City Council

Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes January 2012 11 Page 1 City of Taylorsville Work Session Minutes Wednesday January 11 2012 Council Chambers 2600 West Taylorsville Blvd Room No 140 Taylorsville Utah 84129 Attendance Mayor Russ Wall Council Members City Staff Chairman Jerry Rechtenbach John Inch Morgan City Administrator Vice Dama Barbour Chairman John Brems City Attorney Council Member Emest Burgess Cheryl Peacock Cottle City Recorder Council Member Larry Johnson Jessica Springer Council Coordinator Council Member Kristie Overson Aimee Newton Public Relations Consultant Mark McGrath Community Development Director John Taylor City Engineer Scott Harrington Chief of Finance Donald Adams Economic Development Director Wayne Dial Assistant Police Chief Jean Ashby Economic Development Admin Asst Robin Bronson Human Resources Manager Patrick Tomasino Building Official Others David Church Jon Springmeyer Charles Christopher Gordon Wolf Brent Overson John Gidney Shae Corsi 56 Chairman Jerry Rechtenbach called the Work Session to order at 0 00 18 6 0m pand welcomed those in attendance City Recorder Cheryl Peacock Cottle conducted a Roll Call wherein all Council Members were present Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes January 2012 ri Page 2 1 Training Roles and Responsibilities of Elected Officials David Church 08David Church Attorney for the Utah League of Cities and Towns reviewed roles and 03 18 responsibilities of elected officials Taylorsville form of government and defined the two branches 56Mr Church described s 04 18 of City government executive and legislative 45 Chairman Rechtenbach asked for clarification on the differences between the City 07 18 Six Council form Mr Church gave further Manager form of government and the Member on different forms of government explanation 38 Mr Church reviewed the responsibilities of the Mayor in s 12 18 Taylorsville form of government 58Mr Church outlined the roles and responsibilities of the City Council as the legislative 14 18 branch of government 42Mr Church addressed questions from Council Members 18 regarding the separate roles of the legislative and executive branches of government 12Mr Church cited the potential for conflicts when dealing with checks and balances 22 18 23 Council Member Johnson inquired whether any municipalities have term limits Mr 24 18 Church relayed that there are none He cited one Council Member who actually served on a City Council for 32 years 2 Overview ofCDA sCommunity Development Area Donald Adams 40 Economic Development Director Donald Adams and Consultant Jon Springmeyer of 25 18 Bonneville Research provided an overview of Community Development Areas s CDA via PowerPoint presentation 05Points highlighted in the presentation were as follows 28 18 How to Finance Economic Development Economic Development Tools What is Tax Increment Tax Increment Examples Tax Increment TIF Tax Increment Options Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes January 11 2012 Page 3 Urban Renewal RDA EDA CDA Voluntary Participation 45Mr Adams gave clarification on imminent domain and relayed that it is very rarely 1835 used 48 Council Member Overson asked for examples of an EDA and Mr Springmeyer 37 18 provided several It was clarified that EDA sdo not include retail for tax increment purposes 30Mr Adams noted that s 40 18 CDA will be the main focus in Taylorsville for the foreseeable CDA will be utilized in the City He relayed that the CDA tool future He reviewed ways that s will be presented for a project at 5400 South and Redwood Road He cited a survey project area resolution that will be presented during a RDA Board Meeting on January 18 2012 Mr Adams described the process for adopting a project 06Council Member Burgess inquired about the timeframe for doing an Urban Renewal 45 18 development project versus a CDA Mr Adams relayed that on average the timeframe is about 5 to 6 months for an Urban Renewal project area with scheduling and studies 44Mr Springmeyer confirmed that the City currently has two Urban Renewal Project 45 18 URA in progress Mr Adams described continued plans for those areas 5400 S Areas s Bangerter Highway and 6200 S Redwood Road and reviewed specifics for both project azeas including tax increment and activation of the project details 27Mr Springmeyer relayed that several areas were previously identified in the City and 48 18 these areas were given a ranking as to whether they would even qualify as a blighted area 38 Council Member Burgess inquired about a list that identifies target areas Mr Adams 49 18 gave explanation on how areas aze selected which of the azeas require a redevelopment tool and which azeas would be a CDA He noted that the areas are looked at not only from a technical feasibility as to blight but also from the marketability of what is happening in the area 47 Council Member Johnson inquired about the property on the east side of 4700 South 51 18 and Redwood Road Mr Adams acknowledged that the individual property is problematic but said the area is being looked at as a whole 12Council Member Burgess clazified that if a citizen is asking why an area is or is not 53 18 being worked on then the answer to that is whether