City Council

WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 20, 2024 The minutes of the Woods Cross City Council meeting held August 20, 2024, at 6:30 P.M. in the Woods Cross City Hall located at 1555 South 800 West, Woods Cross, Utah. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Ryan Westergard, Mayor Wally Larrabee Julie Checketts Gary Sharp Jessica Kelemen Matt Terry STAFF PRESENT: Bryce Haderlie, City Administrator Annette Hanson, City Recorder LaCee Bartholomew, Community Services Coordinator James Bigelow, Chief of Police Sam Christiansen, Public Works Johnny Filler, Public Works Dept Curtis Poole, Community Development Director Brian Passey, Finance Director Aaron Bateman, Police Department Corey Boyle, Police Department Gavin Hanselman, Police Department Michelle Rowley, Police Dept. Kelly Zierse, Police Department Josh Smith, Police Department Breeanna Hill, Police Dept. PUBLIC ATTENDANCE: LeGrande Blackley Greg Seegmiller Zierse Family Charise Hilton Ethan Connett Rachel Connett Val Shupe John Taylor Holden Manning Amber Taylor Everett Taylor Lois Schrader Don Schrader Andrew Noorlander Nicole Biesinger Trulee Goble Thatcher Goble Ledger Goble Syler Goble Amber Thomas Julie Thomas April Filler Mark Schouten Savannah Biesinger Tate Roberts Zoey Hogan Holly Hogan Tim Hogan Abby Hogan Robyn Chidester Ellie Tabish Mason Lehman Wesley Lehman Chase Anderson Jaxon Dyreng Jayden Dyreng Lucianna Becerra Fernando Becerra Corrie Becerra Addy Becerra Kira Plowman Autumn Taylor John Taylor Ainsley Hickenlooper Lily Mann Ben Lily Stephen Schaff Haline Schaff Chole Schaff Marie Erickson Lily Erickson Kelli Stowell Maysie Stowell Robert Stowell Camden Stowell Lindsay Kelsey Molly Kelsey Adreinne Anderson Adam Anderson Chase Anderson Tamara Taylor Tibby Taylor Skyler Anderson Kurtis Anderson Kristin Leger Will Leger Lori Nelson Ashley Dewall Gracie Dewall Emily Nelson Emmalee Peters Adeline Raynor Lily Corob Wendy Hickenlooper Tate Roberts Mary Sue Smith Garrett Smith INVOCATION: Matt Terry OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 20, 2024 PAGE 2 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Wally Larrabee SWEARING IN OF THE 2024 YOUTH CITY COUNCIL The Mayor then noted the Youth City Council had been sworn in outside at the pavilion to accommodate. all the youth and their parents. The Mayor said there were about 75 youth who would be serving on the Youth City Council this year. The Mayor and Council welcomed all the new Youth City Council Members and said they appreciated their willingness to serve the community. SWEARING IN OF THE 2024 YOUTH CITY COUNCIL YOUTH LEADERSHIP The Youth City Council Leadership was then Administered the Oath of Office to begin their duties for the next year. The Mayor and Council said they were excited to be working with the Youth City Council Leadership and said they were a great group this year. YOUTH CITY COUNCIL REPORT The Mayor then asked John Taylor, the new youth Mayor, and Holden Manning, the youth Deputy Mayor, to report on the activities of the Youth City Council. They reported that this summer the council had held a very successful end of year party, a teen summit retreat for a few of the youth at Utah State University, participated in the Handcard Days Parade by holding a large American flag with youth from other cities, and had Leadership Training going over the charter. The theme for this year will be “Find Yourself.” The youth council will be participating in the Night Out Against Crime coming up on August 22, and expect to have a good turnout, and it will be a great activity. The Mayor and Council thanked Mayor Taylor and Deputy Mayor Manning for their time and for their report. They said they were excited for the new year. PRESENTATION OF POLICE DEPARTMENT ACCREDITATION BY UTAH CHIEF’S OF POLICE ASSOCIATION The Mayor then gave the floor to Mr. Val Shupe representing the Utah Chief’s of Police Association for the accreditation of the Woods Cross City Police Department. Mr. Shupe said there are 178 standards that police departments must meet in order to receive accreditation, which include city ordinances, federal law, and state law and everything in between. He said Woods Cross had started this process some time ago and Chief Bigelow has stepped forward and completed this process. Mr. Shupe said there is training that continues each year to keep up accreditation which allows police departments to have priority in receiving grants as well as helps the city and police department have less exposure in regard to liability when standards are in place. OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 20, 2024 PAGE 3 Mr. Shupe said he is very proud that Woods Cross has chosen to take part in the accreditation process and have become accredited to benefit the city and the police department. He then presented Chief Bigelow with the accreditation award and thanked him and the department for the their hard work in this accomplishment. The Mayor and Council thanked the Chief for his work in getting this done. OFFICIAL PINNING AND SWEARING IN OF POLICE DEPARTMENT OFFICER ZIERSE The Mayor then gave the floor to Police Chief Bigelow who introduced Officer Kelly Zierse, who was to be sworn in at tonight’s meeting as Woods Cross City’s newest officer. Chief Bigelow said Officer Zierse has 20 years of experience and is coming to Woods Cross after serving in West Jordan for the past 15 years. Following the introduction of Office Zierse, City Recorder then Administered the Oath of Office to Officer Zierse. The Mayor and Council congratulated Officer Zierse on his new appointment and said they were glad to have him serving as part of the Woods Cross Police Department. Officer Zierse introduced his family to the Mayor and Council and said he was happy to be serving in the city of Woods Cross. YOUTH PEER COURT PRESENTATION The Mayor then gave the floor to Charise Hilton, who serves as a district administrator in the Canyons school district and to Mr. Ethan Connett, who is a Woods Cross High School student who serves on the Salt Lake City Peer Court as a volunteer judge and mentor. Ethan said he was here today to try and help create a more local Peer Court to have the option in the Davis School District. He said it would do the public and the city a great service to create a Peer Court here. Ms. Hilton and Mr. Connett gave a presentation on Youth Peer Courts and what they were and how they worked and said they would like to see something similar implemented in Woods Cross City. It was explained that this court was an intervention for youth that had committed less serious offenses. There was a history given on how the peer court was established, how to start a peer court in your community, reasons for peer court referrals, referral process, disposition timeline, mentoring, judges, community partners, bonus opportunities and the fundamental principles of Peer Court which are: 1. Community Connection 2. Accountability 3. Skill development It was also noted there has been good success with having youth go through the Peer Court process with their own peers helping