City Council

WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY, JUNE 23, 2025 The minutes of the Woods Cross City Council meeting held Monday June 23, 2025, at 6:00 P.M. in the Woods Cross City Hall located at 1555 South 800 West, Woods Cross, Utah. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Ryan Westergard, Mayor Gary Sharp-arrived at 6:10 Julie Checketts Wally Larrabee Jim Grover Eric Jones STAFF PRESENT: Bryce Haderlie, City Administrator James Bigelow, Police Chief Sam Christiansen, Public Works Director Cassandra Hart, Human Resource Director STAFF EXCUSED: Curtis Poole, Community Development Director Annette Hanson, City Recorder LaCee Bartholomew, Community Services Manager PUBLIC ATTENDANCE: LeGrande Blackley RATIFY CASH DISBURSEMENTS The City Council reviewed the cash disbursements to be ratified for the time period of 5/03/25-6/12/25. The cash disbursements were ratified through the consent agenda. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The City Council reviewed the minutes of the meeting held 6/3/25. The minutes were approved through the consent agenda. CONSIDERATION TO ADOPT RESOLUTION 2025-924 AUTHORIZING OF SURPLUS PD EQUIPMENT The Police Chief provided a list of items to the City Council that are to be declared surplus because of the property not being claimed and the evidence no longer needed for court purposes. Resolution 2025-924 was approved through the consent agenda. CONSIDERATION TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 2026-925, TO EXTEND THE LEASE AGREEMENT WITH ELITE RV, LLC The City Administrator continued with the floor and said he had spoken a couple of weeks ago with Craig Smith, owner of Elite RV who rents the old public works property, about the need to increase the rent. The agreed on a price was $4,000.00 per month starting July 1, 2025. Staff will be diligent to ensure that the lease rate is reviewed and updated annually. OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY, JUNE 23, 2025 PAGE 2 The City Administrator said the prior lease agreement has expired, so Curtis Poole has assisted with preparing the new lease agreement. Craig Smith asked to make this lease for 60 months and to have a 180-day termination notice period. Resolution 2026-925 was approved through the consent agenda. APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA Following the review of the items for the consent agenda, Council Member Checketts made a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented. Council Member Larrabee seconded the motion, and all voted in favor of the motion through a roll call vote. PUBLIC COMMENTS The Mayor then opened the meeting to comments from the public that would take less than three minutes. There were no public comments, and the Mayor closed the public comment period. PUBLIC HEARING: COMPENSATION SCHEDULE APPLIABLE TO ELECTIVE AND STATUTORY OFFICERS IN ACCORDANCE WITH UCA § 10-3-818 THE CITY WILL RECEIVE PUBLIC COMMENT REGARDING THE COMPENSATION SCHEDULE FOR EXECUTIVE MUNICIPAL OFFICERS The City Administrator continued with the floor and noted the following for the City Council regarding this matter. He noted subject to Utah State Code requirements; a public hearing has been set regarding the compensation for Executive Municipal Officers. He noted the public would be able to make public comments on the proposed compensation of the Mayor, City Council and Planning Commission as noted below. He noted the cost of living increase is set at 2.4%. He also noted that merit and market increases vary depending on the position and information obtained through the annual wage analysis. He noted that depending on these variables, the compensation range is from 4% to 16%. The City Administrator also noted performance bonuses have not typically been given to employees, but Christmas bonuses have been issued in past years which range from $500 to $1,000 depending on position and are included in the FY26 budget. OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY, JUNE 23, 2025 PAGE 3 The City Administrator noted further compensation considerations for the Tier 2 retirement system and the ordinance to continue to cover the public safety employee portion at 100% and pay non-public safety Tier II employees a quarterly bonus making them whole and maintain equity for all Tier II employees. The Council reviewed the proposed pay schedule that would meet the state statute. The Mayor then opened the public hearing on this matter. There were no public comments, and the Mayor closed the public hearing. CONSIDERATION TO ADOPT ORDINANCE 631 AMENDING THE COMPENSATION SCHEDULE FOR MUNICIPAL OFFICERS Council Member Checketts said she would like to have further discussion on this matter, so she motioned to table this matter until after a closed session could be held. Council Member Jones seconded the motion, and all voted in favor of the motion through a roll call vote. PUBLIC HEARING: PROPOSED FY 2026 TENTATIVE BUDGET