City Council

Minutes of Joint Session of Council of Ogden City, Utah, July 28, 2015 Page Minutes of the Joint Study Session of the Ogden City Council, also acting as the Redevelopment Agency, held on Tuesday, July 28, 2015 at 5:30 p.m., in the Council Work Room on the third floor of the Municipal Building, 2549 Washington Boulevard, Ogden City, Weber County, Utah. Present: Chair Richard A. Hyer Vice Chair Marcia L. White Council members Bart E. Blair Neil K. Garner Doug Stephens Council Executive Director Bill Cook Council Deputy Director Janene Eller-Smith Council Policy Analyst Glenn Symes Communications Manager Amy Sue Mabey Excused: Council members Caitlin K. Gochnour Amy L. Wicks Also present: Acting Chief Administrative Officer Jay Lowder Water Utility Manager Kenton Moffett Community and Economic Development Deputy Manager Brandon Cooper Deputy Planning Manager Rick Grover Deputy City Recorder Julia LaSeure The purpose of the Joint Study Session was to review agenda items for the City Council and Special Redevelopment Agency meetings which begin at 6:00 p.m., and to discuss Council and Board business. Council Business Report from Council Leadership: Council Executive Director Cook reported the Council has asked for updates regarding recent flooding issues and graffiti. Water Utility Manager Moffett addressed recent flooding issues. He noted the Water Utility Division conducted testing on City lines a few weeks ago using specialized equipment and the testing yielded no results as to the cause of the flooding. A water leak was identified two blocks from the flood area, but that leak was less than a gallon of water per minute. He mentioned a meeting was held recently with residents affected by the flooding as well as representatives of State government. Information was distributed to all attendees to ensure they are aware that the source of the flood water in the homes is not the City’s water system. He stated, since the meeting, additional testing has been done by City staff as well as an independent contractor and the results indicate that City lines are not causing the flooding. He indicated he has spoken with representatives of Pineview Water Systems who also used an independent contractor to test their lines and that investigation did not identify flooding problems from Pineview lines. He stated he spoke with a couple of residents experiencing flooding today and asked whether they have noticed a difference in the water flows. The residents answered no and indicated they are hiring a geologist to determine if the flooding source is ground water. He stated it is his understanding that 14 or 15 homes are impacted and the majority are dealing with water in their crawl spaces. Chair Hyer mentioned that he was in the area when the independent contractor was conducting testing in the neighborhood and he felt they were very thorough in their testing. He is comfortable with the amount of effort that the contractor put forth to try to identify the flooding source. He stated he is sympathetic to the residents that are dealing with the flooding and wished there was a way to determine the source. Mr. Moffett agreed and stated he is hopeful the geologist can provide valuable information regarding the cause of the flooding. There was general discussion regarding various testing methods used to potentially determine the flooding source, after which Chair Hyer asked if there are any opportunities to provide the homeowners with funding from the Home Emergency Loan Program (HELP) to install French drains around their homes to deal with possible future flooding. Council Policy Analyst Symes indicated staff would need to review the guidelines of the HELP Program and other funding programs in the City to determine whether this situation would qualify for such program funding. There was general discussion regarding groundwater flooding, after which Council member Stephens asked when the State’s audit of the flooding situation will be completed. Mr. Moffett replied it is his understanding that the State is auditing the City’s response procedures regarding the flood rather than actually auditing the source of the flooding. He indicated he is unsure when the results of the audit will be available. Public Services Director Lowder confirmed the State is auditing the City’s due diligence in responding to the flooding and he was pleased to turn over all records relating to the incident to the State as he feels the City’s due diligence will exceed standards. He added the City has provided dumpsters to the affected neighborhood to give them options for disposing of items that have been damaged in the flood. The City has also offered testing equipment and dye supplies to Pineview Water Systems in the event they want to conduct further tests to determine whether the flood is related to their system. Mr. Lowder then responded to the request for information regarding graffiti. He noted he has not seen a dramatic increase in graffiti incidents so he asked the Police Department to provide statistics regarding graffiti incidents. In 2014 there were 54 graffiti incidents reported and in 2015 there were 56. He stated the major difference he has noticed is that more graffiti incidents seem to be occurring in the eastern side of the City and there has been a notable increase in graffiti on Harrison and Washington Boulevards. He added the groups responsible for the graffiti have changed as well and the Police Department is still working to determine who is responsible for the most recent graffiti. He indicated that his Department’s practice is to address graffiti within 24 hours, with the exception of instances where it is necessary to obtain permission from private property owners to remove graffiti and that cannot be accomplished in 24 hours. Council member Stephens asked if those found to be responsible for graffiti are required to pay a fine or to cover the cost of the graffiti removal. Mr. Lowder explained that the offense is a misdemeanor, which carries a defined fine, and the responsible party is required to complete community service. He stated the City uses a graffiti task force made up largely of kids that were caught doing graffiti. Council Agenda Review Council Executive Director Cook and other members of Council staff briefly reviewed the items listed on the agenda for the Council meeting scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. There was brief discussion regarding the item listed on the agenda regarding the joint resolution pertaining to the transit study, with a focus on the difference between the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and Streetcar modes of transit. Mr. Cook noted that if the Council adopts a joint resolution this evening supporting the BRT, but decides to change course and opt for a streetcar system six months from now, that would cause significant delays and increased engineering costs associated with the project. The meeting adjourned at 6:00 p.m. /s/ Julia M. LaSeure JULIA M. LASEURE, MMC DEPUTY CITY RECORDER /s/ Richard A. Hyer RICHARD A. HYER, CHAIR APPROVED: September 15, 2015