them through this type of intervention. Ms. Hilton explained what is included in starting a Peer Court and who may be involved, that there needs to be a set place to hold the Peer Court, and that a budget would be needed and that volunteers can be involved from the community. She also said some of the reasons kids are referred to Peer Court is because OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 20, 2024 PAGE 4 of ongoing misbehavior such as attendance and truancy, drug and alcohol use, reckless driving on school property, fighting, vandalism, vaping, and other minor offenses. She said they work collaboratively with law enforcement. She went through how the referral process worked and how they have hearings and how youth are questioned and how discipline is served. She said they try to connect youth discipline to the offense that had occurred. She said they check on the youth through the process to see if they need any help. She explained about training for the peer judges and how that is given. She said a quarter of a credit for school could be earned as well. She said she likes to see youth be part of something. She also said she works with four different law enforcement agencies who are also on board with this program. She said the peers learn a lot through this program and there are many benefits to the youth and their families through this program. Following the presentation, Council Member Terry asked if this program is for incidents that happen at the school. Ms. Hilton said it can be incidents at the school or in the community in working with law enforcement. Council Member Terry said he felt like this type of program could crossover with the different cities in the area. Ms. Hilton said that is why she would suggest having a South Davis Youth Court to serve the South Davis Area. The Mayor said he liked the idea of collaborating with the South Davis area. Council Member Larrabee asked if they would be visiting Bountiful and North Salt Lake City Council’s and Ms. Hilton said they do have plans to reach out to the other City Council’s. Ms. Hilton said she would be happy to work with Woods Cross City and would share whatever she has and would be willing to help do training and assist anyway she can. Council Member Checketts asked if the programs are run through the police department or the court system. Ms. Hilton said it is with the police department. Ethan said they do work with everyone through this program, and it is successful. The Mayor asked if there is a Youth Court in Davis County and Ms. Hilton said that Layton has a strong Youth Court that is working very well. She said there are Youth Courts all over the state. Council Member Checketts questioned if there would be enough cases to have a Youth Court based in Woods Cross. Chief Bigelow said as of right now there was only one case that would qualify. It was noted Woods Cross would need to reach out to neighboring cities to collaborate for enough cases to be effective. The Mayor said he meets with the Mayor’s of the other cities quite regularly and he would be happy to make an introduction for this program to them so they can be introduced to the Youth Court program and open a discussion with them and gage the interest. He said he would like to get contact information to help get this presentation before them. Ms. Hilton said the Council is invited to come to attend a hearing anytime to see how it all works. The Mayor and Council thanked Ms. Hilton and Ethan for their time. The Mayor said he would like to try and get some momentum behind this program. CONSIDERATION TO APPROVE MINUTES The Mayor called for the review of the minutes for the City Council meeting held 08/06/24. OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 20, 2024 PAGE 5 Following the review of the minutes, Council Member Sharp made a motion to approve the minutes of 8/06/24 as written with Council Member Checketts seconding the motion and all voted in favor of the motion through a roll call vote. RATIFY CASH DISBURSEMENTS The Mayor then called for the ratification of the cash disbursements for the time period of 7/26/24-8/08/24. Council Member Kelemen made a motion to ratify the cash disbursements for the time period of 7/26/24- 8/08/24 with Council Member Checketts seconding the motion and all voted in favor of the motion through a roll call vote. COUNCIL KUDOS Council Member Checketts made a motion to table this item for later in the meeting with Council Member Terry seconding the motion and all voted in favor of the motion through a roll call vote. PUBLIC COMMENT The Mayor then opened the meeting to comments from the public. Steffan Olson addressed the Council and said he was interested in addressing the property tax and if it would be increased. The Mayor said there are several options being presented to increase property taxes later in the meeting. Mr. Olson also said he was wondering if there had been any further information on whether the city will continue to be part of the recreation district. The Mayor noted the residents had voted to part of that district several years ago. He said the city does not contribute financially to the recreation district, but the residents contribute and there would have to be some sort of ballot initiative that would have to happen so the residents could vote on that again on whether they would like to be removed from the recreation district. The Mayor said the city could not make that decision because it is not a city decision. There was discussion on how to get something on the ballot initiative and what might be required to get that done. It was noted it would be a process of the citizens in getting that done. There were no other comments, and the Mayor closed the public comment period. PARKS MASTER GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT DISCUSSION The Mayor gave the floor to the Community Development Director who noted the following for the City Council: “In 2023, the City contracted with J-U-B Engineers to provide consultation as it developed a Parks Master Plan. J-U-B conducted an inventory of existing parks and recreation facilities within the city and surveyed residents to help understand the preferences of parks, amenities, and trails. This information was used to create a needs inventory and to rank needs identified by residents. J-U-B has worked with the City Council, Planning Commission, and City Staff over the last year to help develop and refine the final plan. In addition, J-U-B has provided an estimated capital improvement cost breakdown of various projects. OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 20, 2024 PAGE 6 “J-U-B presented a final draft of the Parks Maser Plan to the Planning Commission on July 9, 2024. After holding a public hearing, discussing the plan, and recommending some changes, the Commission has forwarded a positive recommendation to adopt the Parks Master Plan as an amendment to the General Plan. “J-U-B will present the updated draft of the Parks Master Plan to the Council and will be available for questions. At a future date, the Council will hold a public