City Council

Taylorsville Ciry Council Work Session Minutes October 8 2014 Page 1 City of Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes Wednesday October 8 2014 Council Chambers 2600 West Taylorsville Blvd Room No 140 Taylorsville Utah 84129 Attendance Council Members City Staff Chairman Kristie Overson John Taylor City Administrator Vice Ernest Burgess Chairman Tracy Cowdell City Attorney Council Member Dan Armstrong Cheryl Peacock Cottle City Recorder Council Member Dama Barbour Kris Heineman Council Coordinator Council Member Brad Christopherson Tracy Wyant UPD Precinct Chief Mark McGrath Community Development Director Scott Harrington Chief Financial Officer Excused Mayor Lawrence Johnson 6 15 0 6 PM Chair Kristie Overson called the Work Session to order at 0 6 6 m pand welcomed those in attendance City Recorder Cheryl Peacock Cottle conducted a Roll Call wherein all Council Members were present 1 Up Discussion Regarding the Open Follow Publie Meetings Act Tracy Cowdell 1 6 0 7 1 PM City Attorney Tracy Cowdell gave a Power Point presentation regarding the Open and Public Meetings Act as itrelates to Community Councils and City Advisory Committees He rendered his legal opinion that City Advisory Committees and Taylorsville Community Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes October 8 2014 Page 2 Councils do not fall under the definition of public bodies because City ordinance specifies that they do not have authority to bind the City or make decisions on behalf of the City A copy of Mr s Cowdell legal opinion on this matter is attached and incorporated therein as pari of this record 6 41 1 9 PM Council Member Dama Barbour relayed that official community councils are not up and operating in her Council District She asked for clarification on School Community Councils Mr Cowdell gave explanation on the function of School Community Councils He relayed that they are required by statute and are given making power authority 6 10 2 3 PM Council Chair Kristie Overson commented on minimal amounts that are expended by Community Councils Mr Cowdell reiterated that although Community Councils use some City funds they are not authorized to make official decisions regarding the s public business 6 10 2 5 PM City Administrator John Taylor observed that Community Councils sometimes appear to speak on behalf of the City which is not appropriate He suggested that clarification be made that they do not have authority to do so 35 6 2 6 PM Mr Cowdell suggested that as some of the Community Councils do not appear to be functioning well training should be implemented He noted that consideration might also be given to having fewer Community Councils 6 46 2 7V P I Council Member Dama Barbour said that she has not purposely pushed for Community Councils in her District but is satisfied with how some of the neighborhood groups in her area are functioning She said she would like to encourage those groups to utilize funds that are allocated for Community Councils 9 6 0 5 PM Discussion was held regarding the functionality of Community Councils in the City Chair Overson observed that there are currently 10 Community Councils setup in the City but not all are functioning She noted that it took a year to craft the ordinance regarding Community Councils It was pointed out that citizens have the opportunity to join Community Councils and the means for them to function if they want to pursue forming them in their area 6 07 3 3 PM Chair Overson noted that Community Councils have a recognizable logo that makes them distinctive She questioned whether there are any liability issues for the City City Administrator John Taylor cited an example of a Community Council sponsoring a debate wherein it appeared that the City was sponsoring it which was not the case 6 52 3 4 PM Public Information Officer Tiffany Janzen relayed that some Community Councils are using the s City logo and photos of City Hall in their communications She described an Taytorsville City Council Work Session Minutes October 8 2014 Page 3 issue with conflicting information that was shared by a Community Council regarding the availability of leaf bags at City Hall She raised three questions as follows 1 Are Community Councils being monitored 2 Are they representing the City or the City Council 3 Does the City have related liabilities 42 PM Mr Cowdell addressed liability issues He cited examples of political liability and 636 also of legal liability which is more complicated He observed that there is a need for training supervising and monitoring Community Councils 6 04 4 0 PM Ms Janzen gave clarification on information that was shared through Community Councils on social media sites 33 4 6 0 PM Council Member Barbour questioned whether unauthorized people are speaking on behalf ofthe City Mr Taylor observed that it is impossible to monitor everything that citizens may state with a claim that they are speaking for the city He cited the benefits of Community Councils in providing citizen involvement and getting information back and forth but suggested that they really need training and supervision 6 30 4 3 YM Council Member Dan Armstrong questioned the impact of more involvement from the City Mr Cowdell suggested that it would be best to give Community Councils more training He said that if less political liability is desired the Community Council ordinance could be repealed and community involvement scaled back by just encouraging neighborhood groups to communicate with their Council Members He said that his ideal scenario would be to increase funding and set up monitoring and training for Community Councils He noted that Council Coordinator Kris Heineman does not have time to do the necessary monitoring of Community Councils although she is currently doing a great job with the time that she has He suggested that increased budget for additional staff support will be needed if closer monitoring is required 67 PM Council Member Brad Christopherson suggested that more involvement from the 44 City defeats the purpose and intent of Community Councils It was noted that a key to having successful Community Councils is electing a motivated chair person Comments were made that the ordinance does not need to be changed but training does need to be implemented 0 6 3 3 PM Chair Overson noted that chairs will