City Council Meeting - ARCHIVED

SOUTH JORDAN CITY CITY COUNCIL MEETING January 2, 2024 Present: Mayor Dawn R. Ramsey, Council Member Patrick Harris, Council Member Don Shelton, Council Member Tamara Zander, Council Member Jason McGuire, Council Member Kathie Johnson, City Manager Dustin Lewis, Assistant City Manager Jason Rasmussen, City Attorney Ryan Loose, Director of Commerce Brian Preece, Director of Strategy & Budget Don Tingey, Fire Chief Chris Dawson, Director of Administrative Services Melinda Seager, Director of Public Works Raymond Garrison, Director of Recreation Janell Payne, CFO Sunil Naidu, Director of Planning Steven Schaefermeyer, City Engineer Brad Klavano, Police Chief Jeff Carr, Communications Manager Rachael Van Cleave, GIS Coordinator Matt Jarman, Senior Systems Administrator Phill Brown, IT Director Jon Day, City Recorder Anna Crookston, Meeting Transcriptionist Diana Baun, Parks & Rec Administrative Assistant Kaitlin Youd, Arts Program Coordinator Tiffany Parker Absent: Others: Shari, Liam & Kensie Harris; Daniel Johnson, Larry Short, Michele Hollist, Ruth Ann White, Michael Johnson, David Nielson, Lori Nielson, Abigail Robinson, Agden Besson, Brian Butters, Nanette Short, Suzanne Harrison, Luann Simonsen, David Fleming, Ted Fraughton, Kim & Sandi Burgon, Zach Jacob, Jay Frances, Kelsey Berg, Sheldon Stewart, Tracy Miller, Cameron Diehl, Corey Zander, Kate Zander, David Alvord; Tiffy, Chris, James & Lili Johnson; Karli Ashlee, Karyl Baun, Susan Pulsipher 6:44 P.M. REGULAR MEETING A. Welcome, Roll Call, and Introduction to Electronic Meeting - By Mayor, Dawn Ramsey Mayor Ramsey welcomed everyone and introduced the meeting. She specifically welcomed all the elected officials and other leaders from our community who were in attendance tonight. B. Invocation – By Council Member, Patrick Harris Council Member Harris offered the invocation. C. Pledge of Allegiance – By Assistant City Manager, Jason Rasmussen Manager Rasmussen led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. South Jordan City 2 City Council Meeting January 2, 2024 Council Member Zander motioned to move Item D.3., Oath of Office for Tamara Zander, to the end of the meeting’s agenda, after Item J. Council Member Harris seconded the motion; vote was unanimous in favor. D. Presentation Items D.1. Oath of Office of City Council Member, Patrick Harris. (By City Recorder, Anna Crookston) Council Member Harris expressed the following: “We have such wonderful people who live in the city. It is a pleasure to serve every day, seeing what we can do to help everyone in the city live their best potential is really what my desire is; trying to make the city the greatest we can. Our city has grown over the years and it is going to continue to grow. My desire, as it continues to grow, is to look at what is the absolute best we can make our city, and I will continue to put forth my best efforts to make that happen.” D.2. Oath of Office of City Council Member, Kathie L. Johnson. (By City Recorder, Anna Crookston) Council Member Johnson expressed the following: “I would just like to say thank you to everyone, especially my family, all of my friends and neighbors who have come; I can’t do anything without you. You are the backbone of everything that I do and I am so appreciative of having you in my life and as role models. I hope we can work together and build a strong and great community for all of us to live and enjoy together. Thank you for everyone who is here, I appreciate it, and I look forward to serving and getting to be reacquainted with our community and do my very best. I am ready to dig in, thank you.” D.3. Oath of Office of City Council Member, Tamara Zander. (By City Recorder, Anna Crookston) **Moved to the end of the meeting** E. Minute Approval E.1. December 5, 2023 City Council Study Meeting E.2. December 5, 2023 City Council Board of Canvassers Meeting E.3. December 5, 2023 City Council Meeting Council Member Harris motioned to approve the December 5, 2023 City Council Study Meeting minutes, December 5, 2023 City Council Board of Canvassers Meeting minutes, and December 5, 2023 City Council Meeting minutes as published. Council Member Council Member McGuire seconded the motion; vote was 5-0 unanimous in favor. South Jordan City 3 City Council Meeting January 2, 2024 F. Mayor and Council Reports Council Member Don Shelton: - He and his family were able to visit one of our local fire stations and he discussed Christmas with his family, sharing that his son was in the hospital but is home today. - Attended LPC (Legislative Policy Committee Meeting). - Visited with a candidate for a House Seat that is in part over South Jordan. Council Member Tamara Zander: - She and her daughter were able to meet Dr. Susan Madsen at the Common Good Awards, put on by Envision Utah. - Attended the Santa Sprint, the last SoJo Race of the year, and shared about the next race coming up titled “Break the Freeze,” on January 20. She talked about the Santa Sprint and some of the fun experiences she had there. Council Member Patrick Harris - Discussed what was going on with the South Valley Sewer Board, sharing that the Board Chair will be changing and that everything is going well there. They had their Christmas Party as well which was attended by many of our representatives who were able to speak with the board members. - There were some issues with residents that came up and city staff were quick to help resolve those problems, he thanked them for that, specifically Assistant City Manager Jason Rasmussen. Council Member Jason McGuire - Attended LPC Meeting. - Attended the Art’s Council’s December meeting, where after they concluded business they had a Christmas celebration to thank all the residents who have helped build up the arts in South Jordan. Mayor Dawn Ramsey - Attended the Envision Utah Common Good Awards, where one of the recipients of the award was Ivory Innovations. She was able to introduce that award to them, celebrating the 501c3 nonprofit started by the owners of Ivory