FOR ALL CITY FUNDS The City Administrator continued with the floor and noted the following for the Council: “This FY26 Tentative Budget represents the anticipated revenue and proposed expenditures from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026. The city will operate with this budget until the final budget is adopted prior to August 31, 2025, in conjunction with the Truth in Taxation process. Amendments can be made to the budget by the city council with the final budget adoption or at other times during the budget year as defined by state law. The wages and compensation discussed in the prior agenda item are included in the attached tentative budget. “Since the initial tentative budget presentation on April 1st, the staff has continued to update information as we get more information. Items of special interest right now include: Fund 10 - General Fund Revenue • Property tax revenue (10-31-100) has been set by the Utah State Tax Commission in conjunction with the Davis County Auditor and will increase by $75,690 to reflect the new growth in the city over the prior year. This means that the new Auditor’s Certified Rate Revenue is set at $2,098,967. • This increase and other adjustments puts the total estimated general fund revenue at $8,680,129, and additional $115,717 over the March 28, 2025, estimates. Expenditures • Expenditures have been adjusted slightly in all budgets based on insurance premiums with the Trust, wage survey data, and other information. • Increase to Fund Balance (10-90-990)- The good news is that with this updated information, there is $92,608 of revenue over expenditures in the general fund. This can go to savings or OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY, JUNE 23, 2025 PAGE 4 be put toward capital projects (future city hall) or the Capital Projects. Fund 21 - Class C Special Revenue Fund (Roads) • While this fund shows the use of $988,507 of fund balance, this is the road bond money that should be spent this year per our bond agreement. • The Utah State University’s LTAP (Utah’s Local Technology Assistance Program) has informed Sam that they can conduct a street and sidewalk analysis this year if we schedule it now. The survey is beneficial in creating a street and sidewalk maintenance schedule and needs assessment. We would ask for the Council’s authorization to include Class C, Fund 21 expenditure for $15,000 in the tentative budget so that we can schedule the survey during this window of opportunity. Fund 23 – RAP Tax Fund • This fund has $549,500 going into fund balance. In the next few weeks, the council can decide if we should use some of this money for parks and recreation activities? Putting it away for the future park improvements will be a big benefit in the future. Fund 25 – Redevelopment Agency Fund • While the RDA fund has $155,001 in revenue over expenditures, the WaterSmart grant will need to add to this account for both revenue and expenditures. Fund 46 – Capital Improvements Development Fund • This fund only has interest earnings for FY26. Once we have more information on the CMGC for city hall and the parks, this budget will be amended to include anticipated expenses. Fund 51 – Water Enterprise Fund • This fund has the 1100 W waterline project expenses and some engineering expenses for well #3 and the new water tank (51-61-701,702,703). This budget will be amended as we acquire the funds through the bond, and expenses will be amended as we get accurate information. Fund 52 – Solid Waste Enterprise Fund • This fund shows an anticipated $113,005 in revenue over expenses. We have benefited by the new Ace contract being the same rates as last year’s Waste Management contract. This should enable us to go longer before a rate increase is needed. Capital Projects The FY26 Capital Projects lists represent department requests that except for items 1 & 2 of the “One Time” expenditures, have not been included in the budget. The council will decide between now and the August adoption of the final budget which projects will be added to the budget as one time or ongoing expenditures. Proposed Tax Rate Using the information that we received from the State Tax Commission, we have prepared OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY, JUNE 23, 2025 PAGE 5 the Fiscal Year 2026 Property Tax Revenue Options. A rate will need to be decided by the Council and entered into the resolution as it is adopted. Council Member Sharp entered the meeting at this point. The Mayor then opened the public hearing on this matter. There were no public comments, and the Mayor closed the public hearing. The Council then discussed items that were in the budget and asked questions on the needs for the city and what the priorities are for the different items. The Council then discussed the tax rate and what they would like to set the tax rate at. It was noted if the tax rate was increased there could be an increase per household by a small amount. The