City Council

Minutes of the Millcreek City Council December 17, 2020 5:00 p.m. Special Meeting The City Council of Millcreek, Utah, met in a special public meeting on December 17, 2020 at City Hall, located at 3330 S. 1300 E., Millcreek, UT 84106. The meeting was conducted electronically per Millcreek State of Local Emergency Directive No. 2 of 2020 and live streamed via the City's website with an option for online public comi'nent. PRESENT: Council Members City Staff Jeff Silvestrini, Mayor John Brems, City Attorney Silvia Catten, District I(Virtual) Francis Lilly, Planning and Zoning Director Dwight Marchant, District 2 (Virtual) Rita Lund, Comi'nunications Director Cheri Jackson, District 3 (Virtual) Kurt Hansen, Legislative Policy Director Bev Uipi, District 4 (Virtual) Alexander Wendt, Deputy Recorder Laurie Johnson, HR-Finance Director Mike Winder, Economic Development Director Minutes by Alexander Wendt. Attendees: Ashley Spatafore, David Spatafore, Representative Doug Owens, Senator Jani Iwamoto, Senator Gene Davis, and Representative Stephanie Pitcher SPECIAL MEETING - 5:05 p.m. TIME COMMENCED: 6:14 p.m. Mayor Silvestrini read a written determination on having a public meeting without an anchor location. Legislative Report Mayor Silvestrini asked Representative Owens his plans as a newly elected representative. Representative Owens said he is working on a bill for Bears Ears to create a visitor center there, as well as an air quality bill. Representative Owens said he is willing to help how he can. Mayor Silvestrini said that he will be on the Wasatch Front Regional Council for the next two years so he will be in close contact with State Legislators. Residents had expressed concerns about policing issues. They wish to find a consensus to share with law enforcement all over the state. Council Member Bev Uipi said that the City held a policing townhall in August. The national focus on policing is not always what residents deal with. The City wanted residents to know that the City is listening. There will be another policing townhall on January 12, 2021. Council Member Uipi said that Millcreek has a great relationship with Unified Police Department (UPD). Millcreek City Council Meeting Minutes 17 December 2020 Page 2 of 4 The townhall on the 12fll will include Sheriff Rivera. Mayor Silvestrini told the group that the City is considering an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) ordinance. Currently ADU's are not lawful in Millcreek. Residents are concerned about changing the fabric of the neighborhood, parking, traffic, and rental problems. Millcreek has set aside 15% for affordable housing in CRA's. Mayor Silvestrini said he believes that Millcreek is progressive when it comes to affordable housing. Millcreek is concerned about the right to defend local control when it comes to affordable housing. Local government is better suited to look at public comment and address public concerns because the city level is where City Council and Planning Commission occur. Mayor Silvestrini said that some bills before the Legislature seek to impose solutions, but Millcreek is trying to address the problem at the community level that preserves the community, Ashley Spatafore, Capstone Strategies, said that she has been working closely with legislators. This year there is a mediation bill in the Housing Commission to help with evictions and an ADU bill. Ms. Spatafore stated that legislators are looking closely at HRZ and TRZ. David Spatafore, Capstone Strategies, said that a HRZ is a housing reinvestment zone. TRZ is a transportation reinvestment zone. There have not been any TRZs created yet. Mr. Spatafore is working on major transportation corridors with State Senators. The goal is to work with developers in ways that benefit cities. They are asking for $300,000 for mediation programs statewide, and gap financing. When a landlord, tenant, and mediator sit down there are often costs associated, the gap financing helps the tenant remain in the unit. Council Member Jackson is pleased that there is a state constitutional right to water. Council Member Jackson said that municipalities that do not have water control need to work on something to protect their own water supply. Mayor Silvestrini said that it would be great if cities that provide water must incorporate into a service area so that one City Council cannot change the water service area. This would protect cities from losing their water supply. Mayor Silvestrini would like this protection so water district boundaries cannot change based on ordinance. This should be on the legislators' radar. Senator Iwamoto said that water bills are being studied. Council Member Jackson said that Millcreek would like to have representation at the Salt Lake City Public Utilities Board. Council Member Jackson understands some of the reservations that Salt Lake City has. Millcreek would like representation when it comes to water in Millcreek and is often left in the dark when it comes to maintenance issues. Senator Iwamoto said that a Millcreek resident is heavily involved in water issues. Senator Iwamoto said she would bring up the issue. Mayor Silvestrini said more representation and involvement would be nice. This would help with maintenance issues and road issues. Mayor Silvestrini said no decision has been made concerning ranked choice voting. The City is considering the issue. Mike Winder, Economic Development Director, said that funding is available for ranked choice voting but municipalities can choose it for primary elections. Mayor Silvestrini said there is a bill that builders can be put in charge of their own inspections and that sounds unsafe. The City Building Department has a valuable function. Mayor Silvestrini said that design standards help the cornrnunity. Ms. Spatafore said that Representative Paul Ray has introduced a bill about building restrictions and building inspections. Mayor Silvestrini explained that Millcreek is going to have a transitional housing facility this winter. Cities are besieged with petty property crime. There needs to be more funding for Millcreek City Council Meeting Minutes 17 December 2020 Page 3 of 4 treatment and programs to help people solve their addiction problems. Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI) programs are not funded enough. Mr. Spatafore said that the legislature did not fund treatment. The same folks reoffend. Council Member Catten said residents in Millcreek are happy, but they dislike petty crime. Council Member Catten said it is demoralizing for officers to continue to arrest the same people. Council Member Catten believes that JRI is a priority for Millcreek. Council Member Uipi said that the way to treat crime issues is to treat people before they offend or re-offend. Senator Iwamoto said that keeping local control of Health Departments is important. Senator Iwamoto said that she has a police reform bill that she is working on, this helps deal with situations where an officer resigns or leaves before they receive department discipline. Senator Iwamoto has also been working on a bill for quite some time that helps cliange offensive names of locations in Utah. This does not deal with high school mascots. It works from the local level and works with tribes in the location. She asked the Council if they would like a list of bills. The Millcreek area is always very active in local and state government. Senator Iwamoto expressed her appreciation for the Millcreek City Council. Mayor Silvestrini thanked Senator Iwamoto and spoke about her hard work. Mr. Winder talked about the budget situation; the situation is better than earlier in 2020. There is a lot of one-time money available. Millcreek has benefited from the Outdoor Recreation Grant. Mr. Winder asked for further help with outdoor recreation funds. He believes it will benefit Utah residents all over the state. Mayor Silvestrini said that because of COVID-19 there has been an explosion in outdoor recreation. If there is one-time money it will pay future dividends. David Spatafore said that there have been discussions about 3900 S. and transportation. Mayor Silvestrini said that Millcreek has received great bids for 3900 S. projects and on a project with South Salt Lake. Millcreek will be repaving from 700 E. to the Jordan River. Senator Iwamoto asked about projects on I-80. Mayor Silvestrini said that I-80 will be re- surfaced starting in tlie suinmer of 2021. Millcreek was short changed when I-215 was built, there is no real intersection there at I-215 and Wasatch Blvd. Relocating the 3900 S. onramp is important, it is dangerous now and has caused fatalities. Senator Iwamoto asked if there was property being taken on the I-80/ Foothill Blvd. project. Mayor Silvestrini said there is a little bit of property being taken by the State but the UDOT design crews have done a good job. Senator Gene Davis said he is working on a circuit breaker tax increase which will help people on fixed incomes. He is concerned about State Street and 3900 S. west of 5t'l West. Mayor Silvestrini said that the bridge over 3900 S. will need to be replaced but that is coming from federal funds. Representative Pitcher said that she will be working on a bill to shore up some issues with a previous bill. Representative Pitcher also explained a new bill for victim address confidentiality; 39 otlier states have this. She is also working on a bill on police accountability. If an officer leaves their post and moves jurisdictions sometimes there are breakdowns in communication. This bill is working on a jurisdictional information exchange. Mayor Silvestrini said that he is on a corni'nittee with the Utah League of Cities and Towns (ULCT) dealing with police reform. Mayor Silvestrini thinks there will be support from the police community. Shoring this up needs to ensure there is adequate due process for an officer but also protecting police agencies from poor hires. There needs to be a database to track this information. Representative Pitcher said this can help prosecutors deteri'nine if officers have a past of witness credibility problems. This can undermine their cases and prosecutors can act accordingly. Ms. Spatafore said they would like to hear from the legislators about how to communicate with them. Coordination will be challenging with COVID-19 precautions. Senator Iwamoto said that Millcreek City Council Meeting Minutes 17 December 2020 Page 4 of 4 good communication will be important at the end of the session when things are very busy. Mr. Spatafore said that they will do a lot of texting. He would be happy to be tested for COVID-19 twice a week to ensure good communication. Mayor Silvestrini said that if he is needed, he will testify regarding bills. Mayor Silvestrini said that Millcreek is trying hard to get the Jordan River Trail expanded. The Jordan River trail can be a great resource for the whole valley. It is an alternate transportation corridor. Mayor Silvestrini thanked all the participants and the meeting ended. APPROVED: 4q Date yyz>z5?yt t)W .Mffilvest , Mayor Attest: !yf, City Recorder