City Council Study Meeting - ARCHIVED

SOUTH JORDAN CITY CITY COUNCIL STUDY MEETING February 1, 2022 Present: Council Member Tamara Zander, Council Member Patrick Harris, Council Member Brad Marlor, Council Member Don Shelton, Council Member Jason McGuire, City Manager Gary Whatcott, Assistant City Manager Dustin Lewis, City Attorney Ryan Loose, Planning Director Steven Schaefermeyer, Director of Administrative Services Spencer Kyle, Director of Public Works Jason Rasmussen, Assistant City Engineer Jeremy Nielson, Strategic Services Director Don Tingey, City Commerce Director Brian Preece, Director of Government Affairs Melinda Seager, Police Chief Jeff Carr, Fire Chief Chris Dawson, IT Director Jon Day, GIS Coordinator Matt Jarman, City Recorder Anna Crookston, Meeting Transcriptionist Diana Baun, Associate Director of Recreation Services Janell Payne, Communications Manager Rachael Van Cleave Absent: Mayor Dawn R. Ramsey Others: Martin Jensen, Kaitlin Youd, Liz Sollis, Doriann Pitts, Ryan Rogarr 4:55 PM STUDY MEETING A. Welcome, Roll Call and Introduction: By Mayor Pro Tempore Brad Marlor Council Member Zander motioned to nominate Council Member Brad Marlor as Mayor Pro Tempore for tonight’s meetings. Council Member Harris seconded the motion; vote was unanimous in favor. Council Member McGuire motioned to amend the agenda to add an Item F for an Executive Closed Session. Council Member Zander seconded the motion; vote was unanimous in favor. Mayor Pro Tempore Marlor welcomed everyone present and introduced the meeting. He excused Mayor Dawn Ramsey, who is out of town for city business and absent from the meeting. B. Invocation: By Council Member Jason McGuire Council Member McGuire offered the invocation. C. Mayor and Council Coordination Council Member Jason McGuire mentioned the Chinese New Year Activity at Herriman High School tomorrow night, and noted that it is mostly Chinese Immersion students from South Jordan participating. South Jordan City 2 City Council Study Meeting February 1, 2022 Council Member Don Shelton said Saturday morning at 8:00 A.M. will be the Western Growth Coalition legislative update meeting. Their update this last Saturday was well attended by legislators with five in attendance and a total of 30 participants. D. Discussion/Review of Regular Council Meeting Action Items: Resolution R2022-08, Surplus Communications Trailer Resolution R2022-03, Development Agreement, property located at 3773 W. South Jordan Pkwy Public Hearing Items: Resolution R2022-04, Amendment to Land Use Map, property located at 3773 W. South Jordan Pkwy Zoning Ordinance 2022-01-Z, Rezone property located at 3773 W. South Jordan Pkwy City Manager Whatcott said Peterson Development has pulled their items from the agenda for tonight, they were not quite ready for the presentation. The item is being moved to February 15 during the work session meeting. Council Member McGuire said he spoke with one of the more vocal residents about the proposed Peterson Development item and posted about the item’s removal from the meeting to their resident Facebook Page. Mayor Pro Tempore Marlor asked if Council Member McGuire has been receiving a lot of calls from residents on this item. Council Member McGuire said not as much this time around. Even when this item was presented to the planning commission, the residents opted for the in-person and zoom options to share their opinions rather than sending in a bunch of emails as they did the last time there was a proposal. Mayor Pro Tempore Marlor said based on the notes from the planning commission, all three items were rejected by the planning commission unanimously. E. Discussion Items E.1. Recreation Center report and update. (By Salt Lake County Parks & Recreation Director,Martin Jensen) City Manager Whatcott said when arrangements were made with Salt Lake County, we asked for periodic updates on the Recreation Center and a chance for us to pass on feedback from residents. Martin Jensen is the Director of Salt Lake County Parks & Recreation, tonight he has brought Doriann Pitts as the Associate Director of Recreation who directly oversees the 23 recreation centers throughout the valley, as well as Ryan Rogarr who is the Facility Manager here at South South Jordan City 3 City Council Study Meeting February 1, 2022 Jordan. March 31, 2020 was the day the county was supposed to begin operations at the South Jordan Recreation Center, shut down the Marv Jensen Recreation Center, and open the new Draper Recreation Center. Two weeks prior to this date, Covid hit and the world stopped. Those things all still happened, but it was done differently than had been anticipated. They took over the operation in South Jordan, but at the same time they closed the doors and programming stopped. Since that time, they have been welcoming patrons back into the center, selling memberships, offering programming and continuing to try and make sure they are here to serve South Jordan residents. Memberships are being sold and people are using the facilities. They are able to utilize the South Jordan Recreation Center, but in addition their passes also work for other county recreation centers. The county was grateful to take over a well-maintained building. Since taking over they have made a few adjustments, things like automated systems to regulate and maintain the environment through the central county network and installing an alarm system in the building for safety. They have made some installations in the pool area to help with ventilation and air handling, including rooftop dampers to move air in the aquatic area and system to hopefully make the building more energy efficient and pleasant to