City Council

Minutes of the Millcreek City Council December 4, 2024 9:00 a.m. Special Meeting The City Council of Millcreek, Utah, met in a special public meeting on December 4, 2024, at City Hall, located at 1330 E. Chambers Avenue, Millcreek, UT 84106. PRESENT: Council Members City Staff Jeff Silvestrini, Mayor (arrived at 9:l7am) Mike Winder, City Manager Silvia Catten, District I Elyse Sullivan, City Recorder Thom DeSirant, District 2 (excused) Francis Lilly, Assistant City Manager Cheri Jackson, District 3 John Miller, Public Works Director Bev Uipi, DiStrid 4 (arrived at 9:43arn) Jim Hardy, Building Official Rita Lund, Communications Director Lisa Dudley, HR-Finance Director Attendees: Ashley Mirabelli, Dave Spatafore, County Council Member Laurie Stringham, Representative Doug Owens, Representative Carol Spackman-Moss TIME COMMENCED: 9:02 a.m. Mike Winder welcomed legislators and introductions were made. County Council Member Laurie Stringham said the county was looking at a new housing and zoning ordinance that would require the zoning to be for owner-only occupied low-income housing. Each property within it would be deed restricted. There would be no rentals. She said there was a lot of interest in it. There would be specific zoned islands in areas. Francis Lilly asked who would manage the deed restriction long-term. County Council Member Stringham said the zone change would go through the county and code enforcement would do that. They may beta test the zone using county owned property initially to control prices and lease it to developers, then sale the property. She noted there was some criticism of the county council because members did not feel the county should be in the development industry. The goal is to create available housing. She reported that the county would be closing its justice court and ending municipal services. At the end of 2026, the unincorporated county population will go from 12,000 to 1,200 people. She acknowledged some challenges with the current justice court. Dave Spatafore noted local municipalities did not make money with courts. 1. Mfflcreek Report Mike Winder showed the elected officials the plans for Millcreek Common Phase II, which has been a catalyst for outdoor recreation. More than 2/3 of Millcreek residents are farther that a 10 Millcreek City Council Meeting Minutes 4 December 2024 Page 2 of 4 minute walk to a park or open space. The city center is Millcreek's most intense development area (1,600 residential units). It is envisioned as a regional center for coinmerce and culture. He described the proposed amenities including a miniature golf course, skate park, shade structure, playground, grass, and creek/water feature. The funding sources include a Tourism, Recreation, Culture, and Convention (TRCC) grant from Salt Lake County, General Fund, park impact fees, and Woodland Avenue Coinmunity Reinvestment Area funds from Millcreek, Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) and a Utah Division of Outdoor Recreation grant from the State of Utah, and National Park Service, Land and Water Conservation Fund (NPS) from the federal governinent. Mayor Silvestrini said Millcreek had a good record of quickly putting money to good use. Winder said ground would be broken for Phase II by May 2025 and the project would be done by August 2026. Representative Owens asked about developers funding some of Phase II. Winder said they would through park impact fees. Lilly brought up tax increment from the coinmunity reinvestment agency being used in developers' "front yards" without providing them with any incentives. Mayor Silvestrini said the existing Millcreek Common has attracted development. Mayor Silvestrini brought up having satellite county offices throughout the county and Millcreek hosting a small store front. Council Member Stringham said it was confusing for people to figure out where all the county offices were at the current county buiIdings. She said the county headquarters would be moving to Midvale soon. They are readjusting for a customer service model. A comi'nittee spent a couple of years finding a new location for the county offices. The goal for the current space is to keep the land and lease it to pay for the long term maintenance of the new building. Winder said Millcreek was interested in a particular bill this coming legislative session. State code currently does not allow cities to lien property for delinquent utility bills though special districts have the authority. The bill would give cities the authority to lien property for delinquent bills. Mayor Silvestrini said when the city does not have its own utilities, they go through third parties. Millcreek bills its stormwater maintenance fee through Rocky Mountain Power. But when people do not pay it, the power company does not have any authority to enforce the fee. The