City Council

1 River Heights City Council 2 Minutes of the Meeting 3 March 25, 2014 4 5 6 Present were: Mayor James Brackner 7 Council members: Doug Clausen 8 Richard Okelberry 9 Geoff Smith 10 Dixie Wilson 11 Blake Wright 12 13 Recorder Sheila Lind 14 Public Works Director Clayten Nelson 15 Treasurer Wendy Wilker 16 17 Others Present: See attached roll 18 19 Excused Finance Director Cliff Grover 20 21 22 The following motions were made during the meeting: 23 24 Motion #1 25 Councilmember Clausen moved to “adopt the minutes of the March 11, 2014 Council meeting 26 and the evening’s agenda.” Council member Okelberry seconded the motion, which passed with 27 Clausen, Okelberry, Smith, Wilson and Wright in favor. No one opposed. 28 29 Motion #2 30 Councilmember Clausen moved to “pay the bills as listed.” Councilmember Wilson seconded 31 the motion, which passed with Clausen, Okelberry, Smith, Wilson and Wright in favor. No one 32 opposed. 33 34 Motion #3 35 Councilmember Wright moved that “the Council adopt the Mark Watterson Minor Subdivision 36 Final Plat as recommended by the Planning Commission.” Councilmember Clausen seconded the 37 motion, which carried with Clausen, Okelberry, Smith, Wilson and Wright in favor. No one opposed. 38 39 Motion #4 40 Councilmember Clausen moved to “provide $8,500 for storm water maintenance which will be 41 administered through PWD Nelson. He will work in conjunction with ProLog to help identify 42 projects. Public works will spend a maximum of 60 hours on the projects which will take place within 43 city limits. This work should be restricted to storm water main laterals.” Councilmember Okelberry 44 seconded the motion which carried with Clausen, Okelberry, Smith, Wilson and Wright in favor. 45 46 River Heights City Council Meeting, 03/25/14 1 47 Motion #5 48 Councilmember Wilson moved to “continue to rent the city building with the following 49 conditions: 1. Rent only to River Heights residents. 2. The resident who rents the building must be 50 present during the rented time. 3. Rentals are for a five hour block minimum. 4. Over five hours will 51 be an additional cost of $25.00/hour. 5. Renters must indicate, at the time of rental, how long they plan 52 to rent the building. 6. If renter hasn’t paid five days in advance of their reservation, it will be 53 canceled.” Councilmember Clausen seconded the motion, which carried with Clausen, Smith, Wilson 54 and Wright in favor. Okelberry voted against. 55 56 Motion #6 57 Councilmember Okelberry moved to “go into executive session to discuss the sale of real 58 property.” Councilmember Wilson seconded the motion, which carried with Clausen, Okelberry, 59 Smith, Wilson and Wright in favor. No one opposed. 60 61 Motion #7 62 Councilmember Clausen moved “to allow Mayor Brackner to sell the water reservoir property 63 located in Logan for $22,500 minus half the cost of the appraisal.” Councilmember Okelberry 64 seconded the motion, which carried with Clausen, Okelberry, Smith, Wilson and Wright in favor. No 65 one opposed. 66 67 Motion #8 68 Councilmember Okelberry moved to “allow PWD Nelson to purchase a Neatdesk scanner for 69 the office with an extended warranty, not to exceed $425.” Councilmember Clausen seconded the 70 motion, which carried with Clausen, Okelberry, Smith, Wilson and Wright in favor. 71 72 73 Proceedings of the Meeting: 74 75 The River Heights City Council met at 6:30 p.m. in the Ervin R. Crosbie Council Chambers in 76 the River Heights City Building on Tuesday, March 25, 2014. In the absence of Finance Director 77 Grover, Treasurer Wilker filled in. 78 Opening Remarks and Pledge of Allegiance: Councilmember Clausen opened the meeting with 79 a thought. PWD Nelson led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. 80 Adoption of Previous Minutes and Agenda: Minutes of the March 11, 2014 Council meeting 81 were reviewed. 82 Councilmember Clausen moved to “adopt the minutes of the March 11, 2014 Council 83 meeting and the evening’s agenda.” Council member Okelberry seconded the motion, which 84 passed with Clausen, Okelberry, Smith, Wilson and Wright in favor. No one opposed. 85 Pay Bills: The bills were presented and discussed. 86 Councilmember Clausen moved to “pay the bills as listed.” Councilmember Wilson 87 seconded the motion, which passed with Clausen, Okelberry, Smith, Wilson and Wright in favor. 88 No one opposed. 89 Finance Director Report: Ms. Wilker asked if there were any questions she could pass on to 90 Finance Director Grover. Councilmember Clausen asked for an analysis of impact fees; the amounts 91 available and when it needs to be spent. River Heights City Council Meeting, 03/25/14 2  92 Councilmember Okelberry asked Ms. Wilker if she’d like an updated Office system. She will 93 ask Mr. Grover. 