hearing, review, and decide on the Planning Commission’s recommendation to adopt the Parks Master Plan.” Following the information given, Mr. Andrew Noorlander, the landscape architect from JUB was at the meeting to answer any questions the Council might have regarding this item. He said they had been working on this plan for the past several years and said it was an update to the 2010 masterplan. Mr. Noolander gave a presentation to the Council touching on the survey that was done and the priorities that came out of the master plan, a new section on active transportation, new parks matrix, level of service for parks and recreation, and key recommendations that come out of the master plan. Following the presentation given by Mr. Noorlander, the Council asked about how many participated in the survey and Mr. Noorlander said there was 135 respondents and that is quite typical. He said 45% of those people said they would be willing to pay extra taxes for more park amenities. Council Member Checketts asked what the number one desire from the survey was for the parks. Mr. Noorlander said the type of park residents want were neighborhood parks which range from 10 to 20 acres. He said passive parks were important to residents as well. He said amenities that ranked highly were playgrounds, walking and running trails, shade, pickleball courts and picnic shelters. There were no further questions, and the Council thanked Mr. Noorlander for his presentation. The City Administrator said if there was anything the Council would like to have revised, this would be their opportunity to do so. He said it could also be put on the meeting in two weeks if there were things the Council would like to change. Council Member Terry mentioned an adult swing for mothers and babies, he had seen at a park in Florida, and they were very popular. He said he felt like that might be one thing that could be added to the parks that would be used and appreciated. Staff said they would look into seeing about getting that type of swing. Council Member Kelemen also mentioned a nature playground and how fun those were and thought that may be something to look into as well. Staff said they would work on looking into that type of park as well. The Mayor and Council thanked Mr. Noolander for his presentation. CONSIDERATION TO APPROVE 2024 ARBOR DAY PROCLAMATION The Mayor gave the floor the Public Works Director who noted the following for the City Council: “In efforts to promote Arbor Day in Woods Cross City, I recommend the City Council pass the Arbor Day Proclamation for 2024. The City has enjoyed a rich history of being a Tree City for over 20 years. The Tree OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 20, 2024 PAGE 7 City USA program has helped beautify the City with annual tree planting and set an example to residents of the City of the benefits of trees in our Community. “This year we will combine Arbor Day with the Day of Service activities on September 14, 2024. We will be planting trees with volunteers in the linear park in the Mountain View Subdivision. City staff hopes this will instill the goals of the Arbor Day Foundation within the public to help beautify the City with Trees.” The Public Works Director said they would be planting 15 trees in the Mountain View linear park. He said if the Council would like to leave the tree planting on the Day of Service or move it to April for Arbor Day. The Council said doing it on the Day of Service works out well so the would like to leave it on that day. Following the information given, Council Member Kelemen made a motion to approve 2024 Arbor Day Proclamation. Council Member Checketts seconded the motion, and all voted in favor of the motion through a roll call vote. CONSIDERATION TO ADOPT RESOLUTION 2024-875 AWARDING 2024 STREET PRESERVATION CONTRACT The Public Works Director continued with the floor and said that in an effort to preserve and extend the life of the existing and new asphalt roads the City has paved and other roads that are due for treatment, they are proposing 2 types of preservation treatments this fall. He noted that city staff has received bids for 2 types of preservation treatments. The bid openings that occurred on August 5th are: • Slurry Seal Type II (for low volume local roads with smaller aggregate) • Slurry Seal Type III (for higher volume collector roads with larger aggregate) He recommended that the City Council approve the resolution awarding the 2024 Asphalt Preservation Project to Asphalt Preservations for the amount of $83,022.50 and start work as soon as they can. He noted that currently we have $600,000 budgeted for street maintenance in FY25 with this preservation project cost of $83,022.50, and the other current projects we still have $203,123.11 for crack sealing, project contingencies and a possible spring overlay or preservation projects. The Public Works Director said slurry seal is a great option for the city’s Pavement Management Plan for areas that do not meet the requirements for HA5 or have higher traffic numbers (1500 W, 800 W, 1100 W). This bid award includes traffic control and repainting the existing road markings with traffic control and resident notification. He said that slurry seal does not require 24 hours to cure, like HA5, but does have a period of cure time that is usually 4-8 hours depending on the air temperature. He noted that Asphalt Preservation has done slurry treatments for the city in the past and have had great experiences with them. He also said that a 48-hour resident notification is required as per the contract. Following the information given, Council Member Sharp made a motion to adopt resolution 2024-875, a resolution awarding the 2024 street preservation contract to Asphalt Preservation for the amount of $83,022.50 and start work as soon as they can. Council Member Terry seconded the motion, and all voted in favor of the motion through a roll call vote. OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 20, 2024 PAGE 8 CONSIDERATION TO ADOPT RESOLUTION 2024-876 ADOPTING PROPERTY TAX RATE FOR TAX YEAR 2024 The Mayor gave the floor to the City Administrator who noted the following: “Following the Truth in Taxation hearing held Tuesday August 6 th, it is time for the Council to adopt the 2024 Property Tax Rate. This is for the property taxes that will be collected in November of 2024 to provide revenue to the FY25 Woods Cross General Fund Budget. “Following the discussion on August 6th, staff has prepared the table to provide a variety of options to consider for the Certified Tax Rate and associated revenue. OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 20, 2024 PAGE 9 “The General Fund budget has been prepared to include the one-time and ongoing capital projects on the list. For discussion purposes, the budget includes the 10.28% tax increase (TNT Option 10—CRT of 0.001320 for $1,922,197 property tax revenue) that collects $179,114 additional revenue over the Certified Tax Rate. This tax rate would cover the project mentioned above and add $31,114.00 to the fund balance or cover any additional capital projects that the