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Municipality

Entity

Blanding

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City Council

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Notice Title

City Council Minutes 6/11/2024

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Administrative Procedure

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Meeting

Event Start Date & Time

June 11, 2024 07:00 PM

Description/Agenda

CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Mayor Logan Monson (virtual) Mayor Pro Tempore Cheryl Bowers Council Member Chris Ewald (virtual) Council Member Charlie Taylor (virtual) Council Member Erik Grover Council Member Kellen Nielson June 11, 2024 - 6-7:00 pm - Work Session June 11, 2024 - 7pm - City Council Meeting 50 West 100 South Street, Blanding Utah 84511 Meetings live streamed when available at: https://meet.google.com/ymf-jwqo-rjs Work Session Dry Camping Mr. Herring said that he and Mr. Muhlestein have done some research on dry camping; they have looked at the park at Walter C. Lyman. Mr. Herring stated that there is some stuff that needs to be fixed and upgraded and repaired. The bathrooms being an important one. Some human waste has been put in the dumpsters and that is illegal. The cooking units are rusted through and need replacing. Whether the park is used for an official dry camping spot or not they agree the bathrooms should be fixed. The pavilion is used often and believed to have power. Mr. Muhlestein stated that some different traveling groups come through, one being Backcountry discovery routes. They create routes for adventure motorcycle riders. We are connected to two different routes that they've made. We have several groups that come through to gas up and camp as well. Dry camping is something that we can easily advertise to groups such as this. He is working on getting a flier of sorts put together for some of the local businesses. Council member Bowers agrees that this is a good idea and will potentially bring in a few tourists that will end up spending some money in Blanding. There was a discussion about how big the sites could be and how many sites. A typical tent site is 12x30. Mr. Muhlestein is working on putting a map together to see how it would all look and how it would be layed out. They talked about an honor system fee box. The toilets would be a seasonal thing or maybe a seasonal thing all together. Mr. Herring stated that he and Ben will look into it more. Everyone agrees that having flushing toilets will be a big plus and a great amenity. It is unknown how much work will have to be done to get the flushing toilets going. Miscellaneous Council member Nielson asked if we could get some real baseballs for city league games. He said that the 11 and 12 year olds were playing with a plastic baseball. Mr. Herring stated that he will talk to Mr. Palmer about it. Council member Grover asked if the pool is running. Mr. Herring stated that the pool is running, 100%. There was a pool pump that had to be replaced after 13 years. It has to be built when you order it. Council member Bowers stated that she has had a request from Marjorie Haun. She asked if the city would like to hire her and she would come on the 4th with her draft horses and give rides in a wagon. It was mentioned that we don't need to hire her, but she could come and do it herself. There was a group discussion about the options and possibilities of her doing this and how it would work and where she could go and parking, etc. Mr. Muhlestein stated that there are some activities that are offered for free. There was discussion about the centennial park being too congested for rides in that immediate area. A suggestion was made that she could shuttle people from a different area to the park so cut down on so many cars at the park. It was said that most of the activities on the 4th are done by a group or team for a fundraiser, but the booths are not necessarily for groups, they are more just an individual. Natural Gas Pipeline Council member Grover said that he has had one person talk to him about accessing the gas line that is on their property, they don't have a contract. He also talked to a couple people that do have contracts that also want to hook up. And Jared Barrett has requested to hook up for his new units that are north of town on the highway. Mr. Herring explained that a farm tap is tapping into our main gas line that comes from Monticello and it has to be done by a certified person. Each property owner was offered a contract to tap into the line. Some accepted, some didn't. There were 26 contracts made and only 10 have been used. One of the existing farm taps runs all the way across Pinion Ridge and all the way up to Starvation with multiple taps on that line. Something that was offered to Jared Barrett, was to run a line from Craig Halls' house to which would be from our main line in town, instead of the line that comes from Monticello. There was some discussion of the lines and how it would all work and how it would be tapped into and hopefully make things more efficient. There was a contract made with Kelly Laws that stated the farm tap shall be installed no later than Dec. 31, 1994. Mr. Herring said that if people want to tap in we would need to find out who all wants to and do it all at the same time for efficiency's sake. There was a discussion about the existing contracts that some residents have and where and how farm taps might have to be done, those details will have to be looked into. There is a line that goes through a wash and it is supposed to maintain 4 feet of cover and a lot of it is exposed. They agree that the contracts need to be honored. If a contractor came down to do some work, they would want them to do the most work possible while they are here. Mr. Herring stated that he will look into it more and get more information, so the council can