City Council

Minutes of the Millcreek City Council January 11, 2022 8:00 a.m. Work Meeting The City Council of Millcreek, Utah, met in a special public work meeting on January 11, 2022 at City Hall, located at 3330 S. 1300 E., Millcreek, UT 84106. PRESENT: Council Members City Staff Jeff Silvestrini, Mayor John Brems, City Attomey Silvia Catten, District 1 Alexander Wendt, Deputy Recorder Thom DeSirant, District 2 Kurt Hansen, Facilities Director Cheri Jackson, District 3 Mike Winder, Assistant City Manager Bev Uipi, District 4 Rita Lund, Communications Director John Miller, Public Works Director Attendees: Dave Spatafore, Ashley Spatafore Mirabelli, Senator Gene Davis, Senator Jani Iwamoto, Representative Karen Kwan, Representative Doug Owen, Representative Carol Spackrnan Moss, and Chase Shicki Minutes by Alexander Wendt. WORK MEETING - 8:00 a.m. TIME COMMENCED - 8:10 a.m. Mayor Silvestrini called the work meeting to order. 1. Mfflcreek Report Mayor Silvestrini gave an update on Millcreek plans to add a trailhead and bathrooms at the Jordan River trail. He then explained how Millcreek Common plans originally started due to development pressure. Mike Winder, Assistant City Manager, talked about how the City Center will be anchored by a plaza along a fault-line. Millcreek Common will be programmed year-round with an ice-skating rink and roller-skating rink. Phase 1 of the Common would open in a few months. A $500,000 Utah Outdoor Recreation grant helped pay for the ice ribbon. The ice ribbon will be the largest outside ice rink in Utah. Public art, a splash pad, a little perch with fire pits that overlook the cornrnon area, and Pizza NONO will be in the Coinrnon. The groundbreaking for the new city hall will take place in March. City Hall will share a parking structure with Millcreek Common and apartments. City hall will have the largest outdoor climbing wall in Utah. The Millcreek Unified Police Department Precinct will share city hall. City hall will house a public market and cafi:, and restaurant incubators on the Millcreek City Council Meeting Minutes 11 January 2022 Page 2 of 4 ground floor. The second floor will have the Council Chambers. The Information Center and police lobby are also on the second floor. Police offices are on the 3"d floor. The 4'h and 5'h floor will be city offices. The 6I'1 floor will house tlie coini'nunity room and have a beautiful view of the mountains. The building will nurture entrepreneurship as well as being environrnentally friendly. Mayor Silvestrini said that Millcreek has been able to secure $5 million of grant funds, using incentives from the legislature to help encourage housing. The private market controls the number of dwelling units. Millcreek is encouraging a mix of rental and owner-occupied units. Millcreek does not have green-field development, Millcreek is built out. Mayor Silvestrini encouraged the legislature to consider using carrots rather than sticks to encourage affordable housing. Mr. Winder said that there is a $35 million bucket for cities that put in public space next to housing. Millcreek has been awarded $5 million for their work. Senator Davis said growth is often harmful to many people. New traffic on Richmond Street, and Gunn Avenue has affected traffic on 1300 E. He asked about ways to fix it. Mayor Silvestrini said the city is looking at this in several ways and has commissioned traffic studies. The worst estimates show some intersections failing if there was maximum density reached. It looks like there will not be maximum density with the proposed developments. He said Highland Drive was striped to three lanes rather than four lanes. The Highland Business Alliance almost universally likes the striping. Traffic moves slower but better and more safely. Millcreek is working with UTA and UDOT to improve streetscapes on 3300 S. as well as transit options. Connecting the streetcar in Sugarhouse is one potential plan. The stripe changes on Highland Drive help customers turn left into businesses. Millcreek is working on a regional bicycle plan to help connect cities. Representative Kwan asked how Millcreek is thinking about incorporating the refugee community. Mayor Silvestrini said that the west side of Millcreek does have a food desert problem. The economic development team is constantly looking for someone to put in at least a market. The big grocery chains are not interested. There is a move to stop cities from incentivizing retail. Herriman and Riverton battled over bringing in a Costco. Costco does not need incentives. However, there are times and needs when incentivization is appropriate. Perhaps incentivization could help solve a food desert problem in Millcreek. Some might say the free market will do that, maybe it will eventually. Millcreek can fix this more quickly. This would serve the refugee community. Housing in West Millcreek emphasizes ground floor retail and mixed-use development. The Promise Program, as a city initiative, serves needs of lower-income communities. Millcreek conducts job fairs at city hall among other programs to help people find better jobs. Representative Moss spoke about the Maliheh free clinic which is a great cornrnunity service for lower income individuals. Representative Moss said she has a committee bill that moves the small business initiative funding from workforce services to Go Utah. Representative Moss encouraged making coinmunities as walkable as possible. Holladay did this well in their community center. Mayor Silvestrini said Millcreek is working to make the City Center very walkable. Millcreek is working with developers to improve crosswalks. There is potential for a skybridge across 3300 S. Representative Kwan asked how Millcreek plans to use infrastructure money coming in. Mr. Winder spoke about the Jordan River extension. At 4000 s., four cities come together at the Jordan River. Extending the parkway onto the east bank of the river will increase recreation and police patrols. The new trail extension will run from the new trailhead to a new Mnlcreek City Council Meeting Minutes 11 January 2022 Page 3 of 4 bridge to coru'iect the main Jordan River Parkway on the west side of the river. The project will result in a trailhead at 4000 S. with 25 parking spaces and restrooms. Salt Lake County has been a great partner. Project costs are about $1.5 million. Millcreek has been able to fund $857,000. The funding gap is $739,463 to complete the bridge and trailhead on this regional asset. 