change as new ones are elected at the end of the year She recommended leaving the Community Council ordinance as it is until the end ofthe year then evaluating reit further as new chairs are put in place 6 5 3 2PM Council Member Barbour noted that the vehicle for forming Community Councils is there for citizens to use She agreed that there should not be too many official City spokespersons and anything that goes out under the City logo needs to be official communication Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes October 8 2014 Page 4 from the City only She said she will support Community Councils in her district if they choose to use them 34 6 5 5 PM Council Member Armstrong suggested providing some mandatory training and leaving it up to Council Members to monitor those Community Councils within their districts 6 14 5 6 PM Mr Taylor commented on the type of ongoing training that could be provided to Community Councils 6 38 5 7 PM Mr Cowden acknowledged that School Community Councils function fairly well because they are mostly staff supported He relayed that they are given training twice per year He observed that providing training for Taylorsville Community Councils would not be cumbersome and could be easily facilitated by the City 6 29 5 PM Chair Overson called for some informal direction from the Council on whether to leave the ordinance as it is now with 10 Community Councils set up The consensus of the Council was to leave opportunity for the same number of Community Councils in place whether they are functioning are not it was agreed that training needs to be provided and it should begin the first of the year after new chairs are elected Chair Overson thanked Ms Janzen for her valuable input 7 49 0 1 PM Mr Taylor agreed that training will be arranged with the help of the Council Coordinator and Administration He agreed that information may be passed along to Community Councils advising them that training will be provided soon He noted that training on use of the City logo and not speaking on behalf of the City will happen immediately 2 Discussion Regarding the City Council Meeting Schedule John Taylor 7 PM City Administrator John Taylor noted that the City Council is currently scheduled to 13 0 meet the first three Wednesdays of each month He observed that it takes a lot of staff time to prepare for meetings and lately there have not been many matters to address during Work Sessions He recommended that the Council officially hold two regular meetings per month on the first and third Wednesdays with additional meetings scheduled only when needed Mr Taylor commented that matters that were previously scheduled during Work Sessions could be discussed without action during regular meetings He indicated that staff prefers having more agenda items scheduled during a single meeting and holding fewer separate meetings He cited the potential need for the Council to go into more Closed Meetings in the future 7 0429 PM Council Member Dan Armstrong said he agrees with s Administration suggestion Taylorsville Ciry Council Work Session Minutes October 8 20 4 Page 5 7 PM Council Member Dama Barbour inquired how easy it is to cancel a meeting She 34 0 cited Mayor s Johnson previously stated preference to hold Work Sessions in order to discuss and become familiar with upcoming action items She said she would prefer leaving the schedule as is and just cancelling Work Sessions if they are not needed Mr Taylor agreed that it is preferable to be able to discuss certain issues and have time to present them to constituents before taking action in a subsequent meeting He noted that issues could be discussed during a regular meeting without action and then taken under consideration for two weeks before taking action at the next regular meeting Council Member Brad Christopherson noted that City ordinance only specifies that the Council hold at least two meetings each month Discussion ensued regarding the ability to schedule additional special meetings as needed City Recorder Cheryl Peacock noted that there is already a placeholder on regular meeting agendas for discussing matters for subsequent consideration She expressed her concerns with cancelling alot of meetings She indicated that although it is fairly easy to notice that a meeting is cancelled it may become confusing for citizens when too many meetings are cancelled She noted that she is required by statute to post an annual meeting schedule at the beginning of the year and would prefer to post a schedule that can be adhered to for the most part She suggested that it reflects better upon the City is less confusing to citizens and is more productive to add meetings when needed rather than to constantly have a need to cancel them Further discussion ensued and the Council agreed that the official annual meeting schedule noticed for 2015 should list two regular meetings on the first and third Wednesdays of each month with special meetings to be added as needed Mr Taylor asked the Council to determine meeting dates for the months of November and December After discussion it was decided that regular meetings will be held on November 5 November 19 December 3 and December 10 2014 It was relayed that these meeting dates will be publicly noticed and placed in the City newsletter and on the City website calendar Chair Overson reminded Council Members that a meeting has been scheduled for the City Council and Advisory Committee Chairs on Wednesday October 22 2014 at 0 6 0 p in the m Council Chambers She noted that training on GRAMA Law and Email Retention will be rendered by the City Recorder and the City Attorney during that meeting 3 Other Matters There were no other matters Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes October 8 2014 Page 6 4 Adjournment 7 39 2 1 PM Council Member Brad Christopherson MOVED to adjourn the City Council Work Session Council Member Dan Armstrong SECONDED the motion Chair Overson for discussion on the motion There being none she called for a vote The vote was as follows yes Burgess Christopherson yes Barbour yes Overson yes and Armstrongyes All City Council members voted in favor and the motion passed unanimously The meeting was adjourned at 2 7 2m p Cheryl Pea ck Cottle City Recorder Minutes approved CC 10 4 es Prepared by Llirw Cheryl Pearock Cottle City Xeoorrter