HR Director addressed the Council regarding questions on the new payroll software system she was requesting as part of the budget. She addressed how the costs would work and what the overall annual cost for this type of system would be. She said she is working with the Finance Director to see if there were a system that would work for both finance and payroll. It was determined it would be about $9,000 a year to maintain the new system. It was noted there is more information that is being collected before implementing a new system. The Police Chief noted as part of the budget the police department could benefit from having dash cams in their vehicles to help with recording calls and incidents that may need to be reviewed. There was also discussion on the need to hire a new Seargent and the cost of doing that. There was information given about the replacement costs of streetlights by Rocky Mountain Power and what that would entail. The costs were discussed as well as the need to upgrade the lighting to make the lighting better and help the lights last longer. There was discussion on whether security cameras in the parks would be worth the cost as well as what the benefits would be to put the cameras into some of the parks. There was discussion on putting cameras in a few of the larger parks to start with and then seeing how those cameras work. There was also discussion about putting in automatic locks for the bathrooms to keep the bathrooms in the parks secure. The Council reviewed and discussed the tax rate through the Truth in Taxation process. There was a discussion that citizens had voiced opinions to stay with small incremental tax increases. It was also noted there were residents said that increases are difficult for those who are on fixed incomes. The Council discussed the rates being considered and what might be best for all citizens in the city. The Mayor said he had a hard time asking for more money through a tax increase from the residents when there is a large fund balance that is left over that some of the capital projects could be funded through. He said tax increases continue to be extremely hard for those on a fixed income as taxes from many other areas continue to be raised. OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY, JUNE 23, 2025 PAGE 6 Following the above discussion, the Council decided they would choose to set the certified tax rate at .001456 as the highest possible tax rate through Truth and Taxation but the final rate could be determined at a future date. CONSIDERATION TO ADOPT RESOLUTION 2025-926 APPROVING THE FY 2026 TENTATIVE BUDGET FOR ALL CITY FUNDS Following the discussion above, Council Member Checketts made a motion to adopt resolution 2025-926 approving the FY 2026 tentative budget for all city funds and setting the certified tax rate at .001456. Council Member Grover seconded the motion and Council Members Grover, Jones, Checketts and Sharp voted for the motion and Council Member Wally voted opposed to the motion. The motion carried with a vote of four to one. It was noted the public hearing on this matter would be held August 5, at 7:30 P.M. COMMUNITY SERVICES REPORT The Community Services report is as follows: Memorial Day was a success! There were nearly 1600 people for breakfast, over 500 for the run, and guest speaker Tim Yao gave a great speech about how to be a community that supports their troops. In June, the Senior Lunch Bunch had ACE Disposal come to speak about the new garbage service and answer any questions they had. In July, the WXPD came and grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and also spoke to the group. The YCC held their leadership interviews. The advisors are excited for the upcoming year. They are also holding a blood drive on June 20 at Public Works. They would like all to come and participate if they are available. Summer recreations is halfway through. Hosting classes at Woods Cross Elementary has been a great success and they look forward to doing it again next year. They also received a complete set of street hockey equipment from Utah Hockey to host classes and games with the new equipment. Upcoming events include: Summer Literacy - June 27 - Utah Magic 10:00 AM @ Hogan Park YCC Blood Drive - June 30th - Public Works Building Summer Literacy - July 11 - Utah Hockey 10:00 AM @ Mills Park Summer Literacy - July 18 - Judge Memmott 10:00 AM @ Hogan Park Pumpkins in the Park - October 4 - Mills Park Holiday Lights - December 1 - Hogan Park and City Hall COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT REPORT Report for the month of May. OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY, JUNE 23, 2025 PAGE 7 Building Permits and Land Use Applications • 20 Residential Building Permits (No New Single-Family) o $257,181 total valuation o $1,894 total permit fees • 4 Commercial Building Permits o $225,714 total valuation o $7,144 total permit fees • 5 Miscellaneous Permits o $200,773 total