it is economical and feasible in the specified area Mr Adams confirmed that is one of the stronger factors on a list of things that have to be today market conditions Mr Springmeyer added that if a considered especially considering s Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes January 11 2012 Page 4 property looks like it will not have economic returns in the near future the property will be on the list but considered a lower priority 45 Council Member Barbour asked whether CDA 53 18 scan be done in conjunction with Salt Lake County specifically regarding the building on 4700 South Redwood Road Mayor Wall clarified that the building referenced is owned by Salt Lake County and is scheduled to be torn down in the spring Mr Springmeyer added that publically owned buildings are a challenge for using the CDA tool because they are tax exempt He noted that there can be public buildings in an area but as a catalyst for an area publicly owned buildings don t work 23 Council Member Johnson asked for a status update on the West Point Shopping Center 55 18 Mr Adams reported that the Ortega property has been closed on as of January 10 2012 as well as Innovative Audio He said that this means they can now be demolished and the traffic signal into the shopping center can be started He relayed that according to the UDOT construction schedule the signal should be placed in the summer spring of 2012 Mr Adams noted that the City is working with potential tenants fox the Center but some are still considering and may be waiting until the traffic signal is placed 13 Chairman Rechtenbach confirmed that further details will be brought back next week in 57 18 the RDA Board Meeting 3 Discussion Regarding Proposed Taylorsville Ordinance 12 02 Restating the Compensation Offered to Elective Statutory and Appointive Officers and Compensation Schedule for Employees of the City of Taylorsville John Brems 34 City Attorney John Brems gave background information on the s 58 18 City compensation ordinances He explained that at some point there was a tab added to the budget that identified salaries and this was then adopted as part of the budget specific employees He clarified that the proposed new ordinance basically take out that tab to be replaced with a new tab which provides salary ranges and pay grades without specific employee information It was noted that this change will make the scope a little broader so that Administration has some flexibility to move employees around and manage salaries Mr Brems suggested that the proposed ordinance will eliminate the need for a budget amendment every time an employee sjob description is changed He said it will also clean up old conflicting ordinances that establish salary schedules etc 19 Council Member Johnson observed that in the past there were specific job titles 0136 identified with pay grade ranges and said he would like that to continue to be apart of the budget John Brems clarified that the specific job titles would not be listed as part of the budget document but the Council is privy to compensation of every employee of the City Mayor Wall added that the information regarding specific job titles and pay grades is always available to the Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes January 11 2012 Page 5 Council He recommended that it not be adopted by ordinance so that the Council is not in a position to decide who gets what pay 12 City Administrator John Inch Morgan commented that the Council will have the 03 19 supplemental information regarding job titles and pay ranges provided along with the budget the only difference is that Administration is suggesting that this information will not be an official part of the budget ordinance itself Mr Morgan stated that this will ensure that every time a job description changes the Administration will not need to come to the council for an ordinance amendment He observed that job description changes are an Administrative function and tbe determined by an ordinance of the Council shouldn Council Member Johnson disagreed that the specific job descriptions with pay grade ranges should not be a part of the budget ordinance 55Council Chairman Rechtenbach asked for specifics on how ajob description change 04 19 would affect a pay range that is assigned Mr Morgan explained that if an s employee job title and description changed from a grade 10 to an 11 based on added job duties this would require an ordinance just to establish that change He said this would preclude the Administration from doing its statutory responsibility in evaluating and assigning tasks 34Mr Morgan clarified further using the Events Coordinator position as an example He 07 19 relayed that rather than hiring a new Events Coordinator Administration is looking at taking those duties and tasking rethem among two other employees based on talents and skills of the individual employees He said that this may require the Events Coordinator position to go down a pay grade and another s employee pay grade to increase as a result of the additional duties assigned or even cause a new position not listed to be created 15Council Member Barbour referenced David s 09 19 Church comments that when a City is in the budget process the Council