Council wants to add to the list at the August 20 th meeting. “If the Council chooses to not include any additional capital projects and wanted to collect enough property tax revenue to balance the budget, TNT Option 8 would be the closest rate for a balanced budget and $1,990 going to the fund balance. “The Council can adopt any tax rate up to 0.001390 for $2,024,132 Real Property Tax Revenue. Staff recommends somewhere between option 8 and 10 if the Council’s desire is to fund the highest priority capital projects recommended by staff, and to have a balanced budget without using fund balance.” The City Administrator did note as part of the budget matter, that at one time Council Member Checketts said she would like to see some speed signs placed on some of the city streets to help control speeding. Council Member Checketts said she felt like it would benefit people living on the busy streets to help calm traffic on roads such as 1100 W, 800 W, and 1500 S. The City Administrator said it would change the budget depending on what streets they wanted those speed signs to be located. It was noted that the current speed signs located in the city are not currently changing speeding behavior. Council Member Kelemen suggested purchasing and utilizing one speed trailer and moving it around. Council Member Sharp said that if it is not changing behavior, it may not be necessary for permanent signs. There were comments that permanent speed signs are ignored, and a portable trailer would be more effective. Chief Bigelow said trailers are easier to tamper with and break and they are more expensive to fix. There was discussion on a photo trailer and if it would be effective. The Mayor said he felt the trailer moved around was more effective. There was more discussion on what things would be kept in the budget and what might be deleted, in order of importance, depending on what the tax increase would be. As the Council looked at the budget and the possible tax increase, Council Member Checkett said she would like to go the full 16% because the city is still catching up from not having tax increases for several years. She said inflation is still going to take place and she wants to keep up with those costs. The Mayor said it was his opinion that doing the full tax increase would be difficult for people in this economy with inflation and so many other increases. Council Member Kelemen said she would have difficulty supporting the full increase, especially since there had been a recent water increase that was necessary. She said there would not be as much contributed to the General Fund but that costs would still be covered with the projected budget. OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 20, 2024 PAGE 10 Council Member Larrabee said that he looked over his notes from comments at the public hearing for the tax increase and he said he felt like it would be hard to go the full 16%. He would have a hard time going over 10% and maybe even lower than that amount would be best. Council Member Checketts said there were 13 people who attended the public hearing on the budget. Council Member Larrabee said those people were quite uniform in what they were saying about a tax increase. Council Member Checketts said she does understand, but she does not want to have to do another large increase in coming years. The Mayor said that residents may consider 16% a large increase. Council Member Sharp said he did not want to touch savings but wanted to have what the city needs but to look at things and see where costs might be cut. The City Administrator said public safety would be covered in the budget, but that other projects might not be able to fund capital projects. He said if option ten was chosen there would still be $31,000 left for capital projects or fund balance. He said some of the things on the budget are the best guesses. Council Member Checketts said she was afraid that sales tax would go down. The City Administrator said it is a concern, but they will do what needs to be done to balance the budget. There was a discussion on having a $30,000 cushion and if it would be enough with the 10% tax increase. Council Member Terry said he felt like things on the budget can always be looked at again in six months and make sure that there is budget for those things that are necessary. Council Member Sharp said more money can be put away for the future, and it would be better for the city in the long term. The City Administrator asked if there was anything on the capital improvement list that the Council would like to add or take off. The Council discussed some of the items on the list. The Council talked about having a traffic safety committee and what the costs would be involved and if they felt like it would be beneficial. Council Members Kelemen said she was good with option 10 because every taxing entity is asking for more and there is a lot coming at everyone right now. Council Member Larrabee said he felt like that would also be good to let the residents know, the Council listened to what they said, and they were heard. Council Member Terry also said he felt good with option 10. Council Member Sharp said he agreed with 10. Council Member Checketts said she is afraid of what might happen with economy because the election could be an issue. She asked what the difference would be between a 10% increase and an 11% increase and it was noted it would go from $3.64 to $3.67 if option 11 is chosen for the budget, which would then increase the cushion from $30,000 to $43,000 for fund and would be .5% cushion. Council Member Terry said he is concerned that if taxes are bumped up and then not used, that would also be a concern. He said he would be fine with 10% or 11%. OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 20, 2024 PAGE 11 Following the discussion, Council Member Checketts made a motion to adopt resolution 2024-876, a resolution adopting the property tax rate for 2024 at .001330. (which was option 11) Council Member Sharp seconded the motion, and all voted in favor of the motion through a roll call vote. It was noted this amount would be just under $37 a year for the average homeowner. Following the motion, Council also discussed putting the new tax rate in the newsletter to make sure residents are aware the tax rate was set at 11.11 % not raised the full 16.12%. CONSIDERATION TO ADOPT RESOLUTION 2024-877 ADOPTING FINAL BUDGET FOR FY 2025 The City Administrator continued with the floor and noted the following information for the City Council: “We present to you the proposed final budget that has been derived from the Tentative Budget adopted on June 18, 2024. Adjustments from the tentative to final budget include: General Fund - 10 10-31-100 Property Taxes- Real Property have been increased to Option 10 of the Tax Rate Table showing 10.82% Increase for $179,114 additional revenue above the Certified Tax Rate provided by the State Tax Commission. This amount can be adjusted at the meeting. 10-33-450 – State Grant- Police Increased by $5,000 for upcoming grant. 10-38-700 – Contribution – Private Sources, Increased to $1,000. 