use. They have added bleachers in some areas for the Junior Jazz Program spectators. Now that the building is part of the county system, they will also be rotating the equipment out and putting brand new treadmills, fitness equipment and aerobics equipment in the building this year. Operating any county buildings faced challenges during the pandemic, they are currently having trouble hiring seasonal staff, particularly lifeguards. They have had shortages with lifeguards at all their facilities and it’s a challenge. They’ve increased the hourly pay for a lifeguard to $11-$16 an hour plus paying for training. Even with the pay increases, they haven’t had a lot of applicants. They are having to adjust pool operating hours based on the number of staff available, and they are asking extra lifeguards to move to different facilities where possible. They are proactively trying to recruit, and they know it’s an issue that has affected the service level; it’s something they are concerned about. He discussed some enhancements coming to the facility, including expanding the pool. The county is still committed to doing that and they set aside $3 million from their budget in a restricted account to be earmarked for the pool expansion; unfortunately, a pool expansion is more than $3 million. They are definitely open to it, and would love to see it happen at some point. Council Member Marlor asked if there was any mention of any future appropriations in the years to come. Mr. Jensen said no, right now the $3 million is what the county is committed to. They have their annual appropriations through different funding, and if voters reauthorize those funds they would be available in 2025 for application; that funding would potentially be available in 2026. ZAP funds are very competitive and it would have to compete with needs throughout the county. He is willing to work with the city and school district to find a creative way to come up with a solution. Council Member Shelton said he was under the impression the county was going to sell Marv Jensen, use those funds towards the pool expansion. Mr. Jensen said they did sell Marv Jensen, it sold for less than $3 million. All of their real estate experts anticipated it would sell for a little bit higher, but it did not. Those funds were reallocated South Jordan City 4 City Council Study Meeting February 1, 2022 during the county’s response to Covid, then they were replaced and increased to the full $3 million. Council Member Zander asked about the most current number on the expansion costs. Mr. Jensen said the last number they saw was from $13-$15 million. Initially, the estimate was in the $9 million range, and those costs have just continued to rise over time. Council Member Zander said she understands that everyone would love to see this happen. She asked, in his experience, what he has seen done to help a project like this get funded. Mr. Jensen said it takes collaboration, more than one entity. Pools make life better, they get used by the community. Last summer he broke his foot and now has a foot full of screws, his first steps were in a pool and he used a pool exclusively for six weeks to start walking independently again; he very much understands their importance in our community. Pools are expensive though, the minute you put water in a pool it starts breaking down and costs a lot; there is a reason why government entities run pools, because they are heavily subsidized. If we were to charge the true cost of entering a pool, you’d be paying close to $40-$45 every time you wanted to swim. Council Member Zander asked for an example of another city or place where someone actually accomplished something like this with collaboration, where the burden wasn’t all on the county. Mr. Jensen said when they built the JL Sorenson Recreation Center in Herriman, the county put in money, the city came in with money, there was a private landowner that came in and the school district put in money. The county could originally afford a $16 million recreation center, and after everyone came together it went from that to about $22 million; they were able to make that building a flagship center with a little bit of everything. The same thing happened with the Draper Recreation Center; the county explained what they could afford, Draper City wanted more and got others involved with money and resources to be able to add a fieldhouse. The school district also contributed, allowing them to expand the pool to serve the high school swim teams better. The county has done plenty of collaboration and they have the examples, agreements and contracts to show for it. They are committed to the recreation center and are extremely glad to have it as part of their county portfolio, but it’s South Jordan’s Recreation Center, even though it will transfer over to the county in ownership and deed as they finish the Bingham Creek Regional Park. The county is here to serve our residents and open to feedback. He thanked City Manager Gary Whatcott and Strategic Services Director Don Tingey for their hard work through this transition, getting to a point together that benefits both the county and the city residents. He is still working with our Recreation Department and Parks Department, making sure they aren’t duplicating services; they want to make sure services are available to residents without wasting taxpayer money offering duplicate programs. He also thanked our Parks Crew that is maintaining the outside of the building, and the Public Works Crew for clearing the snow in the parking lot. He is happy to provide detailed line item budgets and revenue if desired. South Jordan City 5 City Council Study Meeting February 