Homes. - Invited to attend and help judge the We the People annual competition at South Jordan Elementary. - Recent DARE Graduations at Daybreak Elementary and Golden Fields Elementary. She talked about how this is a program the city has chosen to continue and how proud she is of all the hard work these fifth graders do. - Attended LPC Meeting. - Attended the Utah League of Cities and Towns Board Meeting in December. South Jordan City 4 City Council Meeting January 2, 2024 - Met with Governor Cox and Andrew Gruber, the Executive Director of the Wasatch Front Regional Council, to walk through the newly updated Wasatch Choice Vision. - Met with Beth Holbrook of the Utah Transit Authority here at City Hall to talk about the new TRAX stop planned in Daybreak, and to ensure it gets put in before the ballpark opens. - Multiple visits with legislative leadership. She thinks they are in a good place going into this next session. The League is working as great partners and really leading out on many innovative solutions that State Leadership is appreciative of. - Attended the monthly Salt Lake County Council of Mayors meeting, which included an update on “Code Blue,” the overflow shelter signal for when the homeless services in the wintertime are full and capacity expansions are needed. - Attended the Zion’s Bank Housing Summit, a meeting of business professionals and key philanthropy organizations in the state, to discuss housing and affordability. - Met with several candidates who are running for office this next year to discuss the city’s needs. - It has been a wonderful month with a lot of family birthdays, the holidays, and her son getting married tomorrow. She also shared her love of the acts of service already done and currently being done this time of year, watching the community care for each other. - Attended the Jordan Education Foundation Christmas for Kids, with this year being the biggest and best yet. She thanked all those who participated and shared their time to make this such a special event for all involved. G. Public Comment Mayor Ramsey opened the public comment portion of the meeting. Ted Fraughton (Resident) – I want to talk about a group I represent, called Intermountain Silent Flyers. We are a group of people interested in model aviation, particularly gliders, which you can see here. These are Styrofoam airplanes and we teach kids, youth groups, seniors, and about any other group you can imagine. About 10 years ago I worked with Salt Lake County Parks because we approached them for a place to fly primarily gliders and these small electric planes. They said “we have a perfect park for you, it is Bingham Creek Park.” Of course, it was slated to be built within six months, so we have waited for 10 years for this park to be built. We went up there and started flying a bit, and were approached by the police department and a couple of other people saying there is a city ordinance saying we can’t fly there. As a group, we feel this targets people who are interested in aviation and learning aviation. We have several people in our club that are commercial pilots, ex-military pilots, and people who have gone on to fly for the military in their surveillance drone programs. We would like to see this code changed and amended. It would be nice if it was citywide, but at least for Bingham Creek if we could make that exception. I worked for a year with the landscape architects to try and get us a facility there to do these things. They have big competitions, but we are not too interested in that. We fly mostly in the morning and right now nobody is using the park in the morning, we could be training kids at that time. Everybody in our group is a member of a national organization called South Jordan City 5 City Council Meeting January 2, 2024 AMA, and the AMA insures each pilot for $2.5 million in liability, so we feel like it’s very safe. We have never had an accident and our group has been organized for about 40 years now. I would just hope that the council would consider this so we could be a little more proactive to youth and others. There are very few places for us to fly these slower, glider type airplanes in the valley. Right now, if we have a group of kids from Provo we have to take them to Grantsville, so the logistics just get impossible. We are not asking to take over the park, we just want our fair chance at the use of it and the ability to do that. I hope you will consider that and if there are any questions I am happy to answer them. H. Action Item H.1. Resolution R2024-01, Proclaiming January 16, 2024 as Religious Freedom Day in the City of South Jordan. (By City Manager, Dustin Lewis) Mayor Ramsey suggested reading the proclamation on January 16, 2024 at the Council Meeting that night, since the date happens to land on a meeting night. Council Member McGuire motioned to approve Resolution R2024-01, Proclaiming January 16, 2024 as Religious Freedom Day in the City of South Jordan. Council Member Johnson seconded the motion. Roll Call Vote Yes – Council Member McGuire Yes – Council Member Johnson Yes – Council Member Harris Yes – Council Member Shelton Yes – Council Member Zander Motion passes by 5-0 vote in favor. I. Public Hearing Item I.1. Ordinance 2024-01, Amending Sections 17.04.240 (Public Utilities), 17.18.030 (Use Regulations), and 17.18.060 (Use Definitions) of the South Jordan City Municipal Code to change Public Utility and Restaurant Uses from Conditional Uses to Permitted Uses. (By Director of Planning, Steven Schaefermeyer) Planning Director Steven Schaefermeyer reviewed background information from the Council Report. Mayor Ramsey opened the public hearing for comments; there were no comments and the hearing was closed. South Jordan City 6 City Council Meeting January 2, 2024 Council Member Shelton pointed out a few specific utilities in the city and asked staff how this change might impact residents in regards to future work or upgrades. Director Schaefermeyer responded that all utilities will still have to come to the