City Council

Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes October l2 2011 Page I City of Taylorsville Work Session Minutes Wednesday October 12 2011 Council Chambers 2600 West Taylorsville Blvd Room No 140 Taylorsville Utah 84129 Attendance Mayor Russ Wall Counci Members City Staff Chairman Jerry Rechtenbach John Inch Morgan City Administrator Council Member Morris Pratt John Brems City Attorney Council Member Bud Catlin Cheryl Peacock Cottle City Recorder Aimee Newton Public Relations Consultant John Taylor City Engineer Scott Harrington Chief ofFinance Donald Adams Economic Development Director Del Craig Chief of Police Excused Mayor Russ Wall Council Member Dama Barbour Council Member Larry Johnson Community Development Director Mark McGrath Council Coordinator Jessica Springer Others Rhetta McIff Kristie Overson Eric Behunin 03Chairman Jerry Rechtenbach called the Work Session to order at 0 18 6 3 m pand welcomed those in attendance City Recorder Cheryl Peacock Cottle conducted a Roll Call wherein Council Members Bud Catlin Morris Pratt and Jerry Rechtenbach were present Council Members Larry Johnson and Dama Barbour were excused Mayor Russ Wall was also excused Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes October 12 2011 Page 2 Strategy Discussion Regarding Streetscape Weeds Debris Snow Removal and Sidewalk Maintenance Mayor Wall John Inch Morgan Eric Behunin 04 City Administrator John Inch Morgan stated that the purpose of this agenda item is to 18 give the Council opportunity to provide input feedback and direction as Administration begins to put together budget strategies in relation to streetscape weeds debris snow removal and sidewalk maintenance 06 Chief of Finance Director Scott Harrington displayed maps of back lot lines Mr 18 Morgan called for discussion on preferences for back lot upkeep 42Council Member Catlin commented that it is his belief that the upkeep of these back or 06 18 side lot lines are the responsibility of the property owner He noted that he lives on a comer lot with a block wall on the side and said he takes responsibility as the property owner to keep this azea weed free and free of snow in the winter He said it is not fair to raise property taxes to cover the upkeep of the properties that are not being taken care when other property owners are doing what is right as far as upkeep 57Council Member Morns Pratt noted that it is currently the property s 07 18 owner responsibility so the City needs to either enforce the existing ordinance or the City needs to change the ordinance to specify that the City is responsible for the maintenance He cited liability issues relating to slip and fall accidents in those areas if the City takes over maintenance 40 City Attorney John Brems clazified that the City is already liable for slip and fall 08 18 accidents on sidewalks He noted that property owners are also liable and have an obligation to clear the sidewalks of their properties 09Council Member Pratt stated that even though residents have the responsibility for 13 18 upkeep on these back and side lot azeas when they are on major roads the City should budget money for upkeep due to community visibility and to provide for cases where the homeowner t doesn take on the responsibility 51Chief Financial Officer Scott Harrington explained that the cost of an employee in this 13 18 department is azound 20 900 per year plus possible equipment costs 33 Council Member Catlin expressed his reluctance to make exceptions for people who 14 18 live on busy roads even though there is a need and budgetary allotments should be made Council Member Catlin also expressed concern over the School Districts and the lack of sidewalk snow removal in front of the schools in Taylorsville City Administrator John Inch Morgan responded that the City has been in discussion with the School District regarding this issue He relayed that the School s District main issue is budgetary so they have had a roving Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes October 12 201 I Page 3 snow plow that takes care of this however it has been arriving to some of the schools a little late He said that the School District did determine that this was an azea that needs to be looked at further Mr Morgan stated that the City is still in discussions with them regarding snow removal at schools 59Discussion took place regazding general sidewalk repairs and a 50 split of the costs 26 18 involved when the homeowner has specific requests that are outside the scope ofthe original repairs City Engineer John Taylor explained that the average cost for a sidewalk repair on one property is typically around 500 to 1000 He noted that even though the sidewalk is considered a City right way the resident has the option to hire a contractor themselves for of repairs however the contractor would still have to pull a permit with the City and is required to have a s contractor license for insurance purposes 23Council Member Catlin asked about the possibility of using CDBG funds for these 28 18 repairs Mr Morgan answered that if the Council is interested in hearing about some of the budgetary options Administration will put something together to bring back for discussion e i interest loans etc low 38 City Engineer John Taylor clarified that the City cannot use storm drain funds for 29 18 sidewalk repairs 13 City Administrator John Inch Morgan moved the discussion to beautification and tree 30 18 inventories Mr Morgan recognized Eric Behunin and the work Mr Behunin has done for a number of other Cities in providing tree inventories and maintenance plans for trees He said Mr City investment Mr Morgan asked Mr Behunin to outline his Behunin goal is to protect the s s proposal and the potential benefits to the City 12Taylorsville resident Eric Behunin addressed the Council and outlined the work he has 31 18 done with other cities and large property owners to protect their forestry assets He noted that this program helps mitigate risk and puts together term long maintenance strategies Mr Behunin detailed examples of problems that have arisen across the nation and in Utah that could have been prevented Mr Behunin then explained the process for protecting forestry assets He observed that trees are an investment and over time they appreciate in value Mr Behunin cited a recent example where a driver lost control and hit a tree owned by a client He relayed that the insurance company contacted the client and offered a very low amount for the replacement of the tree however because the tree had been inventoried they were able to go back to the insurance company with the actual cost of the tree and the insurance company paid out 5500 instead of the original offer of 500 Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes October 12 2011 Page 4 43Council Member Morris Pratt asked if it is typical to apprise the City of corrections 34 18 needed to save a tree before it dies or causes a problem Eric Behunin answered that this is one of the services offered the goal