City Council

WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 19, 2024 The minutes of the Woods Cross City Council meeting held November 19, 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 Eric Jones Matt Terry STAFF PRESENT: Bryce Haderlie, City Administrator Annette Hanson, City Recorder Sam Christiansen, Public Works Director James Linton, Police Sgt. Curtis Poole, Community Development Director Cindee Colby, City Treasurer LaCee Bartholomew, Community Services Manager STAFF EXCUSED: Bryce Haderlie, City Administrator James Bigelow, Chief of Police PUBLIC ATTENDANCE: Connie Holt Arrin Holt David Garaycochea Ariel Garaycochea LeGrande Blackley Don Schrader Lois Schrader Scott Keeler LeAnn Hansen Shaylee Hook McLean Anderson Carl Jeremy INVOCATION/PLEDGE Matt Terry COUNCIL KUDOS The Mayor gave the floor to Council Member Checketts. Council Member Checketts said Cindee Colby had been nominated for a Council Kudos by both LaCee Bartholomew and Annette Hanson. They both complimented Cindee on her dedication to the job and her professionalism. They also said she is patient, diligent and willing to help answer questions and collaborate for the best solutions. She said she is great to have on their team and she is great at solving difficult problems. They said they would like to recognize her for her excellence and her positive attitude. The Mayor and Council presented Cindee with a gift card to thank her for all that she does and said they appreciated her and the hard work she does to help city residents as well as her coworkers. CONSIDERATION TO APPROVE MINUTES Council Member Checketts made a motion to approve the minutes as written with Council Member Terry 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 City Council to ratify the cash disbursements for the time period of 9/20/-24- 11/13/24. Council Member Sharp made a motion to ratify the cash disbursements as presented. Council Member Larrabee seconded the motion, and all voted in favor of the motion through a roll call vote. OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 19, 2024 PAGE 2 PUBLIC COMMENT The Mayor then opened the meeting to items from the public that they would like to bring before the City Council that would take less than two or three minutes. Ms. Connie Holt addressed the Council and thanked the Council for all they do for the community. She said she was recently surprised when someone was in her yard digging and she did not know why. She said she contacted Council Member Terry, and he said it was a fiber company putting fiber into the city. He informed her that residents were supposed to have a 48 hour notice given to let them know what would be happening. She said she had not received any notice. She said there was no communication and lack of coordination and felt like it was an invasion on her property. She said she was concerned for the construction workers’ safety when no notice had been given to residents that strangers would be coming into their yards. She said there is a surprise element to the work they are doing. She said she tried to speak with the worker, and he would contact someone, but she was frustrated she could not get ahold of anyone to talk to about this problem. Mr. David Garaycochea addressed the Council, and he also thanked the Council for what they do in our small town. He said he has respect for law enforcement as well. He also said he was addressing the same issue and said he was frustrated there was no communication in knowing what was happening with Lumen. He said he left for work and came home and there was a utility box in his back yard. He said he was frustrated that he had no say to where things were being put. He said he felt like things had been destroyed in his yard and he did not get a say. He said he spoke with Sam, and he was nice and explained things, but he wished there could be a say to where to put in the box. Scott Keeler addressed the Council and also said he is irritated with Century Link/Lumen and that they have been given the easement. He said he understands the main utilities are needed but he said fiber can be an optional service. He said he wanted to know why this was being allowed. Sam said fiber companies qualify under essential services being provided so it is a law that they be given access to the public utility easements. Sam said fliers had been given out, but they had asked them to be respectful. Sam said the residents have the right to be notified but the workers should be respectful. He said if a person is not home, they have a right to go into a backyard if there is no contact made. Sam said he has sent an email to let Lumen know they should have provided a 48-hour notice. Mr. Keeler said he would prefer that he was able to speak with the workers so there is communication to where a box would be located. He said he has worked hard this year making sure his backyard was looking nice, and the workers came in and put in a box where they chose, rather than giving the homeowner any options. There was discussion about restoring yards once they had been disturbed. Council Member Checketts asked if a fine could be assessed if property was not put back to its original state. Sam said he would look into the matter. Council Member Checketts said if it does not Lumen in the pocketbook, it will not help. Council Member Terry said this was the same issue with Lumen the last time they came through and put in this service in a previous neighborhood. There was discussion on the possibility of imposing fines to this company if they continue to have issues with not doing what is