94 Purchase Requisition Requests: There were none. 95 Public Works Report and Discussion: Clayten Nelson reported on the following: 96  They have been working on the new office downstairs. They have removed the shelves and 97 installed them in the other closet. They will continue with having a window cut, sheet-rocking, 98 etc. 99  Yesterday he received an email suggesting the city take a look at the nature trail. He found that 100 someone removed all the city’s signs. He called the Sheriff to investigate. He’ll keep the 101 Council updated on what they find out. 102  The park restrooms are open. 103  Councilmember Wright asked what Rocky Mountain Power is doing on Temple View Drive. 104 Mr. Nelson reported they are redoing all the power lines since they’ve had continual trouble 105 with them. Century Link will also be making repairs soon. 106 Administrative Report: Recorder Lind asked if the Council was interested in saving 3 boxes of 107 River Heights History Book pages. Mayor Brackner suggested there might be someone who would 108 want to write a continuance of the history which could be added to the unbound copies. 109 Councilmember Okelberry recommended making a digital copy of them. Mayor Brackner will ask 110 Bob Davis if he might be interested in the task. Ms. Lind also informed that she will be out of town for 111 the next seven days. 112 Public Comment: Joanna Sorensen would like permission for a fundraising event in River 113 Heights for Paul and Jerusha Daines, who are citizens of River Heights. Jerusha is in the hospital 114 waiting for a lung transplant. There are a lot of costs associated with this. Ms. Sorensen is the 115 president of a running club who would like to plan a family friendly fundraising event. They are 116 envisioning a carnival/running activities/dinner by the Lions Club, etc. They have different concepts 117 they are working on. Councilmember Clausen asked if they had permission from the County to use 118 their roads. Ms. Sorensen is hoping to just use the River Heights roads around the city block. They 119 would like to hold the event on Monday, April 21 for a couple hours in the evening. They would love 120 to have use of the park and pavilion for free. They asked for council support for the event and 121 permission to hang yellow ribbons around the city. They have set up an on-line fund collector and 122 wondered if the River Heights website could include a link to the gofundme account. They would like 123 to use the royalty girls to help deliver flyers for the event. Ms. Sorensen will check with the 124 availability of the sheriff on that evening. There is a lady in River Heights who trains and helps others 125 ride horses, who is willing to come. They have feelers out for liability coverage for the event, if the 126 city’s insurance won’t cover it. The Council said the horse lady would need to have her own 127 insurance. 128 Mayor Brackner gave approval for them to use the city pavilion and park for staging. They will 129 need to let PWD Nelson know which roads they would like to use. Mayor Brackner said the city will 130 get in touch with the sheriff’s department. Councilmember Wilson questioned having the gofundme 131 link on the city’s website. She doesn’t want to do anything illegal or that would set a precedence. 132 Councilmember Okelberry feels it would be okay for the River Heights site to have a link to the 133 fundraising site. The city won’t be collecting money for the cause. Mr. Okelberry will research it. 134 Mayor Brackner said if they find a legal issue they’ll withdraw their website offer. Krystle Briel said 135 there’s a chance the story may get aired on KSL. 136 Awarding of 2013 Royalty Scholarships: Councilmember Smith presented a $100 scholarship 137 check to the royalty girls from 2013. The girls were: Katie Anderson, Elise Francis, and Amanda River Heights City Council Meeting, 03/25/14 3 138 Nielson. Not in attendance were Janessa Benson and Sydney Longhurst. Appreciation was expressed 139 for all they had done to represent the city in the parades. 140 Presentation of the 2014 Royalty: Tamber Weston introduced the royalty girls that would be 141 representing the city in 2014: Izabelle Maddock, Savannah Davidson, Samantha Francis and Elise 142 Francis. The royalty committee of 2014 consisted of Tamber Weston, Roxanne Bilboa, Peggy Smith, 143 and Tami Bryan. 144 Nyman Mortuary Update: Lonnie Nyman said they are waiting for the city to finish up the 145 closing on the sale of the 800 South right-of-way. Mayor Brackner stated the city attorney has sent the 146 land description to Mr. Nyman’s title company so they should be able to close. Mr. Nyman reported 147 that construction should start in late summer/early fall. They have had some issues with their 148 competitors. Councilmember Wright asked if he is getting things worked out with the two irrigation 149 companies. Mr. Nyman will check with his engineer. Rex Davidsavor (ProLog president) informed 150 that City Engineer Craig Rasmussen is aware of the irrigation concerns. 