make an informed decision. There was a discussion about having more taps will be more maintenance and upkeep for the city and more vulnerable spots, but the city is also in the business of selling gas. Mr. Herring said that there isn't an outside city limit rate. Just a flat rate right now. Each home has a meter. Mr. Herring stated that he and Mr. Parsons will have a presentation for the next meeting that will show the lines and how it all works and the pros and cons. POLICY MEETING Call to Order - Mayor Pro Tem Bowers ran the meeting as Mayor Monson was on virtually. Roll Call A Prayer was offered by Council member Grover The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all in attendance. Approval: Consent Agenda and Minutes from May 21, 2024 Regular Session Councilmember Grover made a motion to approve the consent agenda and minutes from May 21, 2024. Councilmember Nielson seconded the motion. Mayor Pro Tem Bowers repeated the motion and asked for discussion or questions. Hearing none, she called for a vote. Those voting aye: Councilmember Taylor Councilmember Nielson Councilmember Ewald Councilmember Bowers Councilmember Grover Those voting nay: None Constituting all members thereof, Mayor declared the motion carried. Declaration of Conflicts of Interest - None Public Input - None Public Hearing Council member Nielson made a motion to enter into a public hearing for the UNHS annexation. Council member Grover seconded the motion. Mayor Pro Tem Bowers repeated the motion and asked for questions or discussion, hearing none, she called for a vote. Those voting aye: Councilmember Taylor Councilmember Nielson Councilmember Ewald Councilmember Bowers Councilmember Grover Those voting nay: None Constituting all members thereof, Mayor declared the motion carried. UNHS Annexation Mr. Herring stated that a map is provided for the proposed annexation area and their proposed plan. Mr. Tyler Nielson, with Jones and DeMille, said that they have an RFP out to get contractors interested. They asked if they would start with the housing and if it would be for their employees. Mr. Nielson stated that it would be for their employees and traveling doctors. They talked about access to the land. Mr. Nielsen stated that they would use their existing road that is on the south of their building. Mr. Herring said that it will be zoned as commercial when annexed so that they can put in clinics or what have you. They also have plans to put in housing and according to Blanding city ordinance, you can put residential housing in a commercial zone. There was a discussion about whether or not Paul McDonald knows about this and what his feelings are. Mr. Nielson stated that Paul used to farm that land before it was sold to UNHS, so it is likely that he knows, but it is not certain. Paul owns the road that is on the north side of the property. It was said that they don't see a problem with annexing the land as long as UNHS understands that they have to abide by city building codes, etc. Commissioner Stubbs stated that they already have doctors and employees that are living in Blanding and the housing that they put in will open up some housing for other people. One of the biggest things that the county is lacking is housing. She said that there is a great article about Energy Fuels and what is going to be happening and they will be requiring new housing. Council member Grover made a motion to exit the public hearing for the UNHS annexation. Council member Nielson seconded the motion. Mayor Pro Tem Bowers repeated the motion and asked for questions or discussion, hearing none, she called for a vote. Those voting aye: Councilmember Taylor Councilmember Nielson Councilmember Ewald Councilmember Bowers Councilmember Grover Those voting nay: None Constituting all members thereof, Mayor declared the motion carried. Reports Mayor Mayor Monson is currently at a national UAMPS conference. Little Miss Blanding is on the 29th and there were plenty of good, local sponsors that stepped up for that event. City Council None Finance Report - Trent Herring Council member Bowers mentioned that our legal services seem high. Mr. Herring stated that the majority of the legal services are the justice court. There is a separate amount for prosecution. It's $4500 a month on average for prosecution. Prosecution is for the court. Legal services are for any other questions and assistance we need from him. Council member Grover asked if anyone has had interest in that position. Mr. Herring stated that yes, there is one, and they are looking over the numbers and haven't gotten back to him yet. Parks and Rec. Report - David Palmer Mr. Palmer stated that we are in full swing of summer, we are crazy busy and things are going well. Parks are getting greener and the pool is getting warmer. Council member Nielson mentioned the need for real baseballs. Mr. Palmer stated that they arrived today and will be used from here on out. Economic Report - Ben Muhlestein Mr. Muhlestein stated that there were a few business licenses that were renewed. He said that home based businesses can renew when they want. 4th of July: All our vendor booths are sold. We are creating a wait list for that now. The schedule of events will come out in the paper and on social media this week and over the next few weeks. To enter a float you can fill out an application online. There is not, nor will there be a listed time for fireworks. Fall festival and Marathon: planning and advertising are moving forward and going well. Last fall there was an open period for ARPA funds through the EEA that we applied for. The funding is for planning and feasibility. It would allow us to explore options on how to revitalize or rejuvenate our mainstreet. This grant doesn't require any kind of match. We were one of the few applications that were chosen to continue. We received $50,000. Council member Grover asked what kinds of projects we