10-43-112 Administrative Overtime increased by $3,000. 10-43-310 – Professional & Technical increased by $55,000 for codification and website updates. 10-57-110 thru 134 adjusted to include code enforcement officer, $50,000 total. 10-60-450 Uniform Allowance increased by $2,000 to give each officer $1,300 per year for uniform allowance at Skaggs on a purchase card in their name. 10-71-410 Special Department Supplies increased by $5,500 for retro-reflective sign maintenance. 10-71-620 Misc. Services increased by $5,000 annually for traffic light inspection services required for new light at 800 W 1500 S. 10-90-990 – Budgeted Increase to Fund Balance- Increased to $31,114 based on tax rate revenue. This will adjust if 10-31-100 is adjusted thru the tax rate. Class C Special Revenue Fund - 21 21-36-100 Interest Earnings - increased by $50,000 based on current interest earnings. 21-36-110 Interest Earnings – 2022 Bond – Increase by $20,000 based on current interest earnings. 21-39-900 – Use of Fund Balance (bond proceeds also) for the projects below. 21-40-733 – 800 W 1500 S Traffic Signal – Bond proceeds to pay for project added to budget. 21-40-737 – 1100 W- 2150 S to 2600 S Widening – To pay for project design this year. 21-40-751 – 1100 W- 500 S to 1100 S Widening – Added for remaining expenses this year. 21-40-990 – Reduced to $0 where fund balance is not needed. Subsurface Storm Drain Special Revenue Fund -22 This fund is no longer needed, and the fund balance is being moved to the Storm Drain Fund. RAP Tax Fund. 23 23-36-100 – Interest Earnings- Increased by $30,000 to reflect current interest earnings. OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 20, 2024 PAGE 12 23-40-731 thru 733 – Increased for projects at Mills Park $60,000, the Dog Park $120,000, and Hogan Park $85,000. 23-40-920 – Decrease in the Budgeted Increase to Fund Balance to $267,000 from $502,000 due to projects above. We recommend that we continue to build up this fund balance to pay off the $900,000 in interfund loans for the DeLuna property Purchase. Park Development Special Revenue Fund – 24 24-36-100- Interest Earnings- Increased by $2,600 to show current interest earnings. 24-40-734 – Parks & Rec. Master Plan Update – Expense line increased to $9,600 to show anticipated expenditures this year. 24-40-990 – Budgeted Increase to Fund Balance- Reduced by $7,000 to balance this budget. Redevelopment Agency Fund – 25 25-36-100 – Interest Earnings- Increased by $35,000 to reflect current interest earnings. 25-40-112- Overtime- Increased to $500. 25-90-990- Budgeted Increase to Fund Balance – Increased to 138,549 to reflect increased revenue in interest earnings. Youth City Council Fund – 26 26-36-100 Interest Earnings – Reduced by $2,000 to reflect current interest earnings. 26-40-990 – Budget Increase to Fund Balance – Reduced by $2,000 to reflect changes in 26-36- 100. Community of Promise Fund – 27 Revenue and expenses adjusted by $4,000 to reflect ongoing expenses. State Liquor Allotment Fund- 28 Revenue and expenses adjusted by $2,000 to reflect current interest earning 1960 S Assessment Area Fund – 41 Fund increased by $8,000 for interest earnings and expenses adjusted in Miscellaneous Expenses and Bond Agent Fees to reflect anticipated expenses. The pre-paid assessments have been moved to SLGS (State and Local Government Securities) to earn interest until the payments are due in the future. Capital Improvements Development Fund – 46 Interest earnings and Fund Balance Increase have been adjusted to reflect current rates. Water Enterprise Fund – 51 Interest earnings and depreciation have been adjusted by $20,000 to reflect current rates. Solid Waste Enterprise Fund - 52 Interest earnings and fund balance increase have been adjusted by $3,000 to reflect current rates. Water Impact Fees Enterprise Fund – 53 Interest earnings and fund balance appropriation have been adjusted by $5,000 to reflect current rates. Water No Fault Fund – 54 Interest earnings and fund balance increase have been adjusted by $2,000 to reflect current rates. OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 20, 2024 PAGE 13 Storm Drain Fee Enterprise Fund – 56 Interest revenue has been increased by $17,624 to reflect current rates. 56-39-900 – Fund Balance Appropriation has been increased to $87,000 to offset the expense of the work in the 800 W 1500 S intersection during the traffic signal construction project. 56-40-733 – The $151,944 has been created for the work in the 800 W 1500 S intersection during the traffic signal construction project. Storm Drain Impact Fee Enterprise Fund – 57 Interest earnings and fund balance increase have been adjusted by $13,000 to reflect current rates. Fleet Fund – 61 The Interest earnings and Fund Balance Appropriation have been adjusted by $19,000 to reflect the current rates. Following the tax rate discussion and the information given above, Council Member Checketts made a motion to adopt resolution 2024-877, a resolution adopting the final budget for FY 2025 based on option 11 setting the tax rate of option 11 at .001330 and anything that is not in grayed pieces as presented on the capital improvements outline would be budgeted into surplus. Council Member Larrabee seconded the motion and all voted in favor of the motion through a roll call vote. DISCUSS PLANNING COMMISSION AND CITY COUNCIL COMPENSATION SURVEY The City Administrator continued with the floor and noted the following: “Staff gathered compensation information from the communities on the list by calling cities directly or taking it from the Utah Transparency website. The purpose of this agenda item is to discuss the survey information and provide staff with direction on the Planning Commission and City Council member compensation.” Following the information given by the City Administrator, Council Member Terry said every employee is given a COLA raise except these positions. He wondered if these positions were given the same COLA then it would be the same going forward and it could be added each year. Council Member Sharp said he feels like that would be good going forward and these positions do put in quite a bit of time so that should be considered. It was noted it had been some time since there was an official action taken for this matter. The Council discussed how compensation could be considered and the Council talked about tying it to a COLA raise. The City Administrator said there possibly needs to be a catch-up for some of the positions and a 2% or 3% addition to be added to catch up. OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 20, 2024 PAGE 14 The Council proposed raising the Mayor’s wage to $15,000 to be in line with other cities. They proposed to raise the wage to $8,000 for the City Council members to be in line with other cities. They also said they would like to be able to have a technology budget for new Council Members. Council Member Terry said he would the city to charge a fee to run for office, so people are serious to run a campaign and do not drop out, which can cost the city money. He proposed the fee could be refundable, but