis, bylaws, and a vision statement for the coalition. The survey results are accessible online and reviewed confidentially as a group. Overall, we are progressing and hope to have more structure and action plans soon. BUSINESS ITEMS: 5.1 Discussion on Tentative Budget FY 2024-2025 City Manager Darren Frandsen wanted to get the tentative budget in front of the city council to discuss any questions they had. They had a brief discussion and then decided to have a work session for the tentative budget on May 7th at 6:00 p.m. 5.2 Discussion on R-1-6 Zone (Eastproposed The Mountainzone Townhomes). R-1-6 focuses It is on important to accommodating note that in a townhomes at 6000-square-foot 1357 E 650zone, N only about five units can be built per acre, taking into consideration the space needed for roads and utilities. This density is considered medium. However, this zoning plan does not align with the city's adopted moderate-income housing plan, which aims to increase the availability of affordable housing. In August, a report will need to be submitted to the state to showcase the city's progress, but currently, only the IADU ordinance has been put in place. They had a discussion on what the R-1-6 would intel. It’s a residential zone intended to provide for a small lot, high density, single-family and multi-family residential development. This zone aims to promote more affordable housing options. They discussed how it would play a part in the moderate-income housing plan. The city must show the progress to the state in August. The only thing the city has done is pass the IADU Ordinance. The R-1-6 Zone will be presented and discussed at the Planning Commission Public Hearing on April 30, 2024, and then will be back to the City Council for a vote on May 7, 2024 5.3 Discussion Municipal Code Title 7A Chicken Ordinance. The cottage meeting was well attended, and the attendees’ input was used to shape the ordinance. The goal is to have a flexible, yet enforceable ordinance, that allows for more options while ensuring compliance. There were suggestions for square footage and the number of chickens allowed. Also, a committee of residents who are knowledgeable in chickens to help teach new chicken owners. More discussion will be held at the planning commission meeting on April 30, 2024. 5.4 Municipal Code Title 11A Update for New State Legislation Requirements. The council had a few questions on the wording and why things are stated twice in the ordinance. They wanted more time to read through Title 11A and decided to table the issue. Council Member George Ray made a motion to table Municipal Code Title 11A. Council Member Gary Anderson Seconded the motion. The Council unanimously approved the motion (1:17:14). TABLED ITEMS: 6.1 Amendment to Law Enforcement Services Agreement, no action was taken. CALENDAR: Planning Commission Meeting April 30, 2024 City Council Meeting May 7, 2024 REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS: 8.1 City Council Meeting Minutes for April 9, 2024 Council Member Florence Sadler made a motion to approve the April 9, 2024, minutes with the recommended changes. Council Member Mark Cottrell Seconded the motion. The council unanimously approved the motion (1:58:11). CITY COUNCIL REPORTS: Council Member Florence Sadler reported that she will be attending a meeting with Kaysville, on the 4th of July celebration. Council Member George Ray reported that he has been working with Darren on the city budget. Council Member Mark Cottrell reported that there was a group of 10 and 11-year-olds who volunteered. They worked on Gailey Trail and picked up garbage and debris. He would like to encourage more youth groups to reach out to the city to volunteer. He gave a reminder about the team barbecue on Tuesday, June 11, 2024. Council Member Gary Anderson reported on being a volunteer coach for Kaysville Recreation. He has noticed that many teams want to use our ball fields. There might be a miscommunication, so he was considering reaching out to discuss the issue and see if they're interested in using our fields. Staff told him due to the Highway 89 Project it was hard for Kaysville to get to the fields, so they stopped using it. Now that the project is done, when public works finishes getting fields ready, they are welcome to use it again. MAYOR REPORT: Mayor John Pohlman reported Darren and John met with the Farmington Police Department to discuss the possibility of bidding out police services. They have provided us with an agreement, which will be discussed at our upcoming meeting. It is important to note that this exploration does not indicate any dissatisfaction with the county's services, but rather an opportunity to consider alternative options. However, if we choose to move forward with Farmington, there will be no turning back. This decision will have long-lasting effects. Next week, we will review the two contracts and decide whether to continue with the county or switch to Farmington. They also have been working on recycling efforts. A new proposal will be discussed, suggesting that residents pay for green waste recycling and receive credits for diverting garbage from landfills. Currently, 13% of the city's garbage is already being diverted through green waste cans. By implementing a blue can recycling program, there is a chance we could start it with a monthly fee of $1 per resident. This program has the potential to further decrease costs as we divert more material from landfills. CITY STAFF REPORTS: Public Work Director Layne Leonard reported on the construction of the new water line. They are halfway done. We have also had an employee put in their two week’s notice and will need to hire a new employee. City Manager Darren Frandsen stated if the council has any comments or questions about the Tentative budget, to let him know so they can go over it and get it ready for May 7, 2024. ADJOURNMENT: Council Member Gray Anderson made a motion to adjourn the meeting with Council Member Mark Cottrell seconding the motion. It was unanimously approved by the Council. (8:39) Not approved until signed. /S/:______________________________ Hailee Ballingham, City Deputy Recorder Date approved by City Council: 05.07.24