is to mitigate risks 19Council Member Pratt cited problems with trees in Millrace Park and asked about the 36 18 cost of maintaining and determining problems in advance to save the trees rather than continually incurring the cost of replacement 17Leisure Activities Recreation and Parks CARP Chair Rhetta McIff presented 38 18 information on Tree City USA and their endorsement of City tree assessments and tree inventories She suggested that they are an excellent resource for a City to have in mitigating issues that could arise with homeowners planting the wrong trees that cause sidewalks to buckle etc Ms McIff detailed issues in Taylorsville that could be avoided in the future with this type of assessment Council Chairman Jerry Rechtenbach referred to John Inch s Morgan previous comment regarding the cost of removal and replacement of trees versus entering into a maintenance program Mr Morgan confirmed that the City is currently spending close to 10 000 to 12 000 on trees not including He clarified that this is included in the per year replacement partially Parks Budget and partially in the Public Works Budget Mr Behunin stated that the cost of the assessment and inventory of trees is estimated on a per asset basis for instance 250 trees would cost about 1850 He relayed that South Salt Lake did all of their city owned properties and parks last year for about 7500 John Inch Morgan wrapped up by clarifying that the Council has directed Administration to look at alternatives for sidewalk maintenance and replacement Mr Morgan acknowledged that they are also being asked to take a look at the cost of maintaining the back lot lines and then to bring back specific numbers for the upcoming budget In regard to the tree inventory Mr Morgan agreed to solicit bids to determine what is cost effective Mr Morgan stated that next month he will be bringing back another policy discussion that may have some budget impact 2 Discussion Regarding the Strategic Planning Process for 2012 John Inch Morgan 20City Administrator John Inch Morgan presented a timeline for the 2012 Strategic Plan 50 18 which will add a year to the 10 year plan that is currently in place 00It was noted that a brief Council discussion will be scheduled for November 9 2011 to 52 18 update the Council on the upcoming strategic planning process in greater detail Mr Morgan proposed that a casual City Council Strategic Retreat be scheduled for November 18 2011 to be Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes October 12 2011 Page 5 facilitated by John Inch Morgan and Mark McGrath Mr Morgan asked the Council if they would prefer this to be a full day or a half day event 15 Itwas acknowledged that in the past this retreat has been held 53 18 on a Saturday The Council suggested looking at Saturday November 19 2011 as a possible date fox the retreat Chairman Rechtenbach expressed his preference for an evening or a Saturday rather than a weekday Mr Morgan noted that sometimes Saturday has been a problem for some individuals but said Administration will do whatever is needed 20Chairman Rechtenbach and Council Member Pratt stated that Saturday November 19 55 18 2011 will work for the Council Strategic Retreat Council Member Catlin said he will have to double check the date and get back to Mr Morgan Mr Morgan said he will formally schedule the Strategic Planning event once all of the Council Members have responded He will send the schedule to the Council at that time 3 Discussion Regarding Chapter 21 22 23 of the Proposed Land Development Code Mark McGrath It was noted that Community Development Director Mark McGrath and Mike Meldrum are excused from this meeting so Economic Development Director Donald Adams is filling in Mr Adams asked for any questions on Chapter 21 regarding Subdivision Design Standards He explained that in general there are not many changes from the current ordinance with the exception of talking about seismic areas and addressing residential driveway issues as they relate to public utilities behind the right way of 50Chairman Rechtenbach asked about the need to restate data that is already included in 57 18 the s City public works standards Mr Adams responded that this particular information regarding driveways etc outside of the public right of way was requested to be included in the building code by City Engineer John Taylor as well as by the building inspectors He relayed their suggestion to reference in the code what driveway thicknesses would be Mr Adams clarified that inmost cases this code is where builders typically look first He agreed to review the Code along with Mr Taylor to see what information is redundant and can be removed from Chapter 21 The Council reviewed the chapter with Mr Adams and clarified specific language and grammar Areas were identified for change or further definition in chapter 21 28Chairman Rechtenbach stated that he was unable to review Chapter 23 and asked that it 41 19 be postponed to a later time for discussion Council Member Pratt responded that he had not reviewed Chapter 23 either It was agreed to postpone discussion of that chapter Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes October 12 2011 Page 6 02The Council then reviewed Chapter 22 again including the definitions of a mobile 42 19 home park versus a modular or manufactured home Donald Adams clarified that the difference is whether the owner is leasing a pad on which to place the mobile or manufactured home or whether they own the property where the home sits It was noted that the changes impact expansion and use in existing parks with the majority ofthe impact being seen in regazd to short recreational vehicles that would not be allowed to lease in current mobile home parks term Council Member Pratt asked if a mobile home park owner could decide to build a manufactured home and sell rather than lease the lot Mr Adams responded that to sell they would have to sub the property divide Council Member Pratt referenced several items in Section 13 of Chapter 22 Mr Adams gave clarification as requested and stated that further examination will be done to make sure language is clear in areas where other single family home guidelines are referenced 9 1 51 4 9 Chairman Rechtenbach asked that Chapter 23 be brought back at the next meeting He suggested that instead of reviewing three chapters only Chapters 23 and 24 be brought back for discussion 4 Other Matters 26There were no other matters 50 19 5 Adjournment 34 Council Member Bud Catlin MOVED to 50 19 adjourn the City Council Work Session Council Member Moms Pratt SECONDED the motion Chairman Rechtenbach called for discussion There being none he called for a vote The vote was as follows Catlin yes excused Rechtenbach Bazbour yes Johnson excused and Pratt yes All City Council members voted in favor and the motion passed unanimously The meeting was adjourned at 5 7 0m p c i k Cheryl Peac k Cottle City Recorder Minutes approved CC 11 02 es Prepared by Jessica Sprittger MPnu Deputy Recorder Cheryl Peacock Co le Gry Recorder