2. Capstone Strategies Report Ms. Ashley Mirabelli said that wages and police retirement have been a problem all over the state and in Salt Lake County. Police wages in Salt Lake County have massively increased and there has been a wage war. Representative Gwynn is writing a bill, House Bill (HB) 12. Millcreek has not taken a position on this. The way the bill is written will bring tier l to tier 2 and will backfill tier 2 retirement. The cost is huge. This would create a 1 1.5% increase in cost for cities. Representative Wilcox is working on a bill for mental health resources for first responders. Mr. Dave Spatafore said the mandate is a problem for many agencies around the state. This is a one-time amount, but the mandate would go on perpetually. Smaller agencies in the state do not respond to request for proposals because they do not have the ability to. There are tweaks to make on this bill. Representative Kwan asked if widows and widowers are included. Mr. Spatafore said the language is employees, families, and retirees. Adding widows and widowers may need to happen. Ms. Mirabelli noted there is a bill about retail incentives with not many specifics yet. Mayor Silvestrini said that Senator Vickers proposal is far more palatable. Mr. Spatafore said they would like to work with all the representatives and not stifle what the representatives want to do. An eminent domain bill is causing grief. This would disallow the use of eminent domain for parks, HB 85 is concerning. HB 95 would not allow.homeowners associations and governrnents to require certain types of landscaping. 3. Legislator Reports Representative Kwan is working on a bill for solid waste recycling and data collection. No one knows what liappens to glass and plastic after it gets put in the bin. Representative Kwan is also working on a veteran's bill of rights that can help beef up benefits for veterans. Incentivizing CNA's is some important work that is moving forward. Senator Davis is working on a DABC purchasing bill to allow individuals to purchase alcohol directly from the vendor or distillery. Senator Davis is also working on a bill that would create a mari)uana commission and this would mirror what Massachusetts does. Senator Davis was contacted by the animal control representatives in the past, that bill died. Now the Fan'n Bureau is on-board. Reauthorization for the local food advisory coini'nittee is being looked at. Representative Moss is working on state small business credits. Afghan re'fugees need more help. About 500 refugees may be moved here, they will be designated as humanitarian parolees by the federal governrnent. The bill needs to be changed to add the term "humanitarian parolee." It is critical that these people get a drivers license to succeed economically. Utah requires all people getting divorced to take an online and in-person course, and many would like people to take a course specifically around helping children. Representative Moss has been working on a bill that adds curriculum to middle school and high school about sexual violence. By the time kids get to college 1 in 3 girls have experienced sexual violence and 1 in 6 boys have. Holladay is dealing with short-terin rental problems. A corporation bought a home in Holladay, stopped taking care of it, and is renting it to multiple people at a time. Representative Moss's bill would not allow short-term rentals to Millcreek City Council Meeting Minutes 11 January 2022 Page 4 of 4 be advertised where they are not allowed based on zoning. Council Member DeSirant said that his view is that short-term rentals take away from housing stock that young families need. Corporations buying up houses stops tlie economic growth of communities. Mayor Silvestrini spoke about how Millcreek deals with short-tenn rentals. Millcreek licenses them and requires that they be owner-occupied. Still the problem is enforcement because this is a complaint driven issue. Representative Moss said there is no incentive for a corporation to keep the home maintained. Senator Iwamoto is working on several bills on local election amendments, Native American affairs, increasing penalties for driving at excessive speeds, correction officer eligibility amendments, days of remembrance, and flow rates and quantity for bathroom fixtures (this would save millions of gallons of water per year). Senator Iwamoto is also drafting bills concerning housing tax amendments, appropriation requests, and long-term care studies regarding elderly care. Senator Iwamoto thanked Mayor Silvestrini for the way Millcreek handled firework issues during the suinrner. 4. Questions, Comments, and Closing Remarks Representative Moss noted that her new district is 35% Millcreek. ADJOTJRNED: Council Member Jackson moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:30 a.m. Council Member DeSirant seconded. Mayor Silvestrini called for the vote. All Council Members voted yes. The motion passed unanimously.