151 Watterson Minor Subdivision Final Plat: Councilmember Wright explained Mr. Watterson’s 152 desire to divide off a single parcel from a larger parcel owned by his father. It is presently zoned R-1- 153 12. They would like to rezone the one lot to R-1-8. They don’t want to rezone the whole 10 acre 154 parcel. The Planning Commission has held a public hearing on the rezone and the minor subdivision. 155 The Commission has given their recommendation to the Council for approval of both. They have 156 added five feet to the rear property line to allow for a city utility easement. Mr. Wright has discussed 157 this change with Attorney Jenkins who said the change is minor enough that another hearing won’t be 158 needed. Mr. Wright referred to the letter from Engineer Rasmussen, sent this morning, which says he 159 doesn’t see a problem with the council approving it tonight. 160 Councilmember Wilson asked if the council needed to hold a public hearing for the rezone. 161 Councilmember Wright said the hearing was already held at the Planning Commission. Recorder Lind 162 realized a rezone requires an ordinance, which requires a public hearing. She will have an ordinance 163 ready for the next meeting in two weeks. 164 Councilmember Wright moved that “the Council adopt the Mark Watterson Minor 165 Subdivision Final Plat as recommended by the Planning Commission.” Councilmember Clausen 166 seconded the motion, which carried with Clausen, Okelberry, Smith, Wilson and Wright in 167 favor. No one opposed. 168 Watterson Re-zone Request from R-1-8 to R-1-12: The council is willing to adopt the rezone, 169 once they have an ordinance in front of them, which will be ready for adoption on April 8th. 170 ProLog Funding Discussion: Councilmember Clausen asked ProLog President Rex Davidsavor 171 to give an update on their projects. Mr. Davidsavor mentioned some things that need to be done and 172 explained a project he has committed to, at a cost of $12,000, which they have started. He and PWD 173 Nelson have discussed and looked at some of the project needs in River Heights, in which the city 174 could help with. 175 Councilmember Clausen moved to “provide $8,500 for storm water maintenance which 176 will be administered through PWD Nelson. He will work in conjunction with ProLog to help 177 identify projects. Public works will spend a maximum of 60 hours on the projects which will take 178 place within city limits. This work should be restricted to storm water main laterals.” 179 Councilmember Okelberry seconded the motion which carried with Clausen, Okelberry, Smith, 180 Wilson and Wright in favor. 181 PWD Nelson said there are some projects that directly relate to the city that this money could 182 be used for. He needs to meet with Treasurer Wilker and Mayor Brackner to discuss how the storm River Heights City Council Meeting, 03/25/14 4 183 water budget is set up. He’d like to know where the $3 monthly fee that is collected from utility users 184 is recorded. This money should be used for these types of projects. 185 Rex Davidsavor was grateful for this pledge. He suggested it would be nice to meet together 186 and have a commitment from the city each year for improving the ditches in River Heights. The 187 ditches get overgrown and need upkeep. He reminded that the ditches belong to the city more months 188 out of the year that they belong to the irrigation company. 189 PWD Nelson said there are several projects they can do for very little money. Mayor Brackner 190 recommended the city earmark $8,500 and have Mr. Nelson oversee how it gets spent on the ditch 191 projects. 192 Discuss Hiring a Grant Finder: Councilmember Clausen said City Engineer Rasmussen has 193 talked to Paul Larsen, who has found grants for Brigham City. Based on their conversation, Mr. 194 Clausen feels we should forget the idea for now. River Heights has a hard time getting grants because 195 the median income is so high. Mr. Larsen didn’t have any additional avenues or ideas to try. Mayor 196 Brackner said Corry Bowers was willing to check on possible grants for sidewalks, or whatever else 197 the city would like. 198 Discuss City Building Rental: Councilmember Wilson discussed her proposal (included with 199 the minutes), which included buying a large gun safe for all the sensitive items/files in the city 200 building. Treasurer Wilker explained the amount of sensitive information, as well as on the computer, 201 which can’t be put in a safe. Ms. Wilson doesn’t think government should restrict public buildings for 202 use only by government employees and council members. She feels, if the building gets closed to the 203 public then no groups at all should use it (Lions, city people, etc.) since it’s not secure enough. She 204 feels her proposal will cut down on