General Information

Government Type

Municipality

Entity

Blanding

Public Body

City Council

Notice Information

Add Notice to Calendar

Notice Title

City Council Minutes 10/10/23

Notice Tags

Administrative Procedure

Notice Type(s)

Meeting

Event Start Date & Time

October 10, 2023 07:00 PM

Description/Agenda

CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Council in Attendance: Mayor Logan Monson Council member Cheryl Bowers Council member Len Gasser Council member Chris Ewald (via zoom) Council member Kellen Nielson Council member Erik Grover Staff Members in Attendance: City Manager - City Engineer - Patrick Parsons City Finance Director - James Francom Judge- Others: Ryan Barton, Corey Higdon, Tyler Nielson, Jaelyn Levier, Grant Sonata, Russel Seeley Tuesday October 10, 2023 at 7:00pm 50 West 100 South Street, Blanding, Utah 84511 Meetings are live streamed at: https://www.youtube.com/@blandingcity7442 City Community Dev. Dir. - Bret Hosler Economic Dev. Dir. - Ben Mulstein Police Chief- JJ Bradford Fire Chief - Recreation Dir. - David Palmer Mayor Monson called the meeting to order at 7:01pm A prayer was offered by Council member Nielson The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Councilmember Bowers moved to approve the consent agenda and approve the minutes from the September 26, 2023 Council meeting. Councilmember Nielson seconded the motion. Mayor Monson repeated the motion and asked for discussion. Hearing none, he called for a vote. Those voting Aye: Councilmember Bowers Councilmember Gasser Councilmember Ewald Councilmember Nielson Councilmember Grover Those voting Nay: None Constituting all members thereof, Mayor Monson declared the motion carried. Declaration of conflict - None Public Comment - None REPORTS Mayor Report Project report: Wellness center sprinkling system and showers. David reported to council that they have poured concrete and have access to all the lines that they need for the showers. Deep well: The well is complete, we are in the testing phase, waiting for a pump at this point which will test what we are able to produce out of it. It should be here at the end of this week. Pickleball courts: the work has been progressing. Ben reported that the concrete should all be poured on Friday. Council member Bowers asked if there would be a fence around it, Ben reported that yes, there will be a fence. The General Plan: it is an ongoing process. Bret reported that the planning commission will meet this week and will discuss the plan and make a recommendation to the mayor and council. City Council Council member Nielson reported on the swallow's nest. He said the historical commission stated that the county has funds to help with that. Possibly up to $5,000. Winston Hurst has been and will be a valuable source of information on how to restore a structure like that. Council member Nielson said that it was a concern that the funds may not be available after the year is over, so things need to happen in a timely manner. Mayor Monson added that a member of the community approached him about trick-or-treating on 100 west and the possibility of closing that street. He stated that that has already been talked about in depth in the past and it isn't the most feasible idea. The Mayor stated that this citizen also inquired about the possibility of people donating candy to those who live on the street as it is extremely busy on Halloween. The mayor has no problem with that. Council member Bowers is planning on going to the open house at the Energy Fuels Mill. She invited anyone that wants to join her. The Mayor added that Energy Fuels have been a sponsor for a lot of community events, so it would be great to support them. Council member Grover said that they are doing good things at the mill. Mayor Monson said that the college had a grand opening of their diesel mechanic and welding program facility. just south of Clark's. He said the president of the university came down and she is interested in expanding things here at the Blanding campus. Mayor Monson went to the One Summit Conference last week and it was good. Economic Development - Ben Muhlestein Ben reported on the fall festival. He feels it was a good turn out despite the wind. It was estimated that 1500 people showed up. He wanted to thank all the sponsors that helped make the event happen. He mentioned that it couldn't have happened without the volunteers. The eclipse is this coming Saturday. He has talked to multiple hotel owners and they are all totally booked. He wants citizens to be aware of the increase of people that will be showing up. He wants to guide people to the centennial park. There will be vendors and food there at the park. Fliers with that information will be put out in the community. He said that there are some eclipse viewing glasses that have been donated to the city. Anyone is welcome to come in and get those for their family. Events: 147 people have registered for the marathon which is a little less than a month away. It is estimated that there will be closer to 175 registrants. Volunteers are welcome to that event, it is on November 4th. Recreation Report - David Palmer David went to the open house at the Energy Fuels Mill and was impressed with the work that they