1, 2022 Council Member Harris asked what sports in our city he thinks we are not meeting the needs of, possibly not enough sports fields, anything like that. Mr. Jensen said there are definitely not enough multi-purpose fields; places like a big soccer field for Lacrosse, soccer, flag football, etc. The county’s master plan, updated in 2015, showed there was a shortage of multi-purpose fields in our area, even back then; we’ve only had more residents come in since then. This is why Bingham Creek Park will have six fields in that first phase, as they get used for everything. This park alone however will not meet the needs of this area. They are in the initial phases of updating their master plan, which is done every 10 years; that starts with a community needs assessment that was conducted in November and December of last year with Utah State University. That data will be available to share in the future and they will offer to come back to another meeting here to show us what residents in our zip codes want and need in terms of parks and recreation. After that, they pair that needs assessment with what we have, look at national standards that are set by the National Parks and Recreation Association, then use that to set a standard and decide whether or not they are meeting that standard. Right now, he can say the top requests of county residents are more trails and more parks and open space. As they go through the survey and look at everything, they will count every single field regardless of ownership, decide if it’s accessible, and then decide what’s needed. We are definitely not meeting the needs and we need another large sports complex in the south part of the valley. Council Member Harris asked if the county has started to identify any parcels that would work for a large sports complex. Mr. Jensen said he has a wish list, but they can discuss that later. Council Member Harris asked if there were any other requests and/or needs our city is not meeting that he is aware of. Mr. Jensen said pickle ball courts, there are just never enough. His family can’t get enough of pickle ball, they are out there all the time with their friends playing and they are always having a hard time finding an empty court to play on. There also aren’t enough pools, they no longer build outdoor pools since they need yearlong availability. There is also a need for an additional golf course in this part of the valley, based on the population and growth. Regarding Bingham Creek Regional Park, the county is grateful for the partnership and help of the city. He discussed the Sugarhouse Park and Sugarhouse Park Authority that has been around for almost 70 years. This park being built is something that will outlast everyone in this room, but there is still a lot of work to do. The site has been prepped, $3 million of dirt has been moved and the site is clean and ready to go for more amenities when the resources and funding are available. He will continue to work with the city and the board to identify those funding opportunities; there will be annual funding through the county, possibly standalone bonds and private donors. Now that the park is coming to fruition he is starting to get calls from people with private groups, wanting to partner on the park. The park, playground and many of the amenities are substantially complete. The turf will be seeded this spring, as soon as it warms up, and then they will need time to let that grow. He knows the residents will want to get out and use the park, they may be able to open it up mid-year with the playground, bike paths and some of the pavilions; the turf fields will not South Jordan City 6 City Council Study Meeting February 1, 2022 be available for use until 2023. They just did the same things at Magna Regional Park, opened the park with no sports teams on the fields for a while so they can grow. Council Member Harris mentioned that the Hindu temple is in his district, he has had a lot of people asking about Cricket. He asked if that is something that is being addressed by the county, and if he had any information on it. Mr. Jensen said they worked with some groups to provide Cricket pitches, there is one in Kearns Oquirrh Regional Park, and there was one in Southridge Park in Kearns as well. That is definitely a need and something that could be done at Bingham Creek Regional Park as well. There is plenty of space there, however the challenge with the Cricket pitch is that it has a permanent piece with a concrete slab that’s required, so that does limit where it can go. They have discussed that the Cricket pitch fields can be used for little kid soccer and T-ball as well, so it could be considered in future phases of the park. Council Member Zander mentioned that Bingham Creek will have six multipurpose fields. With the second most in-demand sport being pickle ball, how many pickle ball courts will we have at the park. Mr. Jensen said it depends on how much money they have, right now it is in a future phase. There is room for about 30, but it depends on funding and how much money is available. They are actively trying to potentially get some money from the legislature to throw at this project because the contractor is still on-site; they could mobilize and put those courts in much quicker, and at a reduced cost. Once the contractor is gone they have to go through the RFP process and design, and the cost goes up. Right now, they are looking at probably between 16-32 courts. It would also be fun to have a championship court there with some bleachers. He pointed out the Round Valley Pickle Ball courts in St. George, which is a championship complex; the biggest championship complex is in