asked of them. Ms. LeeAnn Hansen addressed the Council and said she would like to do away with winter parking all together, or at least reduce it to three months. She said she has 4 adults and five cars, and she said it is costing her a lot of money to park her cars because she did not have enough parking to accommodate the OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 19, 2024 PAGE 3 cars that she has for those living in her townhome. She said she did not feel like there were very many times that the snowplows even come out to plow. The Public Works Director said it depends on the year on how many times the plows are mobilized. He said there were 35 plow mobilizations last year. Ms. Hansen said another way to help solve the parking problem is that when townhomes are approved, the city require more parking for them. The Public Works Director clarified that the Transportation Master Plan meeting was going to be addressing city roads, not UDOT projects. He said UDOT plans to come to talk with the city in the future. There was discussion about making sure that information is in the city newsletter and on the city’s social media page. Jeremy addressed the Council and said he was with the contractor who was doing the work for Lumen. He said they were trying to comply with the requirements the city had given to them regarding doing work within the city. He said he did want to stress that he hoped the crews were doing that. He said that often the door hangars are disregarded because they look like a sales pitch. He said if there are any concerns there is a phone number on the door hangar that anyone can call and reach out with concerns. He also said he was willing to give out his personal cell phone number which is 801-787-4984 to try and help address problems or concerns. He said he was the project manager for this project, and he would be willing to talk to anyone who called. He said they have tried to make the door hangar as informative as possible and have also added a phone number on the door hanger for anyone to call with questions or concerns. He said he would be happy to take input and suggestions if they can do anything better. He said the goal for this project is to help the community not be a burden to the community. He said they are trying to provide a good service to the community and will try to do better in the future with the installation issues. He said he wanted to make sure he made things right. Council Member Checketts wondered why the cables cannot be buried instead of putting in a box. Sam said it came down to cost. Council Member Jones asked if there could be a discussion about where boxes would be located and Jeremy said that everything could be discussed but it may be a matter of service with where the boxes would be located. The Mayor and Council thanked Jeremy for his explanations and willingness to work with the city and residents in getting some of the issues that had been discussed resolved. There were no further comments for the open session and the Mayor closed the open session. PUBLIC HEARING—AMENDING THE MUNICIPAL CODE, TITLE 11, DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS The Mayor gave the floor to the Public Works Director, and he noted this was a matter to bring back the standards to the Council that had been discussed previously. He said the suggested changes had been made and the Planning Commission had also reviewed the changes and found them acceptable. He said he had given the Council a copy of what the development standards would look like, and they needed to continue to be updated so the infrastructure will last well into the future. OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 19, 2024 PAGE 4 Following the information given by the Public Works Director, the Mayor opened the public hearing. There was a resident who asked what the amendment would do, and the Mayor explained what the development codes were and how they apply to the city and the developer on being brought up to current standards. Following the public comments the Mayor closed the public hearing. CONSIDERATION TO ADOPT ORDINANCE 621 AMENDING THE MUNICIPAL CODE, TITLE 11, DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS Council Member Jones made a motion to adopt ordinance 621, an ordinance amending the municipal code, Title 11, Development Standards. Council Member Terry seconded the motion, and all voted in favor of the motion through a roll call vote. PUBLIC HEARING—AMENDING THE MUNICIPAL CODE, TITLE 12, ZONING ORDINANCE CHAPTER 31 REGARDING AIRPORTS The Mayor gave the floor to the Community Development Director, Mr. Curtis Poole, who went over this item with the Council. He noted it is a state legislative requirement to adopt an airport overlay zone. He went over what changes would be made by adopting this ordinance for the airport overlay zone. He said the Planning Commission had also reviewed these changes and recommended that the City Council amend the municipal code with the changes as noted. Following the information given by Mr. Poole, the Mayor opened the public hearing. There were no public comments, and the Mayor closed the public hearing. Council Member Jones said he wanted to get the Council’s thoughts on setbacks in this zone and in other zones. He said he would like to address this possibly at a future time and would like to talk about how to make those setbacks easier to define. Council Member Jones also said he is aware that the airport hangars are outlined in the ordinance to be used for aircraft uses only and he said he knows that is not always the case. He