are going down there. He said the open house was worthwhile. He reported that they have received several emails asking if there was an event for the eclipse and they have been telling people about the event at the park. David reported that being able to use the high school football field for little league football has been a lifesaver and he is very grateful for that. Council member Grover asked about the status of the lights at the old baseball fields. Mayor Monson reported that it was a transformer that was ruined in a lightning storm. He talked to the superintendent last week and they are going to try and get it fixed. It is the responsibility of the school district. Mayor Monson said that it makes sense for David to be at the meeting when that is discussed. Council member Bowers inquired about bathrooms at centennial park for the eclipse viewing event. David informed that the bathrooms will be open and working and Ben also reported that some port-a-potties will be brought in. Police Report - JJ Bradford Chief Bradford stated that the council has the report and stats in their packet. He reported that they are staying busy. Cole is staying busy at the schools as the SRO. His presence has been beneficial at the schools. He taught a few classes in the freshman mentoring program. He organized a K-9 search and they sent a few dogs into the schools for a few hours and found a few drug items. Mayor Monson reported that KSL did a story on Cole and some students about the SRO and the benefits of having him in the schools. It should air soon. Council member Bowers asked what TAC is. Chief Bradford informed that it is the Terminal Access Coordinator. It is the state's online Criminal Justice System and the TAC officer manages the usage of that system. Hillhouse is the TAC officer. Council member Grover asked about POST for the new officer. Chief Bradford informed that he will be going on November 13th. He will graduate in March. Chief Bradford reported that there will be a few officers taking on some extra hours during the busy weekend, due to the eclipse. Chief Bradford reported that a highway patrol trooper did a speed enforcement shift in town and in 3.5 hours, he wrote 8 citations. Speeding through town is a big problem. West Center Street Annexation - Bret Hosler Bret had a large plat map for the mayor and council to see. He said that this annexation needs to happen for the water project to move forward. Bret explained that it would be wise for our water lines and meter to be on the city's land and in city limits. He said that there is a small piece of land owned by Tom Winder's daughter and her husband, they were approached and asked if they wanted to be part of this annexation process, they said they did not. Bret said that a public hearing has to be advertised for a certain amount of time. He said it is quite the process to do this. It's already been to the planning commission and is ready to move forward and have the proper people sign off on it. He would like the council to set a time for a public hearing. And then two weeks after the public hearing the council can pass a resolution to annex the land. Mayor Monson feels like November 14 gives us plenty of time to advertise and make sure everything is in place to do this right. Council member Grover wondered if this also gives us time to talk to the other property owners in the area to see if they want to join in on the annexation also, so that we don't have to do this process again. Bret advised that we could do that, but then we would have to redo the plat. Because any area that is going to be annexed, has to be recognized on the plat. Bret wanted to be sure that we are meeting all the state requirements. BUSINESS ITEMS NTUA Agreement Mayor Monson said that this is the same contract that was discussed at the last meeting. Some changes have been made and they are highlighted in red. It shows the 29 lots and also lists some of the people and businesses that have been involved in this project. It states that NTUA will have to inform the city if there is a new connection. There currently are not 29 homes there but there are 29 lots. Russel is from the division of drinking water. Previous to this position he was the city engineer in Price and he dealt with a lot of water rights issues. He said that there are lots of different water rights. There are paper water rights and wet water rights. He said this particular water right is a paper water right, it is 50 acre feet of water from the San Juan Conservancy district and it has not yet been certificated. He explained that as a private citizen you have to prove that you are going to use the water within 7 years. But it is different for cities. Cities can have water rights indefinitely. He said that it makes sense to leave the water right as it is until you are ready to develop that water right and show beneficial use. Blanding city owns lots of water rights. A lot of them are paper water rights. There are more paper water rights than wet water rights. Blanding City uses mostly surface water rights to treat and use for drinking water. Blanding city has lots of ground water rights. In talking with Terry, Blanding has sufficient ground water rights in the existing wells. And some of those