Brigham City with around 40 courts, St. George has a couple but they don’t have one with over 30 courts. Council Member Zander said it would be great if Bingham Creek could host tournaments, everyone she knows drives to St. George to participate in tournaments. Mr. Jensen said there are 16 courts in Wardle Fields Regional Park right now in Phase 1, there is another 42 acres there that has yet to be developed. He believes they put four courts in at Lodestone Regional Park in Kearns, and they just can’t build enough. Council Member Zander said the cool thing about pickle ball is that players range from young to elderly residents; the game is not an age or gender restricted game, it is open for everyone. Council Member Shelton asked when they expect to open the park to the public, minus the fields. Mr. Jensen said the answer for the public would be possibly mid-2022, June or July. They get one chance to build this park, so they want to make sure it’s done right. Once the first phase is opened, he assured the council they will start getting emails about when everything else will be opening. He has done four or five of these regional parks now, and the same thing happens every South Jordan City 7 City Council Study Meeting February 1, 2022 time; residents are super excited about everything being built. This first phase was $15 million, it is a great start. He estimates that when this park is complete and built out, it will be somewhere around $60-$70 million. It will basically be twice the size of Sugarhouse Park, and it will be a destination park that will bless the lives of those that live in the southwest part of the valley. Council Member Shelton asked about coordinating a grand opening ceremony. Mr. Jensen said the city is a full partner in this park, the county will not do anything without us there. Council Member Shelton asked if the fencing along 4800 West will come down as part of opening the park. Mr. Jensen said that depends on how the turf is doing. It will probably come down along the areas with bike paths and be moved around the turf areas so the grass can continue to grow. Throughout this phase, they’ve tried to build walking trails and bike paths throughout the entire undeveloped part of the park to activate it; they don’t want those parts to just sit and catch trash. Council Member Shelton asked if the trails in the park will connect with the Bingham Creek Trail. Mr. Jensen said yes, that trail will connect to the park. He has also spoken with the new landowner and developer of the rest of Daybreak, they have a wonderful master plan for all of these trails to connect. The county no longer runs smaller parks as the valley has evolved; their main focus is these large regional parks. Their goal is to connect all of these regional parks throughout the valley with a Class 1 pedestrian trail; that means those trails would have very limited interactions with automobiles, so someone could start at Bingham Creek and go from there to any number of current and regional parks in the county system. They want to make this is a huge network where people can really recreate and travel around safely. Council Member Shelton said if his math is correct, between the county, the school district and South Jordan City we have roughly half of the estimated $15 million to build the pool. He asked if anyone is leading the charge to try and figure out how to come up with the other half, or is that something the city should be involved with. Mr. Jensen said Mayor Ramsey has been a huge advocate for the pool, getting the information out there; the county is here more for support. Sometimes they have success with getting outside donors, especially when they can share a vision and plan and give them a fixed amount. Every time he meets with the Jordan School District this is a topic of discussion as well. Council Member Zander asked Mr. Jensen about the people who have contacted him, were those calls relative to the Bingham Creek Park or the pool expansion. Mr. Jensen said those calls were relative to the park. Some of those calls and possible donors are self-serving, and they have to be careful with some of those. They are creating a park that is for the public and open to the public, and they want to focus on that. South Jordan City 8 City Council Study Meeting February 1, 2022 Council Member Zander asked if, when someone comes to him and offers a donation, do they name a portion of the park after them? Mr. Jensen said it depends on what they’re asking. There is a county naming ordinance that has to be followed with standards, so he can’t just put a name on everything. It is something that is more commonplace now, and something they entertain. He has been with the county long enough that it is fun for him to see things go from concept, to actual construction and then ribbon cutting. Per the agreement, he is happy to come back for updates, but he is open to communication and questions from the city. Council Member Shelton motioned to move to Executive Closed Session from the regular study meeting. Council Member McGuire seconded the motion; vote was unanimous in favor. ADJOURN STUDY MEETING TO MOVE TO EXECUTIVE CLOSED SESSION I. Executive Closed Session to discuss potential or imminent litigation. RETURN TO REGULAR STUDY MEETING FROM EXECUTIVE CLOSED SESSION ADJOURNMENT Council Member Zander motioned to adjourn the Study Meeting. Council Member Harris seconded the motion; vote was unanimous in favor. The February 1, 2022 City Council Study meeting adjourned at 6:08 p.m. This is a true and correct copy of the February 1, 2022 City Council Study Meeting Minutes, which were approved on February 15, 2022. South Jordan City Recorder