budgets for departments She said that salaries fall into those department budget allotments and how those salaries are managed is up to those departments and Administration as long as departments stay within the budget allotments 00Council Member Johnson reviewed further examples of why he would like job titles 10 19 listed with pay ranges and his concerns with pay grades and ranges being lefr open ended 14City Attorney John Brems articulated the concept behind tasking 11 19 rea current job title with additional duties which may or may not raise or decrease an employees pay grade 39Mayor Russ Wall stated that the reason Administration is asking for this ordinance to 15 19 be passed is because of a problem the City has had for the past two years He explained that there was previously a clerical error that allowed a salary increase over the employees cap  Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes January 11 2012 Page 6 when Administration tried to fix the problem relating to two employees who were previously misclassified the Council refused to allow that He said the s Administration position is that the Council has the authority to set budget amounts but not to determine the individual salaries in a depaztment The Mayor quoted David Church regarding the roles and responsibilities of the separate branches of government He indicated that Administration is trying to avoid an issue like the one experienced over the last two years where employees have suffered while elected officials azgue over the issue The Mayor relayed that everything is transparent but the Administration is asking for the flexibility to make job classifications and pay grade changes within budget allocations Council Chairman Rechtenbach asked about adopting this ordinance with the proposed changes and then having as part ofthe budget documents a list of pay grades with associated job titles for review John Inch Morgan responded that this information would of course be submitted with the budget documents but will not be included as part of the ordinance for adoption of the budget He indicated that Administrations plans to submit the information as part of the supplementary documentation and schedules during the budget review process and discussion 27Council Member Johnson suggested that the issue two years ago could have been 18 19 handled differently if the Administration had come to the Council with the changes at the time instead ofjust making changes on their own Mayor Wall detailed safeguards that were not in place at the time but are in place now so that similar errors will not be made in the fixture 9 09 2 2 Council Member Ernest Burgess asked about the safeguards that are currently in place Mayor Wall gave a detailed explanation of the process 21 Council Chairman Rechtenbach agreed that Administration should have 26 19 ability to administer salaries within budget allotments but said he would like to see supplemental information included in the budget discussion that shows job titles with assigned pay grades and any changes that have been made throughout the budget yeaz 49Council Member Barbour concurred that seeing the job titles with 27 19 pay grades would be appropriate as a supplemental document during budget discussions She stated that she would not like to see the Council go through every position and set wages 08Council Member Johnson moved onto address salary 28 19 planning in section fourteen specifically in regard to monies that the Council approved back before Council Member Johnson was elected He suggested that Council money approved for salazies seems in excess of what should be spent in tough economic times He said this is why he feels like the Council should be involved in setting these salazies Council Member Johnson cited salary amounts and salary increases for both the Mayor and the City Administrator job positions Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes January 11 2012 Page 7 59Mayor Russ Wall disagreed with the percentages cited and observed that a public 30 19 Council Meeting is not the appropriate setting to have a specific salary discussion Mayor Wall further stated his agreement with Council Member s Johnson statements regarding not being present when these salary decisions were made He confirmed that neither the City Administrator nor the Mayor can take a raise that is not approved by the Council 52City Administrator John Inch Morgan clarified that elected officials salaries are totally 31 19 under the control of the City Council He relayed that Administration must do a public hearing and the ordinance explicitly describes the procedure for setting pay for elected officials Mr Morgan noted that at the same time the Mayor and City Administrator received increases City Council members also received increases based on market comparative studies performed at the request of the Council Mr Morgan gave further information regarding when the recession actually hit which was after the referenced salaries were raised 26 Mayor Wall also clarified that the s 33 19 Mayor salary is not a part of the ordinance that the Administration is currently bringing forward 57Council Chairman Rechtenbach asked Council Member Johnson to clarify his 1933 suggestion with