said the hangars do have other things going on in them and he would like to define the intention of the uses of aircraft hangars. There was a question about how that could be enforced. The Council discussed the intent for the use of airport hangars, and the definition of those uses as outlined in the city ordinance and if changes might be made in the future. There was also discussion on questions about the runway length and that needed to be reviewed by staff to make sure it was correct in the definition section of the city code. CONSIDERATION TO ADOPT ORDINANCE 622 AMENDING THE MUNICIPAL CODE, TITLE 12, CHAPTER 31 AS NOTED ABOVE Following the information given above, Council Member Terry made a motion to adopt ordinance 622, an ordinance amending the municipal code, title 12, chapter 31 as noted, with staff confirming the regulations OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 19, 2024 PAGE 5 in the definition section. Council Member Checketts seconded the motion, and all voted in favor of the motion through a roll call vote. PUBLIC HEARING—AMENDING THE MUNICIPAL CODE, TITLE 12, ZONING ORDINANCE, CHAPTER 28 ADDING FLAG LOTS AS A CONDITIONAL USE IN THE R-1-8- AND R-1-15/20 ZONES Mr. Poole continued with the floor and noted there had recently been a change to the land use table, but he said he had missed putting flag lots into the table. He said this text amendment was just putting the flag lots back into that table where they should be. The Mayor then opened the public hearing on this matter. There were no public comments, and the Mayor closed the public hearing. Council Member Sharp said he was not a big fan of flag lots, but he did not feel it was necessary to remove them from zoning ordinance at this time. CONSIDERATION TO APPROVE ORDINANCE 623 AMENDING MUNICIPAL CODE, TITLE 12, CHAPTER 28 AS NOTED ABOVE Following the information given above and the public hearing regarding this matter, Council Member Checketts made a motion to approve ordinance 623, an ordinance amending municipal code, title 12, chapter 28 as noted above. Council Member Jones seconded the motion, and all voted in favor of the motion through a roll call vote. CONSIDERATION TO ADOPT ORDINANCE 624 AMENDING THE MUNICIPAL CODE, TITLE 3, CHAPTER 15 PROCUREMENT POLICY TO COMPLY WITH HUD REGULATIONS The Mayor gave the floor to the Public Works Director. He noted that this amendment is for the city to be able to receive funding for low-income federal housing funding. He said instruction had been given to cities to try to attract bids from minority and women owned businesses. The Mayor said this came about because the County had an audit of their CDBG funding and its recipients and found they were out of compliance because of policy, and they needed to be in compliance to be able to continue to receive CDBG funding. The Mayor noted the CDBG funding that the city has received has come through the RDA for piering of homes in Farm Meadows, as well as funding to replace a water line in the city. The Public Works Director said they had added a section that addresses this type of procurement so grant money can continue to be used for certain types of projects. Following the information given, Council Member Larrabee made a motion to adopt ordinance 624, an ordinance amending the municipal code, Title 3, Chapter 15 Procurement Policy to comply with HUD regulations. Council Member Checketts seconded the motion, and all voted in favor of the motion through a roll call vote. CONSIDERATION TO ADOPT RESOLUTION 2024-881 APPROVING INTERFUND REIMBURSEMENTS FOR LAND PURCHASE FOR PROPERTY AT 1351 W 1500 S “Given to the Council is a resolution to memorialize the reimbursements to the Capital Facilities and RDA funds for the loans provided to purchase the land located at 1351 W 1500 S. It also memorializes the debt OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 19, 2024 PAGE 6 transfer to the RAP Tax fund, and that no interest will be paid by the RAP fund to itself, with the anticipation that the land will become part of Mills Park when it is improved in the future and RAP tax revenue is intended for this type of expenditure. When the original resolution was adopted, Jason Burningham explained that the language in the resolution protects the city against any issues with IRS regulations to acquire financing in the future.” There was discussion about removing the home that is still on this property because there have been several break-ins, and they do not want anyone to get hurt. Following the information given, Council Member Sharp made a motion to adopt resolution 2024-881, a resolution approving interfund reimbursements for land purchase for property at 1351 W 1500 S. Council Member Checketts seconded the motion and all voted in favor of the motion through a roll call vote. CONSIDERATION TO ADOPT RESOLUTION 2024-882 APPROVING CAPITAL PROJECT LIST FOR ENTERPRISE AND OTHER FUNDS The Public Works Director continued with the floor and presented this item from the City Administrator. He noted the following for the Council: “During the FY 25 Budget approval process, we did not approve the capital projects for the enterprise and other funds. As such, we are presenting this capital projects list to you for consideration and approval. Sam will identify which projects you have already approved as expenditures through council action year to date (i.e., vehicle purchases, Argyle Acres Playground, 1500 S 800 W traffic signal, etc.). The RAP Tax fund projects will need to be spaced out so that we have sufficient revenue to pay for them as they are completed.” Following