expense to the city to sue for the fee is prohibitive. Mayor Silvestrini reported it would help other cities like Taylorsville, Holladay, and Cottonwood Heights, too. Winder said another bill of interest is about building officials and inspectors. Ashley Mirabelli said the original bill would have gotten rid of licensure for building inspectors. The current bill is to maintain licensure and put more guardrails around building officials. Complaints against building officials would be filed with the Unifornn Building Code Coinrnission. Spatafore felt the bill would change before the legislative session. Jim Hardy said building officials did not currently have licensure, and that was an improvement since that person should be qualified. He wants qualified, licensed inspectors to ensure buildings are built properly. He hears from home builders about problems with cities, but it is not on a grand scale but rather with particular cities. Mayor Silvestrini said the building community has wanted to privatize inspections through anecdotal evidence. He wanted data collected. Inspections protect the public firom unsound construction. The best example is housing sliding off the hill in Draper a couple of years back. He did not want to see the privatization of inspections. He said some cities may be slow to inspect, but the legislature addressed that the prior year to have two back up agencies conduct inspections if needed. The building code is set by the state, and the inspectors just enforce it, but some builders feel the code is not great. Hardy said there is an appeals judge to hear building Mfflcreek City Council Meeting Minutes 4 December 2024 Page 3 of 4 complaints. He feels going through a state appeal process would be harder for a builder than a city process. 2. Capstone Strategies Report None. 3. Legislator Reports Representative Spackman Moss aru'iounced she would be running a bill for the Utah Sign Association. The Division of Occupation and Professional Licensing feels electric signs should be installed by licensed electricians. Others feel that it is another government regulation. She said this would primarily affect YESCO. Representative Owens is focusing on water conservation and preserving the life of the Great Salt Lake. He was looking to expand the concept of water efficiency to commercial, industrial, and institutional uses. The idea is, if you do not walk on it, you do not have turf but a drip system with other kinds of vegetation. Representative Owens would like to limit the amount of square footage of turf on a new house. A lot of municipalities have been proactive with water conservation ordinances but 88 municipalities in the drainage of the Great Salt Lake have no water efficiency requirements. Mayor Silvestrini said the Utah League of Cities and Towns had a survey about restricting non-functional turf and converting existing non-functional turf into more water wise landscaping. Representative Owens noted the 88 municipalities contained 40% of the population in the drainage of the Great Salt Lake. He said people have expressed interest in having licensure for water efficient landscape design and installation and requiring pressure reduced sprinkler heads. Lisa Dudley asked if invasive species were part of the problem. Representative Owens said yes, eliminating all the phragmites would bring about 80,000 gallons back into the Great Salt Lake. Council Member Catten noted the Jordan River Commission has had phragmites as a point of concern for a long time. Representative Owens said air monitors were also needed. Mayor Silvestrini said there would be legislation relating to the Parley's mine. The bill says that local control be maintained with respect to zoning. He noted there were no air monitoring stations close to Parley's Canyon. He brought up that the Air Quality Board considered imposing a possible sunset clause on two cycle leaf blowers and offer a buyback program, but the legislature did not want that regulation. He acknowledged the state losing highway funding from the federal govenu'nent for not following EPA requirements. Dudley asked how the inland port would impact air quality. Representative Owens said a $150 million grant was received from the EPA to install clean, electrified equipment in the warehouses. He felt the port would still have a lot of negative impacts. Spackrnan Moss mentioned she was running two bills for the Holladay police chief, one on crosswalk citations and another on domestic violence. Spatafore said there was a recent bill on speeding in school zones that he would look into. 4. Questions, Comments, and Closing Remarks The mayor thanked the elected officials for attending. The meeting ended at lO:07am Millcreek City Council Meeting Minutes 4 December 2024 Page 4 of 4 APPROVED: Date (z,-A;-2b"f Jeff Silvestrini, Mayor Attest: ElyL';L, Recorder