regards to the current ordinance under review He questioned whether Mr Johnson suggestion is for the Council to review each individual raise that occurs Council s Member Johnson observed that when there is a department with a certain allotted budget amount there are probably a lot of people who deserve a raise rather than one person receiving one large raise He said the Council should be involved in which employees get which salary increase so that the distribution of budgeted funds is fair Further discussion detailing these potential circumstances ensued 12Council Member Kristie Overson cited her confusion when looking at ordinances from 42 19 yeazs past Council Member Overson said she agrees with this ordinance as the appropriate measure to clean up past issues and move forward She pointed out that the Council has access at any time to any s employee salary or any other information that might be needed Council Member Overson stated that she feels that it is not appropriate for this specific information to be included in any ordinance because it is changing ever She suggested that Administration needs the flexibility to change ajob description or to re task duties without coming to the Council every time that needs to happen Council Member Overson suggested leaving the ordinance as is using Chairman Rechtenbach s suggestion of including salaries and job titles as a supplemental document for discussion 09Chairman Rechtenbach suggested that language be modified in the ordinance to include 45 19 the supplemental information for discussion purposes only and not as part of the official budget ordinance Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes 7anuary 11 2012 Page 8 22Council Member Johnson clarified that he is aware he was not on the Council at the 46 19 time the salaries referenced were increased Council Member Johnson said he understands that they were given under the budget amounts allocated by that Council but he would like there to be more consideration in the future as to where that money is given 14Further discussion ensued regarding past salary increases and the history of those 47 19 decisions by the Council and Administration 48 57Council Chairman Rechtenbach directed Administration to place this ordinance on the 19 January 18 2012 Council Meeting for action with the language modified to include the supplemental information as previously discussed 56 City Attorney John Brems explained to Council Member Burgess the difference 50 19 between adopting the budget by ordinance or by resolution and how the budget is modified once it is adopted by ordinance Chairman Rechtenbach added further explanation to the process of adoption and reviewed the history behind the decision to adopt the budget by ordinance 41Council Member Johnson asked about the language in the ordinance regarding 51 19 retroactive salaries 07Mayor Russ Wall clarified that the Administration will be asking for year 19 52 amid budget adjustment to restore the salaries of three individuals back to January 1 2012 Council Member Johnson asked whether Administration still plans to adjust the salaries back even though the Employee Appeal Board found in favor of the Council regarding the salary cuts Mayor Wall affirmed that Administration will be asking the Council to reinstate the salaries in question retroactive to January 1 2012 and the Council can choose whether or not to approve the proposal The Mayor acknowledged that the Appeal Board found that the Council had every right to go in and cut s people salaries but said this goes back to the question of whether it is right for the Council to do so just because it can be done legally He said that Administration maintains that the Council should not cut salaries and Administration should be allowed to administer salaries as it sees fit within the allotted budget He cited the changing makeup of City Councils and differing philosophies Mayor Wall observed that it is within his right as Mayor to ask the Council to reconsider something with the possibility of change Council Members and Administration discussed in further detail the decisions made by the Employee Appeal Board The process that is in place for appealing decisions made by the Employee Appeal Board was referenced 23 Council Member Johnson expressed his concern regarding constituents who 56 19 are facing hard economic times and cited the responsibility of the City to be as responsible as possible with City funds Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes January 11 2012 Page 9 16Council Chairman Rechtenbach summarized the s 57 19 Council direction with respect to Ordinance 12 02 in that the ordinance is to be placed for action on the next regular Council Meeting Agenda on January 18 2012 Council Chairman Rechtenbach took a personal privilege and observed that there are many times when things aze seen at the federal level that are not believed to be right even though they can be done legally He cited differing perspectives He observed that in the case of Taylorsville the Employee Appeal Board probably ruled correctly in that the Council had the legal ability to do what was done however the question is whether the action was correct Council Chairman Rechtenbach reminded the