water rights can be shuffled around and moved to this new well. One of the reasons we don't want to move the water rights yet is because we don't know how much water that well can produce. Russel reported that there are more rights than there is water in the ground. Patrick wanted to clarify that the water right is in place but has not yet been certificated and there is no threat in losing the water right. Russel clarified that that is right. There is no threat of losing the water right because of seniority. Council member Bowers wanted clarification about the certification and why it doesn't need to be more pressing at the moment. Russel explained that Blanding has existing groundwater rights and as soon as we know how much water this new well produces, we can move some of those water rights over to this well, but certification doesn't need to happen with the state until we know how much it produces. Russel said that he is perfectly happy to help anyone learn more about water rights and the whole process of water rights. Mayor Monson stated that the title of the agreement is 'Water Treatment and Conveyance Contract.' Council member Bowers made a motion to approve the City of Blanding, Navajo Tribal Utility Authority water treatment and Conveyance Contract. Council member Gasser seconded the motion. Mayor Monson repeated the motion and asked for discussion. Hearing none, he called for a vote. Those voting Aye: Councilmember Bowers Councilmember Gasser Councilmember Ewald Councilmember Nielson Those voting Nay: Councilmember Grover Constituting all members thereof, Mayor Monson declared the motion carried. Appointing a City Administrator Mayor Monson stated that multiple applicants let him know that they couldn't be there in person to the meeting tonight. They are otherwise occupied. Mayor Monson expressed his appreciation to everyone throughout the entire process. It has been quite the process and it has been going on since July. There were 25 applicants for the city administrator position. Three rounds of interviews were done, Which included an interview with city staff, with some citizens, and then City council. Some candidates that made it through those rounds participated in some activities such as drafting a resolution, responding to emails, and some other requests made by the mayor. Mayor Monson stated that the talent and caliber of all the applicants is really outstanding. Several individuals demonstrated remarkable qualifications. It wasn't easy to make a decision as it never is when you have to pick one person. Within the deliberations they had to pick one person who they felt aligned with the City Council and the direction they want to go, and who they felt aligned best with the community and the staff. After careful consideration and thorough evaluation, Mayor Monson appoints Trent Herring as the city administrator, pending council's approval and an agreement on a contract. Mayor Monson stated that Trent's track record, leadership, experience all gave them a vision that they felt aligned with everyone involved. Mayor Monson expressed his heartfelt appreciation for everyone who was involved with this process. He hopes that we can come to an agreement on a contract with Trent and he looks forward to working with him. Council member Bowers stated that she was thrilled with the candidates they had. She got to sit in on several of the interviews. She also wants to thank the Mayor, she said that the process was done very well, she felt very comfortable in the decision. She appreciates the process, she feels like it was thorough and complete. Council member Bowers made a motion to approve the appointment of Trent Herring as the city manager according to the request of the Mayor. Council member Gasser seconded the motion. Mayor Monson called for a vote. Those voting Aye: Council member Gasser Council member Bowers Council member Nielson Council member Grover Council member Ewald Those voting Nay: None Constituting all members thereof, Mayor Monson declared the motion carried. ADJOURNMENT Councilmember Grover moved to adjourn the meeting. Councilmember Nielson seconded the motion. Mayor Monson repeated the motion and asked for discussion. Hearing none, he called for a vote. Those voting Aye: Councilmember Gasser Councilmember Bowers Councilmember Ewald Councilmember Grover Councilmember Nielson Those voting Nay: None Constituting all members thereof, Mayor Monson declared the motion carried. Council adjourned the meeting at 7:51p.m. By: Nicole Holliday

Notice of Special Accommodations (ADA)

In compliance with the ADA, individuals needing special accommodations during this meeting may call the City Offices at (435) 678-2791 at least twenty-four hours in advance. Every effort will be made to provide the appropriate services.

Notice of Electronic or Telephone Participation

One or more Council Members may partcipate electronically.

Meeting Information

Meeting Location

50 W 100 S
BLANDING, UT 84511
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Contact Name

Pratt Redd

Contact Email

predd@blanding-ut.gov

Notice Posting Details

Notice Posted On

October 25, 2023 08:54 AM

Notice Last Edited On

October 25, 2023 08:54 AM

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