have to use this money for. Mr. Muhlestein stated that it would cover planning staff training and the rest would go towards helping in developing a plan for downtown, the training helps carry out that plan. There is a little bit of leeway with that. There will be a study on strengths and weaknesses and what things we can target as far as marketing and tourism and those kinds of things. Council member Bowers congratulated Mr. Muhlestein on writing and getting the grant. Mr. Herring stated that one of the trainings that they have looked into is a CRA training, so they can learn about the tax incentives and then in turn help the school district learn more about it and use it to its fullest. Council member Bowers asked if the council had something to ride on for the parade. The horse and wagon idea was mentioned as well as riding on a fire truck again. Business Items Resolution 06-11-2024-1 - URS Public Safety and Firefighter Pickup Mr. Herring stated that the pickup is for the tier 2 employees. It was discussed in the budget meeting. The city has picked it up in the past. Mr Herring recommends that we pick it up because that's what we've done in the past. URS requires that it be approved by the city council. The city would pick up 4.73% of the public safety rates. Council member Bowers made the comment this is something that should be looked into and considered in the future as rates continue to go up. Councilmember Grover made a motion to approve Resolution 06-11-2024-1 URS Public Safety and Firefighter Pickup. Councilmember Taylor seconded the motion. Mayor Pro Tem Bowers repeated the motion. She asked for discussion or questions. Hearing none, she called for a vote. Those voting aye: Councilmember Taylor Councilmember Nielson Councilmember Ewald Councilmember Bowers Couniclmember Grover Those voting nay: No Constituting all members thereof, Mayor Monson declared the motion carried. Resolution 06-11-2024-2 - Grid Access Fee Policy Mr. Herring stated that this is something that has been discussed for a long time and it's a policy that has been put together according to those discussions. Council member Bowers appreciates that they were given lots of time to discuss this and look it over. Councilmember Nielson made a motion to adopt Resolution 06-11-2024-2 Grid Access Fee Policy. Councilmember Ewald seconded the motion. Mayor Pro Tem Bowers repeated the motion. She asked for discussion or questions. Hearing none, she called for a vote. Those voting aye: Councilmember Taylor Councilmember Nielson Councilmember Ewald Councilmember Bowers Couniclmember Grover Those voting nay: No Constituting all members thereof, Mayor declared the motion carried. Ordinance 2024-3 - Blanding City Fee Schedule Mr. Herring stated that we have consolidated the fee schedule into one document so that it's accessible and transparent to the community. It too has been discussed in length. The city is still making an effort to change everyone over to paperless billing and they are not in a rush to implement the paper fee. Councilmember Grover made a motion to approve Ordinance 2024-3 Blanding City Fee Schedule. Councilmember Ewald seconded the motion. Mayor Pro Tem Bowers repeated the motion. She asked for discussion or questions. Hearing none, she called for a vote. Those voting aye: Councilmember Taylor Councilmember Nielson Councilmember Ewald Councilmember Bowers Couniclmember Grover Those voting nay: No Constituting all members thereof, Mayor declared the motion carried. Discussion Items Youth City Council Leadership - Trent Herring Mr. Herring stated that he is very excited about this. He has talked a lot with the school and with Jesse Grover. They have chosen three students that they believe will do great in leadership roles. They will choose other students to complete the council at the beginning of the school year. Macee Palmer will be the student body president, seminary president and she will also be the Mayor in the youth city council. She is the first ever youth council mayor, so she is not sure what it will entail, but she is excited to see what they can accomplish. She hopes to lead the council and get the students involved with the city and help them learn about what the city council does. Paige Bitsuie will be the senior class president and the youth city council vice Mayor. She hopes to learn a lot about government and the importance of opportunity. She hopes to encourage students to be more confident and use their voice when changes are needed or wanted. She hopes students will gain a sense of responsibility and choose to contribute to the community. Magenta Crane will be the youth city council treasurer as well as the FBLA earthen region vice president and student government social media representative. Her vision for the youth city council is to bridge the gap between community and the high school. Magenta is going on a humanitarian trip in the month of August to Uruguay. She will be building schools for youth in poverty. Several of the current city council members had similar leadership positions when they were in high school. The council appreciated them being there and the initiative they were taking. Mr. Herring stated that Jesse Grover has been a huge help in getting this put together. Utah State University has a program specific to youth city council and there is a guy that is willing to come down and do a training on that. July 24th Holiday to be Observed on July 22nd? - Trent Herring Mr. Herring stated that the 24th falls on a Wednesday. They would like to move the day off to the 22nd instead of the 24th. Council member Bowers stated that she feels like holidays are for the celebration of the day and the reason for the day and respect of the day, not for the convenience of a three day weekend. It was agreed to take the 24th off. Splash Pad Information - Trent Herring Mr. Herring said that he has reached out to a few places that have