the number of times it is used, the amount of time that people are 205 in the building and the possible danger concerning the sensitive information. Councilmember 206 Okelberry suggested the school could be used for community events. He’s not sure about renting to 207 only River Heights residents. He feels it’s discriminative. He agrees with the rest of Ms. Wilson’s 208 suggestions. Although, he is concerned about the expense of having an employee come lock and 209 unlock the building after hours. Ms. Wilson agreed it would be much easier not to rent it. If they 210 decide not to rent it, she asked that the building not be used by any groups at all. 211 Councilmember Clausen is fine with only renting to River Heights residents and other ideas of 212 Councilmember Wilson’s. 213 PWD Nelson stated, while the downstairs office is being finished they have equipment out. He 214 asked that it not be rented until the project is finished. After the office is completed they may need to 215 have some equipment in the kitchen, such as a copier that would be shared between the two offices. If 216 this is the case, the renting of the building would need to be reconsidered again. 217 Councilmember Wilson moved to “continue to rent the city building with the following 218 conditions: 1. Rent only to River Heights residents. 2. The resident who rents the building must 219 be present during the rented time. 3. Rentals are for a five hour block minimum. 4. Over five 220 hours will be an additional cost of $25.00/hour. 5. Renters must indicate, at the time of rental, 221 how long they plan to rent the building. 6. If renter hasn’t paid five days in advance of their 222 reservation, it will be canceled.” Councilmember Clausen seconded the motion, which carried 223 with Clausen, Smith, Wilson and Wright in favor. Okelberry voted against. 224 Mayor Brackner reminded that renting will be put in abeyance until the downstairs office is 225 finished. 226 Discuss Unplugged Program: Mayor Brackner asked for ideas on youth activities that the city 227 can sponsor. All the cities involved are sponsoring programs. Ideas were discussed, such as scavenger 228 hunt, fishing, hiking, etc. It was suggested that business owners living in River Heights might be asked River Heights City Council Meeting, 03/25/14 5 229 to consider being a sponsor. Mayor Brackner asked Councilmember Smith to coordinate with those in 230 charge of the program. Mr. Smith will work on it and report back to the Council on what he’s come up 231 with. 232 Sidewalk Recommendation: Mayor Brackner said he has reviewed the city sidewalks with 233 PWD Nelson. They decided the money that has been budgeted for the 600 South school route 234 sidewalk will be used for just that. For next year he recommended looking into repairing and replacing 235 sidewalk on 700 South between 300 East and 400 East. PWD Nelson said there are issues with 700 236 South because of the irrigation ditch. He suggested getting a group together to recommend areas for 237 getting kids to school. The Council agreed to go ahead and do the sidewalk across from the school this 238 year. 239 Executive Session to Discuss the Sale of Real Property: Mayor Brackner explained the 240 situation with the River Heights property in Logan, purchased years ago for the possibility of water 241 storage. Since River Heights no longer needs it and Logan has built over the easement to access the 242 property, it makes sense to sell it. 243 Councilmember Okelberry moved to “go into executive session to discuss the sale of real 244 property.” Councilmember Wilson seconded the motion, which carried with Clausen, 245 Okelberry, Smith, Wilson and Wright in favor. No one opposed. 246 The Council entered the closed session at 8:20 p.m. and returned to the open meeting at 8:25 247 p.m. 248 Councilmember Clausen moved “to allow Mayor Brackner to sell the water reservoir 249 property located in Logan for $22,500, minus half the cost of the appraisal.” Councilmember 250 Okelberry seconded the motion, which carried with Clausen, Okelberry, Smith, Wilson and 251 Wright in favor. No one opposed. 252 Mayor and Council Reports: Council member Wright explained the Commission is going to 253 hire an outside planner to help design the park/cemetery property, which is already in the Planning 254 Budget. Keith Christensen and Mike Kelly have submitted bids. He informed the Council that he and 255 Commissioner Davidsavor would like to go over the details of the bids and then move forward with 256 hiring one of the consultants. Mayor Brackner stated he has gone through all the records pertaining to 257 the purchase of this property and found the city paid $141,000 for it. He discussed a summary of 258 where the funds came from. Anywhere between $6,000-10,000 was paid from park impact funds. The 259 rest came out of the general fund. Mr. Wright said it won’t be a problem to have a portion of it 260 developed into parks. The general consensus of the Commission is a park/cemetery. They envision a 261 plan that starts as parks and will slowly be overtaken by cemetery. The planner will help determine 262 future costs. The Council agreed Mr. Wright and Mr. Davidsavor can review the bids, removing any 263 tasks they don’t see as needed and then decide who to hire. Mr. Wright assured it won’t cost more 264 than $4,000. 