the information given, Council Member Sharp made a motion to adopt resolution 2024-882, a resolution approving the Capital Project list for enterprise and other funds. Council Member Checketts seconded the motion, and all voted in favor of the motion through a roll call vote. STREET TREES The Mayor gave the floor to Mr. Poole who noted the following for the City Council: “The city adopted a Street Tree Program outlined in Chapter 8 of City Code in 1997. The program sets forth provisions for maintenance of trees and shrubs planted in the public right-of-way and defines nuisances. Since adoption of the code the city has maintained all trees planted in the public right-of-way, whether the tree was planted by the city or a resident. Street trees planted in the park strip add a visual appeal to a street; however, there are also some potential negative impacts. There are areas throughout the city where tree roots from trees planted in the park strip have raised the sidewalk and created safety hazards. Recently code enforcement has run into issues of compliance responsibility to maintain the tree or shrub, depending upon when the tree or shrub was planted. The city has only been maintaining trees, not shrubs. The maintenance of the street trees, in addition to the sidewalk repairs add considerable ongoing costs to the city. Staff would like to discuss these and other issues regarding street trees and receive any feedback and direction from the Council” OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 19, 2024 PAGE 7 The Mayor noted there also needs to be discussion on the height of which the trees should be trimmed both on the sidewalk and in the street because some streets there are trees hanging low and they interfere with some vehicles getting down the streets without causing damage, such as recreational vehicles. The Council discussed the height of trees being 14 feet on the street side for the ease of use for vehicles such as garbage trucks. There was also discussion regarding trees that were planted before the city required trees to be planted in 1997. The Public Works Director noted there were two Sycamore trees that have raised the sidewalk on 1200 West and need to be replaced, but the cost to remove the trees will be very expensive. He noted the Council might want to discuss if the city still wants to require street trees in the park strip. Mr. Poole said that the current code requires that all trees in the park strips be maintained by the city. There was also discussion that developers are required to plant trees as part of their development. Mr. Poole said there could be options considered such as instead of planting trees being required in the park strip, there could be a requirement that a tree be planted in the front yard. He also said there was an option to increase the park strip width which would give more space to plant a tree. The Mayor noted that could be problematic with right-of-way and setbacks that could cause issues with developments. There was also discussion on what kinds of trees could be planted in the city. The Public Works Director said he was supportive of not having trees required in the park strips. There was also discussion on the benefits of trees, creating beauty, helping with major rainstorms, and helping keep neighborhoods cool. The Public Works Director said that many trees in the city are now at a maturity level and that there needs to be someone hired to be able to trim the trees in an appropriate manner. He said the trees need to be trimmed to be in compliance with city ordinance, but it is going to be expensive to do so. He said he felt like this is an issue that might need to be discussed at the strategic planning meeting as a budgetary item and needs to be discussed in more detail. He said he is looking for direction from the Council to see which way they would like the ordinance to go. It was noted this would be an important topic to discuss during the January strategic planning meetings POLICE REPORT 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—455 June—716 2018—11,600 July—524 July—906 2017—11,411 Aug—558 Aug—511 (Spillman) 2016 – 12,393 Sept—578 Sept—511 2015—12,819 Oct—532 Oct—448 2014 –9495 Nov— Nov—353 Dec— Dec—410 Total—4,986 Total—6,867 OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 19, 2024 PAGE 8 PATROL OVERVIEW Calls for service- 532 Reports taken by patrol- 241 Citations issued- 94 Physical arrests- 7 TRAFFIC OFFICER Physical Arrests- 1 Reckless Drivers- 1 Hit/Run Accidents- 1 Accidents- 6 Traffic Stops- 18 Citations- 13 with 17 violations Parking Problems- 4 Abandoned Vehicles- 1 Total Cases- 63 DETECTIVE DIVISION 37- Persons Crimes/Sexual Assault/C.A.N.R. cases (child abuse neglect report) 25- Person cases still active 9- Theft/Property/Fraud Cases 12- Cases closed with and without arrests USE OF FORCE REVIEWS No use of force incidents for the month of October. DEPARTMENT ACTIVITY -Tested for open sergeant position. Jim Linton was promoted on 11/02/2024 -Chief attended the IACP Conference -School lock down drills -WXPD family Halloween Party -Preparations continue for the guardian program -Competed threat assessment of WX High School for the guardian program There was a brief discussion on the guardian program and how it works. It was mentioned that Clarence Montgomery passed away and the Council said he would be missed. -Withdrew offers from both Weber State candidates ICAC No ICAC assists in October 2024. WXPD Investigations Division is working to get caught up from being short during the summer months. ORDINANCE ENFORCEMENT 1—New case received and opened from the public OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 19, 2024 PAGE 9 2—Cases resolved/closed successfully 1—Notice Sent 1—Case successfully prosecuted in court, with the code issue being completed and fixed to the satisfaction of the court. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT REPORT Building Permits and Land Use Applications • 13 Residential Building Permits (no new residential) o $197,410.26 total valuation o $1,995.78 total permit fees • 2 Commercial Building Permits o $1,640,769.85 total valuation o $17,124.62 total permit fees • 1 Conditional Use Application • 1 Site Plan Application Business Licenses • 5 new Business Licenses • 637 total Business Licenses Code Enforcement • 15 Cases Opened • 11 Cases Closed • Top Complaints o Weeds o Tree Limb Obstruction o Parking Violations o Right-of-Way Obstructions Updates • The department continues to work with CityInspect to fully install the software. This software will help streamline the building inspection, business licensing, and code enforcement processes. o Marcee is now receiving new permits and collecting the fees through CityInspect. o Chris has been able to log cases into CityInspect while he is in the field. He also uses it to track cases. o The business license module was activated on November 15th. Renewals and new licenses can now be completed through CityInspect. • Bonnie mailed information to all businesses that renewals will all be handled through CityInspect. The information will direct business owners to the website, through the login and renewal processes. • The Planning Commission reviewed and has forwarded a recommendation to approve the Airport Overlay Zone to the Council. This is the code update required by HB 206 in the 2023 Legislative Session. • Additional code amendments on the horizon: o Code enforcement o Use of shipping containers o Business licensing OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 19, 2024 PAGE 10 I will also be reviewing the parking ordinance to ensure that the City is capturing the appropriate uses and parking minimums. FINANCIAL REPORT The financial report was included for the City Council’s review. CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT The City Administrator’s report is as follows: 1. Staff continue to work on Quiet Zone issues and the Main Street crossing in North Salt Lake and 1000 W crossing in Salt Lake City. Utah members of Congress signed a joint letter and sent it to Mr. Amit Bose, Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration. 2. Completed six-month evaluation with Cass Hart, HR/Risk Management Director, Chief James Bigelow, and Curtis Poole, Community Development Director. I appreciate the great work that these individuals have done for the city in the short time that they have been here. They have meshed well with the rest of our amazing staff and created a cohesive leadership team that the city can rely on. 3. A group of city administrators were able to tour our public works building on November 8 as part of the Utah City Managers Association fall conference. The 10+ individuals that attended were very impressed with our building design, utilization, and planning for future growth. 4. Worked with staff on website RFP, answering questions on the solid waste hauling RFP, drug testing policy, and other activities relating to the budget and audit. Upcoming Calendar Events for Council and Staff: a. Dec. 19 at noon – Christmas Lunch b. Jan. 17 – Employee Appreciation Banquet (3rd Friday of January) It was noted it was the 24th of January c. Jan. 22 – Local Officials Day d. January 30 and 31 – Strategic Planning Meeting (30th – 4 -8 p.m., 31st 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.) e. April 16-18 – Anticipated - ULCT Conference – St. George The Public Works Director updated the Council on what was happening regarding the Quiet Zone. He said there had some good meetings regarding the last two crossings that are not in compliance. He said there was a letter sent to Mr. Bose, the head of the FRA, which was signed by all Utah senators and congressmen. He said they are trying their best to move forward in getting things taken care of as soon as possible. QUESTIONS/DIRECTION TO CITY ADMINISTRATOR OR STAFF The Public Works Director noted there was a complaint from a resident about voles in the city parks. How to reduce this issue was discussed. Public Works Director will continue to work on this problem. COUNCIL REPORTS Council Member Larrabee reported on the activities of the Wasatch Waste District. He said they recently celebrated forty years of service. He also said he attended WasteCon and said it was a great conference, but it will be the last conference with that name. He said it is being renamed to RCon because of technology and the value of recycling, and there is not as much waste. He said cardboard, new or used, is getting to be a big business in recycling. OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 19, 2024 PAGE 11 The Mayor said he had nothing of consequence to report from South Davis Recreation or South Davis Metro Fire district meetings. ADJOURNMENT \ There being no further business before the City Council, at 9:02 P.M. Council Member Terry made a motion to adjourn the meeting with Council Member Checketts seconding the motion and all voted for the motion. ________________________________________ ________________________________________ Ryan Westergard, Mayor Annette Hanson, City Recorder Draft Minutes posted PMN Website 12/03/24 Final Minutes Approved by City Council 1/7/2025