they would have to move forward with running. A candidate would not have to win the election to get their money back. The Mayor said there could be an application fee. The City Administrator said they could talk more about this in detail at the strategic planning meeting. CODE ENFORCEMENT POLICY DISCUSSION The Community Development Director continued with the floor and presented the following to the City Council: “With the Community Development Department taking over the administration of code enforcement, I feel it is important to establish policies or an ordinance that would guide code enforcement within the City. Currently, there are no official policies with which to guide the soon-to-be hired code enforcement officer. With that in mind, I am providing the following discussion points to help the Council provide direction to Staff as we write the policy/ordinance.” • Internal department policy vs. City ordinance o Internal policy can be easily updated with Council approval o City ordinance would require public hearings o City ordinance may be more legally binding • Complaint driven vs. City initiated o Complaints in writing (letter, email) only or will phone calls and personal visits be accepted o Can complaints be anonymous, or will the complainant need to be identified? o With complaint driven there may be violations that will never get reported because of the reluctance of neighbors. o City initiated may have a quicker impact o City initiated will require more resources, primarily in manpower. o City initiated could be seen as arbitrary. • Complaints from residents only or will all City employees be able to make complaints. • Number of times a property owner should be notified before their case is sent to the City Attorney for prosecution. o Two strikes, three strikes? • Time to resolve a violation. o 2 weeks minimum after the property owner is notified o Based on the nature of the violation OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 20, 2024 PAGE 15 • Repeat offenders o Do they go back through the same process or will their violation immediately be sent to the City Attorney for prosecution. • City Attorney’s willingness and capacity to prosecute violators Following the information given, Council Member Terry asked if there could be a blend of the two options with policy and city ordinance. Mr. Poole said there could be an ordinance outlining how the code would work and then the day to day could be more of the policy. The City Administrator said the Council could legislatively set the ordinance defining what the city would enforce and then set administrative rules for what the how the staff enforces the ordinance, including a range of penalties, and things of that nature that would give staff administrative discretion on enforcement Mr. Poole said the next thing to discuss is how issues would be reported either complaint driven, or city driven. Council Members Terry and Checketts said they would like to be able to do both. Mr. Poole said city driven is more time intensive. Council Member Terry said he felt like the complaint could be addressed first and then followed up with city staff. Council Member Kelemen said there could be more flexibility given to this position for Code Enforcement and see how things are working and make adjustments as needed. There was discussion on how a violation might be handled. Mr. Poole said repeat offenders might go straight to the prosecutor. He said in a previous city he was at there was three strikes you’re out type of situation. He said very few issues get that far with only about 5% that end up being given to the city prosecutor. Mr. Poole said he feels like a judge would ask city staff if the resident was given enough time to fix a problem. Mr. Poole said if a resident with an issue was given three warnings it might take a little bit of time to work through that process, but a judge be more willing to handle the situation if the resident had been given time to resolve an issue. The City Administrator said this is where the administration might have a little more latitude and flexibility for the Code Enforcement Officer to use discretion to handle a situation. Council Member Terry said he felt like there needs to be a plan with code to help fix an issue and make sure a resident is given a reasonable time with staff following up to make sure the offender is getting things taken care of, those not making an effort to fix an issue should not get any leeway. Council Member Sharp said his concern is he does not see anything about going after the landlord or owner of the home outlined. Mr. Poole said yes it would be whoever owns the property that would get the first letter to fix the issue. Mr. Poole said he would be more willing to work with someone if they were actively working on an issue. He said if they are ignoring the letters or warning, there would be no leniency. Council Member Checketts asked if there could be a beautification corner in the newsletter done by the Code Enforcement Officer. Mr. Poole said that could be done. He also said there could be reminders sent out for people to get weeds taken care of at the beginning of summer. OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 20, 2024 PAGE 16 Mr. Poole said he would take the City Council’s comments back and work on getting more information put together for code enforcement COUNCIL KUDOS The Mayor gave the floor to Council Member Checketts who said there was a nomination for a Council Kudo by Bonnie Craig for LaCee Bartholomew. Bonnie said LaCee does so much for the city by handling all the activities in the city, including the Memorial Day Celebration, Summer Recreation, and employee activities and parties. LaCee works hard to make sure all the activities are fun and successful, and she is amazing. The Mayor and Council awarded LaCee a gift card and thanked her for all that she does. CITY HALL OFFICE HOURS The Mayor gave the floor to the City Administrator who noted the following for the City Council: “Staff has been discussing the cost benefits of having city hall closed on Fridays and what that would look like for customers and employees. We have had the administrative staff keep a record of walk-in customers and phone calls from June 10th to July 19th. “The staff have also prepared a proposal for closing city hall on Friday. If approved, staff would still be given shift flexibility when it does not negatively impact productivity and service. We do not anticipate the Public Works Department, or the Police Department, would change how they do business and will still be available by phone Monday-Friday and through emergency dispatch 24/7. It is interesting to note that all of the surrounding cities of Bountiful, West Bountiful, and North Salt Lake have city hall open Monday-Thursday. “While we would propose keeping the same office hours, the public will still have phone access to PD and Public Works on Friday. Other benefits to having city hall closed on Friday would include: 1. Uninterrupted time for staff to complete detailed responsibilities. 