splash pads. He talked to the mayor of Central Valley. He said that he is not in favor of the splash pad as far as a maintenance and operation stand point. The chlorine treatment has been a challenge. Mr Herring said that he hasn't been sent the actual annual cost of running it, but it is pretty substantial. He did say that the residents do like it, but he would not do it again if given the choice. He talked to Delta and he said that their splash pad is set up differently. They use straight culinary water so there is no treatment required and the used water is stored in a holding tank and used to water grass. He also said that he hasn't got their financial information for their splash pad either. Mr. Herring feels like that would be a more economic way to run it. The culinary water doesn't have to be treated with chlorine therefore doesn't have to be tested. Mayor Monson stated that since he has been traveling in the state, he has seen a lot of small communities that have splash pads, so he knows that it's possible and there is a way to do it. There was a question and discussion on how long the water runs. Some splash pads are motion activated. Commissioner Stubbs said that it was about a year ago that she thought of the splash pad idea. She approached Jones and DeMille and they were gracious enough to make up a plan for a simple splash pad. She has traveled some and looked at other splash pads. She has talked to some mayors and administrators. The feeling that she has got from administrators is that they don't like the splash pads. But the community does. She said that some have said that they would do it differently. She mentioned that it has been suggested that it be put in with the pool. She said that she has been collecting partners within the community. She said that the grantee of the grant has been very patient because of scheduling and circumstances. She received a letter from them and she passed copies of it out to the council. The letter isn't very positive, but she isn't taking it as a definite no. She may have to reapply for a grant. And if Blanding doesn't seem interested or excited, she may ask Spanish Valley if they are interested. Council member Bowers had put it out on her social media and most of the response was positive towards a splash pad. Mayor Monson stated that he has written a letter stating that he supports this and he will continue to support it. He said that he will reach out to the league of cities and towns and see if he can get some answers on costs and maintenance. Mr. Herring stated that based on location, if it were put by the tennis and pickleball courts, he thinks the culinary water option would be best and then we could use the recycled water to water the grass. If we went with the chlorine option, he thinks it would be wise to put it by the pool since there is already the chlorine equipment there. They asked Mr. Palmer what he thought about it. He stated that as the recreation director, he feels like it would be in direct competition with the pool and we are taxing the citizens to keep that facility open. But as a citizen, yes, he would love it for his grandkids and visitors. Mr. Herring stated that he and Mr. Palmer talked about possibly having some free days at the pool for those who can't get annual passes and that would make the splash pad available to them. Council member Bowers doesn't think that it would compete with the pool. They would be in different areas and they are completely different things. Commissioner Stubbs stated that she doesn't plan on using taxpayer dollars. She believes that they can get the up front costs covered. The splash pad topic has been added to the June 25th meeting agenda. Hopefully they will have some definite costs for maintenance. BENM Comment Sessions - Trent Herring Mr. Herring has submitted a letter on behalf of the city to the Bears Ears comment session. He has emailed it to all the council members as well. As of right now there are 18,482 comments. Pickleball Court Update - Trent Herring Mr. Herring stated that the company will be here on Monday, June 17th, to resurface the concrete, do an acid wash and paint it. They did meet with Jones and DeMille and assess the shotty work that was done. They will be taking pictures of all the steps that are going to be done for warranty purposes. The hope is to have it done by the 4th. Mr. Herring stated that he has been paying attention to pickleball courts in his travels and he has seen one that had 8 foot fences on the ends and 4 foot fences in between the courts. He's also talked to someone in town that has a pickleball court in their yard and they have 4 foot fences and it's been fine. Closed Session Councilmember Nielson made a motion to go into closed session to discuss litigation. Councilmember Grover seconded the motion. Mayor Pro Tem Bowers repeated the motion. She asked for discussion or questions. Hearing none, she called for a vote. Those voting aye: Councilmember Taylor Councilmember Grover Councilmember Nielson Councilmember Ewald Councilmember Bowers Those voting nay: None Constituting all members thereof, Mayor declared the motion carried. Adjournment Councilmember Nielson made a motion to adjourn. Councilmember Grover seconded the motion. Mayor Pro Tem Bowers repeated the motion. She asked for discussion or questions. Hearing none, she called for a vote. Those voting aye: Councilmember Taylor Councilmember Grover Councilmember Nielson Councilmember Ewald Councilmember Bowers Those voting nay: None Constituting all members thereof, Mayor declared the motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 9:18pm.

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.

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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

July 01, 2024 04:26 PM

Notice Last Edited On

July 01, 2024 04:26 PM

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