valuation o $1,691 total permit fees • 1 Site Plan Application • 3 Conditional Use Applications Business Licenses • 7 new Business Licenses • 649 total Business Licenses Code Enforcement • We had 15-20 candidates apply for the Code Enforcement Officer position. o We extended interview offers to 7 of the candidates. o After the process we extended a job offer to Leah Seawright, and she has accepted. Her start day will be June 17th. • If residents come to Council members regarding potential code violations, please refer them to me or our Leah without promising actions that will be taken to resolve the potential code violations. Updates • Thanks to the City Hall Working Group for providing great feedback. The next step is that Bryce and I will submit RFPs for the contractor and design team. Hopefully, we can complete the selection process by mid-August and start conversations with the new team in September. • I am working on the lease agreement and pricing for the new residential property to the south of city hall and the old Public Works facility on Redwood Road. • There will be additional amendments coming through the review process that will address changes brought to us by the state legislature and permitting second driveways. • I am starting the annual Moderate-Income Housing Report required by the state. It is due by July 31. • We have set preliminary dates with Arcadis, the consultant for the Station Area Plan, for the Planning Commission and Council to review the plan. The Commission will tentatively review on July 8, with the Council reviewing and adopting the plan at the second meeting in July or first meeting in August. OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY, JUNE 23, 2025 PAGE 8 POLICE REPORT DETECTIVE DIVISION 22-New Persons Crimes / Sexual Assault / Death Investigations /C.A.N.R. cases (child abuse neglect report) 20-New Theft / Property / Fraud Cases 27-Cases closed with and without arrests 2-Pre-employment backgrounds 2-Executed two ICAC search warrants OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY, JUNE 23, 2025 PAGE 9 USE OF FORCE REVIEWS The sergeants and administration reviewed two use of force reports. One use of force was determined to be within department policy and state law, the other is still being reviewed. There is nothing to indicate that the force used was out of department policy. DEPARTMENT ACTIVITY -WX Elementary NOVA graduation. -WX Elementary 3rd grade tour of the city. -P.T. test and interviews with 27 candidates. -Offered three conditional employment offers. -WXPD awards banquet. -Memorial Day Celebration. INVESTIGATIONS/ICAC Sex offender who was arrested at the Trax station a few months ago by our detectives has pled guilty in court. He was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. FINANCIAL REPORT The financial report was given to the Council for their review. CITY ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT 1. Working with staff to wrap up FY25 budget expenditures and recent expenditures approved by the city council. 2. Completed wage evaluation and prepared step and grade wage tables for PD and Admin. positions. 3. Got to take some vacation days. 4. Worked with Curtis to determine options to rent home south of city hall. Please see Curtis’ attached memo. We plan to use a property manager to handle the anticipated challenges associated with renting a residential property and believe that it will be well worth the cost. QUESTIONS/DIRECTION TO STAFF The Public Works Director noted AT&T was purchasing Lumen who just put fiber into the city. COUNCIL REPORTS Council Member Grover said the Mosquito Abatement District has been talking a lot about their budget. He said they are looking for a tax increase. He said they have gotten their electric bike unit going and it seems to be working to help with the mosquitos. OFFICIAL MINUTES WOODS CROSS CITY COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY, JUNE 23, 2025 PAGE 10 MOVE INTO CLOSED SESSION At 7:59 P.M. Council Member Sharp made a motion to go into closed session. Council Member Checketts seconded the motion, and Council Members Grover, Jones, Checketts, Sharp and Jones voted in favor of the motion through a roll call vote. At 8:25 P.M. the Council Member Grover made a motion to move back into open session with Council Member Larrabee seconding the motion and all voted in favor of the motion through a roll call vote. CONSIDERATION TO ADOPT ORDINANCE 631 AMENDING THE COMPENSATION SCHEDULE FOR MUNICIPAL OFFICERS. Council Member Grover made a motion to adopt ordinance 631 amending the compensation schedule for municipal officers as presented. Council Member Checketts seconded the motion, and all voted in favor of the motion through a roll call vote. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the City Council, Council Member Larrabee made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:25 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