Council that he is on record more than once stating his opinion that the wrong people were punished by the sCouncil decision He observed that at this point the Council has an opportunity to reconsider the issue and correct any mistakes that were made 4 Preliminary Year MidBudget Process and Budget Calendar Discussion John Inch Morgan 46City Administrator John Inch Morgan presented the budget calendaz and described the 59 19 Mid Budget process Year 00Mr Morgan stated that Administration anticipates presenting the Year 20 Mid Budget recommendation to the Council on February 1 2012 He expressed a desire to schedule discussion of the mid year budget adjustments for the February 8 2012 Work Session and then tentatively schedule adoption of budget amendments for February 15 2012 following a public hearing Mr Morgan clarified that for the most part the mid year budget is merely a reconciliation of things that have either already taken place or things that are anticipated to take place that were not known at the time the original budget was adopted He explained that amendments may address resolutions that have already been adopted to accept grant monies 12Chief Financial Officer Scott Harrington presented a PowerPoint describing the 01 20 proposed budget format including the eight different funds and their designations Mr Harrington reviewed the tab color schemes and column descriptions and clarified what Administration will be asking of the Council as yeaz mid budget recommendations are made Discussion ensued regazding the yeaz mid budget process in general and background information was given on the new budget document format 5 Discussion on Street Beautification Wall on 2700 West 5000 South Mayor Wall 50 Mayor Russ Wall outlined history regazding Rocky Mountain s 19 20 Power allocation of 000 towards replacement of the chain link fence with slats on 2700 West 5000 South He 200 explained that these funds are contingent on the City matching costs He cited a total not to Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes January 11 2012 Page 10 exceed amount of 400 000 for the project Mayor Wall outlined other projects the City has been involved in with Rocky Mountain Power and discussed what can most likely be anticipated on this fence project Council Member Johnson asked about the type of wall that would be purchased for 400 000 and how far the wall would potentially reach Mayor Wall responded that the wall will go the length north and south of the existing project Mayor Wall added that this is a project that wasn t on the top of the list of things to be done but since Rocky Mountain Power has offered to match funds the City has an opportunity to get this project done at half price through utilization of money that was received from Rocky Mountain Power in the first place Council Member Johnson commented on the existing fence and expressed concern over the condition of the slats He suggested that replacing the existing slats would fix the problem rather than having the City pay to put in a wall Mayor Wall explained that Rocky Mountain Power is not willing to put money towards new slats but would like to put money towards a wall Mayor Wall cited concern over the condition of the slats He said that the new wall would be a positive reflection on the City especially considering the large investment that has already occurred on the 5400 South east west walls to make the City more attractive to businesses and residents He 2700 West is a main suggested that as artery in the City it is appropriate to spend the money 33Council Member Johnson expressed additional concern over the fact that the wall would 8 2 4 not cover the whole area Mayor Wall clarified that there is no ordinance that requires Rocky Mountain Power to make their fence more appealing He explained that as a result of the City asking them continually about the fence Rocky Mountain Power decided they would match the City on the cost of the wall but only for the length ofthe existing project and only for 50 of the cost 33 8 2 5 Council Chairman Jerry Rechtenbach clarified that placing a wall in this location has not been on any capital project list and that the discussion is prompted purely because of Rocky s Mountain offer to match costs He said the City does not have any preliminary planning or projected plans to beautify 2700 West in the near future and voiced concern over putting 000 toward something that isn 200 t currently near the top of the list of capital projects 8 Council Member Barbour stated that the look of the City is of top priority and feeds into 17 2 everything that the City is trying to accomplish She suggested that if there is a property owner who is willing to invest 200 000 this should be something the Council thinks about seriously because currently the area looks terrible and needs to be improved Council Member Barbour said she is not a fan of slats in fences 8 01 3 0 Chairman Rechtenbach stated his agreement with Council Member Barbour but questioned whether a 400 000 segment of wall is the best use of the funds He said he would Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes January 11 2012 Page 11 like to see alternative proposals to make the area look a lot better for less money He