2. Would allow staff to complete tasks away from the front desk or remotely while still being accessible through call-forwarding features. 3. With improved website design, the public will have greater access to complete city business remotely. 4. Enhanced employee satisfaction through job flexibility. Staff recognizes that change to internal procedures and systems would be needed to make this transition which would include: A. Website redesign and reliability for public interface. B. Phone tree improvements that would make connecting to remote staff easier. C. Changes to the information on the City Hall doors and printed information. “While the staff is not asking to make this change immediately, we would like to know if the City Council is open to considering the change and what you believe would be needed to make the changes successful. OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 20, 2024 PAGE 17 Following the information given, the Council said they were fine with closing city hall on Fridays when everything else is in place such as the updated website, fixing the phone tree, and giving notice to the public it will be happening. Staff said they would work towards doing this and keep the Council updated. COMMUNITY SERVICES REPORT The Mayor gave the floor to the Community Services Coordinator, LaCee Bartholomew. She said that Marilyn Lavender had stepped away from hosting the Senior Lunch Bunch and April Filler is currently looking for a new host and speakers for the next few months. She said if anyone has any ideas for speakers, she would happily accept them. She said the Youth City Council has 80 members this year and is off to a smashing success. She said they are a great group of kids and will do amazing things this year. There was discussion about limiting some of the expectations for participation of certain activities with so many youths because of limited budget. She said Summer Literacy has become the sleeper summer event success. They gave out 850 books this summer and had wonderful presentations this summer and are excited for the next year. She said on September 25 there will be an employee BBQ at the Public Works building at noon. Day of Service and Pumpkins in the Park are upcoming events. The Day of Service is September 14, and the city is working with the Woods Cross North Stake to see which projects they would like to commit to doing, the others will be posted on Just Serv. Pumpkins in the Park will be on October 12 and will be great. POLICE REPORT The Mayor gave the floor to the Police Chief who went over the following report with the City Council. DISPATCHED CALLS 2024 2023 YEARLY Jan—445 Jan--735 2023—6,867 Feb—419 Feb—603 2022—10,155 March—448 March—702 2021—9,106 April—501 April—712 2020—10,473 May—526 May—771 2019—11,368 June—524 June—716 2018—11,600 July— July—906 2017—11,411 Aug— Aug—511 (Spillman) 2016 – 12,393 Sept— Sept—511 2015—12,819 Oct— Oct—448 2014 –9495 Nov— Nov—353 Dec— Dec—410 Total—3,318 Total—6,867 OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 20, 2024 PAGE 18 TRAFFIC OFFICER Agency Assist Traffic Stop-2 Accident-1 Ped Stop-1 DUI-1 Hit/Run Accident-1 Motor Assist-2 Citations-4 (Trained Josh Smith three weeks) Physical Arrests-4 Total Cases-80 USE OF FORCE REVIEWS 1 Use of Force-Hands On—No injuries. DEPARTMENT ACTIVITY -Boy Scout Tour -Summer Literacy Reading -New Officer Interviews -Cruze with the Blues Bike Parade -Davis County CPA Graduation -Kids in the Park-Police Day -RAD Kids DETECTIVE DIVISION 16 Persons Crimes/Sexual Assault/ Active C.A.N.R. cases (child abuse neglect report) 12 Active Theft/Property/Fraud/Assault/Death cases for the month of July ICAC: No ICAC assists in June or July 2024 ORDINANCE ENFORCEMENT 14—New cases were received and opened from the public. 7—Cases resolved/closed successfully 9—Notices sent 1—Pending Resolution 1—Citation The Chief said that Officer Linton was at the gym off duty and was able to administer CPR to someone who went into cardiac arrest and was able to save his life. He said the man is recovering at one of the local hospitals thanks to Officer Linton’s help and training. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT REPORT The Mayor gave the floor to the Community Development Director who noted the following: Permits and Business Licenses (July 11 – August 14) • 22 Residential Building Permits (no new • 7 New Home Occupation Permits residential) • 8 New Business Licenses Issued • 2 Commercial Building Permits • 631 Active Business Licenses • 2 Conditional Uses Updates • The City’s contract with Beacon Code Consultants for building inspections began on August 1st. As a department, we are excited to begin working with them. OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 20, 2024 PAGE 19 • The department has purchased a new building inspection and business licensing software package through CityInspect. It will take a couple of months to have the program up and running for residents and developers to begin using the online portal. As an added benefit, Beacon Code Consultants also uses CityInspect, which will help with the transition. • The City, WFRC, and UTA held a kick-off meeting for the SAP (Station Area Plan) with Arcadis at the end of July. Arcadis will begin to meet with stakeholders which include property owners, developers, residents, elected officials, and City Staff. The plan is to have the SAP ready for Council review and adoption in Q1 of 2025. • The Code Enforcement Officer job was posted, and we have received several applications. We will begin interviewing within the next couple of weeks. • The Moderate-Income Housing report was submitted to the State. FINANCIAL REPORT The following information was given regarding the financial report by the Finance Director. June 2024 Financial Statement 1. The city’s cash is in a much better position this year than a year ago. This is largely due to the reimbursement that we have received for the two road projects on 1100 West, the loan that we took out for the police vehicles, and cash infusion that we were able to make into the Capital Improvement and Fleet funds. The overall cash on hand is just a little over $4 million dollars over the same time last year. 2. Interest earnings through the Public Treasures Investment Fund remains very strong with a 5.43% return in June and July. 3. The overall revenue for the FY24 General Fund budget came in above expectations considering the over budgeted revenue in community development and building permit fees. However, the largest contributor to this was the loan taken out to repay the city for the police vehicle purchase. 4. Sales tax revenue came in about $542,000 above original budget estimates, but we also budgeted very conservatively on this to begin with. The FY24 Sales Tax revenue is only about $162,000 higher than FY23. This shows a flattening of our sales tax revenue. 