265 Councilmember Wright said there has been a formal complaint filed by a citizen in the 266 Riverdale area over their neighbor’s lighting. Zoning Administrator Don Davis has tried to rectify the 267 situation but it hasn’t worked. Mr. Wright is investigating the claim, trying to determine the level of 268 incompliance. Then he will have Attorney Jenkins send a letter to the one in noncompliance, letting 269 him know what the city expects. Mr. Wright will keep Mayor Brackner informed. 270 Councilmember Wilson informed that city officials have been invited by the Senior Center to 271 volunteer with them during the week of April 7-11 with the Meals on Wheels program, in an effort to 272 become familiar with how the program works. 273 Councilmember Wilson reported that t-ball sign-ups are set up to begin on April 1. She asked 274 for feedback on ‘no dogs in the parks.’ PWD Nelson said they can’t tell if things are getting better yet. River Heights City Council Meeting, 03/25/14 6 275 Councilmember Clausen didn’t’ have anything. 276 Councilmember Okelberry has found an office scanner at Walmart for $369. It is called a 277 Neatdesk and received a review of 10 out of 10. 278 Councilmember Okelberry moved to “allow PWD Nelson to purchase a Neatdesk scanner 279 for the office with an extended warranty, not to exceed $425.” Councilmember Clausen 280 seconded the motion, which carried with Clausen, Okelberry, Smith, Wilson and Wright in 281 favor. 282 Councilmember Smith announced plans for a beautification week during April 22-26. The 283 Beautification Committee would like to encourage yard clean up by offering curbside pick-up of 284 branches during this week. They plan to have an all day city clean up on the 26th. PWD Nelson 285 suggested contacting a business about bringing in additional greenwaste dumpsters. Mr. Smith asked 286 for recommendations on places in the city that residents could help clean up. Hillside Park was 287 mentioned and a few other areas. 288 Councilmember Smith is meeting with the youth council tonight. They have eight interested 289 members so far. They will start having meetings and activities. Todd Rasmussen is their advisor. 290 Mayor Brackner informed Councilmember Clausen about an upcoming library meeting. Mayor 291 Brackner informed of a seminar about grants, put on by BRAG. He asked if it would be beneficial for 292 him to attend. Councilmember Wright said he and Councilmember Clausen went once and found that 293 River Heights isn’t eligible for this type of grants because the average income is too high. They didn’t 294 recommend attending. 295 Mayor Brackner discussed the upcoming ULCT convention in St. George. Councilmember 296 Wright recommended the Salt Lake convention in the fall. It seems to have more pertinent information 297 for cities the size of River Heights. The Council encouraged Mr. Brackner to attend the one in St 298 George to see if it might have useful information. 299 Mayor Brackner reported on a wastewater treatment meeting he and Councilmember Clausen 300 attended. Logan has been promised 70 million dollars in funding from the State for their treatment 301 plant upgrade. By them receiving this, it lowers the chances of other cities in the valley to get funding. 302 Mayor Brackner foresees River Heights continuing with Logan, as well as the other sister cities. 303 Logan has proposed a technical committee. Mayor Brackner has drafted a letter of suggestions to 304 Logan City, which was read by Councilmember Clausen. PWD Nelson suggested having discussion 305 with Logan City, on our own so they know where River Heights stands. Mayor Brackner and Mr. 306 Nelson are interested in working with Logan in a cooperative manner. 307 Mayor Brackner asked PWD Nelson to look into acquiring new trucks, under state contracts, 308 every two years. Mr. Nelson has done some investigation and found the city can purchase a brand new 309 truck for a discount and then resale it in two years and break even. This would cut out paying for 310 repairs on the older trucks. Discussion was held on selling some of the older trucks. Mayor Brackner 311 wants to discuss this at a later meeting. 312 The meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m. 313 314 ______________________________ 315 Sheila Lind, Recorder 316 ________________________________ 317 James Brackner, Mayor River Heights City Council Meeting, 03/25/14 7