city for permits. He referenced work recently done by Questar on 1300 W, noting that they were required to come to the city with a site plan because of the larger changes to their site. There will still be a public hearing process allowing residents to come and hear what’s going on. Even in the Rocky Mountain Power case referenced in the Council Report, they had public service requirements through Utah and Federal requirements that required them to reach out to those affected by the transmission line upgrade; he assumes it is a similar situation with a gas line or other utilities. He discussed easements, noting that property owners are noticed there is an easement on their property; particularly in the case of buried utilities that may not be seen. The Rocky Mountain Power case was interesting because people had actual poles in their front yard, which means they were aware of the utility placement when moving in. Health concerns are brought up many times during these types of public hearings, but Federal Regulations have preempted the city entirely from considering many of those concerns. He gave examples related to wireless communication utilities and the health concerns commonly expressed, noting that the FCC has preempted the city from taking those kinds of concerns into consideration. The main thing for the public to know is that the place to challenge those sorts of things is not at the local level, it would be at the federal level. Council Member Shelton asked about a utility owner wanting to increase the height of something like a tower, would this change in code affect that process. Director Schaefermeyer responded that wireless communications are really their own issue due to complicated FCC regulations. There is even a provision in the code that allows them to increase the height without having to go through the city’s process for a site plan amendment. Other utilities have to come to the city, and that is usually done through the Engineering Department in regards to things like encroachment permits, submitting plans and the timing of their project. However, what they are putting in the ground is much harder to regulate. Council Member Shelton asked if this would affect the process for sewer line changes. Director Schaefermeyer responded no, not unless they had an actual facility like a treatment plant or pump station. Council Member Shelton asked if this would affect how the city deals with companies like Google Fiber. Director Schaefermeyer responded no, not unless they built an actual facility. Otherwise, there are franchise agreements that regulate companies like that. South Jordan City 7 City Council Meeting January 2, 2024 Council Member Harris appreciated staff putting this change forward. He talked about the previous issues discussed with the power lines in the past and how many members of the public see these kinds of things on an agenda and think this body can stop things like power lines going in. This helps clear up that authority significantly, showing that the council does not have the power to stop many of these things. Council Member Shelton is grateful for the ability to discuss this. Creating efficiencies and clearing things up so they don’t have the public thinking they can do things they actually can’t is great. Any time they are discussing changing or eliminating a public process, making it a process strictly handled by staff, they really need to think about that and analyze it thoroughly. Council Member Shelton motioned to approve Ordinance 2024-01, Amending the above listed sections of the South Jordan City Municipal Code. Council Member Zander seconded the motion. Roll Call Vote Yes – Council Member Shelton Yes – Council Member Zander Yes – Council Member Harris Yes – Council Member Johnson Yes – Council Member McGuire Motion Passes by 5-0 vote in favor. Mayor Ramsey acknowledged the city’s Planning Commission Chair, Michele Hollist, who was in attendance, as well as Representative Susan Pulsipher and School Board President, Tracy Miller. She invited Representative Pulsipher and President Miller up to say a few words. Representative Susan Pulsipher shared that it is always a pleasure to meet with the city in their council meetings. She loves the work being done and always says with pride, everywhere she goes, that she represents South Jordan. She can see in other people’s eyes that they know it’s a good thing too, so thank you for making the city we live in such a wonderful city and doing such a great job for the city she lives in. School Board President Tracy Miller appreciated the opportunity to be here and say a few words. She congratulated Council Members Harris, Zander and Johnson and expressed that she is looking forward to working with them. She is so pleased with the relationship with South Jordan City and the ability for staff and board members to work so well together. J. Staff Reports and Calendaring Items Assistant City Manager Jason Rasmussen discussed a meeting scheduled for January 10 South Jordan City 8 City Council Meeting January 2, 2024 with residents of Daybreak to discuss traffic and parking concerns brought up by events this past October due to the lighting and yard displays. They will be attempting to work with residents to come up with some solutions and work with residents to see if they can address that. City Attorney Ryan Loose gave some quick information on the legislative session that begins Tuesday, January 16 with Local Officials Day being on January 17. **Item D.3. moved, via amended agenda, to end of agenda** D.3. Oath of Office of City Council Member, Tamara Zander. (By City Recorder, Anna Crookston) Council Member Harris motioned to adjourn the January 2, 2024 City Council Meeting. Council Member Zander seconded the motion; vote was 5-0 unanimous in favor. ADJOURNMENT The January 2, 2024 City Council Meeting adjourned at 7:47 p.m. This is a true and correct copy of the January 2, 2024 City Council Meeting Minutes, which were approved on January 16, 2024. South Jordan City Recorder