suggested that the remaining money be used on projects that aze already in the scope 8 10 3 Council Member Johnson observed that rumiing the wall only partway could look even worse if there are still up beat slats on the south side 3 11 8 2 Council Member Kristie Overson stated that even though this isn t a project currently on the radar it is still essentially an opportunity to take advantage of a business that is willing to go half on a project that would ultimately beautify the City She inquired whether it is possible to ask them to enhance the fence where the wall wouldn tcover Mayor Wall responded that Rocky Mountain Power has landscaped the nicely but when asked about replacing the slats area they have responded that the cost is not in their budget He explained that Rocky Mountain Power took this project to their board as a plan to match the beautification walls that are in Taylorsville He indicated that the 200 000 matching amount is the proposal that came back based on what was feasible in Rocky Mountain s Power budget 29Discussion continued regarding the possibility of other options including costs 836 10 wall and the issues involved in renegotiating with Rocky associated in building a foot Mountain Power Mayor Wall stated that the proposal before the Council is as it stands since Rocky Mountain Power has already decided what they are willing to do for this project and the amounts involved are already in Rocky Mountain s Power budget 45Chairman Rechtenbach suggested that rather than make a decision during the Work 40 20 Session the issue should be placed for action as a resolution to give the Council time to further consider the proposed wall 6 Discussion Regarding Chapter 37 Design Standards of the Proposed Land Development Code Mark McGrath 48 Council Member Overson recused herself from the discussion on Chapter 37 due to the 41 20 fact that her husband was involved in the commercial design standazds as well as being a real estate broker developer and consultant Upon questioning she affirmed her belief that it is appropriate for her to abstain from discussion regarding this chapter Community Development Director Mark McGrath called for discussion on Chapter 37 Design Standards of the proposed Land Development Code Mr McGrath detailed a PowerPoint presentation regarding the proposed design standards Council Members discussed various changes necessary Input was received from developer Brent Overson on specific design standards Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes January 1 2012 Page 12 40Council Chairman Jerry Rechtenbach expressed concern over s 20 21 CMU and cited the out refusal Mr McGrath clarified that the intent is not to need for flexibility rather than aflat outlaw s CMU as a construction method as long as it is used with something else Mr McGrath also agreed to bring back to the Council a proposal on different phrasing with regards to s CMU in this chapter of the code 16 Discussion continued on basic design standard questions regarding materials including 28 21 color and scope of materials along with questions relating to specific examples that were used in the PowerPoint presentation Clarification was given on language used in the code 51 Council Member Dama Barbour commended Mark McGrath and the Community 42 21 Development Staff as well as the Planning Commission for the work that has been done on the Development Code Chairman Rechtenbach added his thanks for the efforts throughout this process Mr McGrath noted that the project is not quite finished because although this is the last chapter of the Development Code the zoning map will still be brought back to the Council for review following which there will be a final public comment time and then the proposed Land Development Code will be brought back to the Council as an ordinance for adoption 7 Other Matters 25 City Administrator John Inch Morgan referred to the s 45 21 Mayor Cabinet Meeting and an issue that was brought up regazding Council representation needed for the Sanitation Board Chairman Rechtenbach noted that Council committee assignments will be on the agenda for the next Council meeting 42 Mayor Russ Wall informed the Council of an issue that has come 46 21 up recently regarding euthanasia of animals at the West Valley Animal Shelter Mayor Wall relayed that he has spoken to the media as well as the Mayor and City Manager of West Valley City He advised the Council that this could be an issue brought forward in the near future Mayor Wall stated that he will give an update at the next Council Meeting on this matter 8 Adjournment 27Council Member Dama Barbour MOVED to adjourn the City Council Work Session 49 X1 Council Member Larry Johnson SECONDED the motion Chairman Rechtenbach called for discussion Therebeing none he called for a vote The vote was as follows Rechtenbach yes yes Burgess Barbour yes yes Overson and Johnson yes All City Council members voted in favor and the motion passed unanimously The meeting was adjourned at 49 9 m p Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes January 11 2012 Page 13 Cheryl Peacock Cottle City Recorder Minutes approved CC 02 12 15 Minutes Prepared by Jessica Springer Deputy Recorder and Cheryl Peacock Cottle City Recorder