5. Data processing and legal budgets have taken the biggest increase in the FY24 budgets. These have been adjusted in the FY25 budget to reflect a more accurate demand in the next year. 6. We did make a transfer into the Park Development Special Fund – 24 this year of $200,000 to cover the revenue shortfall (impact fees) and the expense of the Park Master Plan. This will be repaid to the General Fund when impact fees are sufficient to repay the loan. 7. Paying off the bad debt in the 1960 South Assessment Area fund – 41 has allowed us to now focus on the annual assessments and debt payments. As we have mentioned in other documents, SLGS (State and Local Government Securities) have been purchased with the prepayments of some assessments. The bonds do not allow for pre-payment of debt so the SLGS will allow the principle to grow so that there is adequate revenue to pay the future debt payments. 8. A transfer of $1.2 million dollars into the Capital Improvement Fund - 46 will prove a nice nest egg to start planning and future costs for a new city hall and park improvements. 9. The Water Enterprise Fund - 5 is in a rebuilding phase with the increased rates. The water projects in 1100 S and 800 W over the last few years have impacted the fund balance of this account. 10. The Solid Waste Enterprise Fund – 52 is in a similar state of rebuilding a fund balance. OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 20, 2024 PAGE 20 July 2024 Financial Statement I do not feel like we have much to report with the July finance report other than that the sales tax received what I consider to be large correction of $45,532 taken from the July distribution that was identified as “Prior D distribution Periods Adjustment.” Brian described this as a periodic “true-up” by the state on earlier distributions. I will try to get more information on how this is calculated and what future impacts it may have on our sales tax revenue. CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT The Mayor gave the floor to the City Administrator who noted the following: 1. Preparations for the final budget adoption. 2. Mayor Westgard, Chief Bigelow, Curtis Poole, Sam Christiansen and Bryce Haderlie met with HF Sinclair Vice President and Refinery Manager, Dustin Simmonds and his staff to discuss cooperative efforts on communication, the future fire-fighting training facility, transportation projects close to the refinery (UTA double track, I-15 corridor reconstruction, future grade separation (bridge) over tracks at 500 S, and their loading dock reconstruction project. Both parties agreed that good communication and planning are key to the future success and relationships for all involved. HR Sinclair contact information was shared with LaCee Bartholomew and Michelle Rowley for social media posts, emergency management, and other interactions. 3. Chief Bigelow, Sam Christiansen and Bryce Haderlie met with Ken Garff Fleet representatives to discuss future fleet purchases, timing, incentives, etc. to plan for fleet purchases during the next year. Inventory is getting easier to acquire although government incentives are not as much as they used to be. Staff will continue to review cost/benefit considerations for the types of vehicles that we use throughout the city. 4. Chief Bigelow and Bryce met with police chiefs and city managers in South Davis County to discuss Farmington and Kaysville joining the Bountiful Dispatch center. Bountiful is starting a remodeling project to expand the size of the dispatch center to accommodate more consols with the plan to have 5-6 consols up and running by the end of the year. While the State of Utah owns the consols and distributes them according to need, the Davis County Sheriff’s Dispatch and Layton City Dispatch are currently holding consols that Bountiful is hoping to have re-allocated to them for the increased radio traffic with the two new cities being added. This has not gone as smoothly as planned but Bountiful representatives remain optimistic that everything will work out. Bountiful is in the process of hiring 3-4 new dispatchers to meet the future needs of this end of the county. 5. Staff spent the week gathering information on Youth Courts and what it would entail. Chief Bigelow learned that Woods Cross had three youths that would have qualified for youth court in 2023 and one youth so far in 2024. While we do not have a large demand locally for a Youth Court, Bryce did learn from the Layton Youth Court supervisor that the impact of a youth court over juvenal court seems to have a much better outcome for offenders and results in lower reoccurrence of breaking the law. 6. Staff is working with The Commons development on property issues and other requirements related to final approval and future building permits. 7. Staff is working with the Phelan project to complete some remaining issues with storm drainage and detention before releasing the bond. OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 20, 2024 PAGE 21 QUESTIONS/DIRECTION TO CITY ADMINISTRATOR OR STAFF Council Member Checketts asked why Bountiful Dispatch is taking on Kaysville and Farmington. Chief Bigelow said he was not sure why this is happening. Council Member Checketts asked if this would strain services for our city with having enough dispatchers and the Chief said that employees have already been hired. The City Administrator said the biggest challenge is getting the dispatch consoles from one agency to another. The City Administrator said they had applied for the water reuse through the state engineer and there was one protest by Friends of the Great Salt Lake for the application, that challenged a few points. He said they are working on a response, and it will go back to the state engineer. Council Member Checketts asked what the risk to the city is if the water table goes below that of the Great Salt Lake causing saline backflow and the City Administrator said it is a strong potential. The Public Works Director said it is very expensive to treat water with that sort of issue if that were to happen. The City Administrator said there was good information given in that application and they were complimented for it. He said they will continue to work on the response. COUNCIL REPORTS The Mayor noted the Fire Chief is retiring and the job was opened. He said there were five applicants, and they are being reviewed and interviews will be held. The Mayor said Council Member Jessie Bell from Bountiful passed away and there was a Celebration of Life held for him to commemorate his life and service to Bountiful City. The Mayor said the sewer district had a public hearing to talk about the rate increase and the project to remove the nutrients the state is requiring. He said it is going to be very expensive and they will not be able to meet the timeline. Council Member Sharp asked who would be attending the fall conference and Council Member Kelemen said she will be there for day one. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the City Council, Council Member Terry made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:04 P.M. with Council Member Checketts seconding the motion and all voted in favor of the motion through a roll call vote. __________________________________________ _________________________________________ Ryan Westergard, Mayor Annette Hanson, City Recorder Approved by City Council 9/3/2024