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Municipality

Entity

Blanding

Public Body

City Council

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Notice Title

City Council Minutes 7/23/24

Notice Tags

Administrative Procedure

Notice Type(s)

Meeting

Event Start Date & Time

July 23, 2024 07:00 PM

Description/Agenda

CITY COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA Mayor Logan Monson Mayor Pro Tempore Cheryl Bowers Council Member Chris Ewald Council Member Charlie Taylor Council Member Erik Grover Council Member Kellen Nielson July 23, 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 POLICY MEETING Call to Order Roll Call A prayer was offer by Cheryl Bowers The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all in attendance. Approval: Consent Agenda and Minutes from July 9, 2024 Regular Session Councilmember Ewald made a motion to approve the consent agenda and minutes from July 9, 2024. Councilmember Nielson seconded the motion. Mayor Monson repeated the motion and asked for discussion or questions. Hearing none, he 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 Monson declared the motion carried. Declaration of Conflicts of Interest - None Public Hearing Council member Grover made a motion to enter into a public hearing for the Cody and Beth Allen Annexation. Council member Ewald seconded the motion. Mayor Monson repeated the motion and asked for questions or discussion, hearing none, he 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 Monson declared the motion carried. Cody & Beth Allen Annexation No comments were made. Council member Ewald made a motion to leave the public hearing for the Cody and Beth Allen Annexation. Council member Grover seconded the motion. Mayor Monson repeated the motion and asked for questions or discussion, hearing none, he 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 Monson declared the motion carried. Public Input - None Reports Mayor Citizen of the Year Plaque Award - Calvin Black - He is sick tonight so we will put him on the schedule for another time. There were a lot of great nominations for citizen of the year. Our Little Miss Blanding royalty was present. Chezney Ivins, Emri Black, Danika Benn and Harper Lacey. They took a photo with the mayor and city council. City Council Councilmember Taylor stated that UHP and Blanding Police are going to do a citizen academy and they are inviting all of city council members to participate. It should be the end of August. It gives leaders of the community an opportunity to see how law enforcement does their jobs. It's been a successful program in other communities. Council member Taylor will work on getting specific dates. Finance Report - James Francom Mr. Francom asked if anyone had questions on the check register. It's the first report for the first fiscal year. Mayor Monson asked about the new patrol car. Chief Bradfod stated that it's here now and officer Stewart is using it. Council member Grover asked about the EB charger study. Mr. Francom said that it's for the electric car charging station that is going in at Clark's. He asked why we have to have a study. Mr. Francom stated that we will have ownership of the study and we will be reimbursed for it. Mr. Herring explained that Each circuit is only allowed a certain amount of solar projects to go on that circuit. It's not a guarantee that the charging station will go in. Mr. Herring wanted to point out the air med care is a three year membership. It is set up that if an employee leaves Blanding city, the membership stays with the city and the next employee gets that existing membership. Police Report - Chief JJ Bradford Chief Bradford stated that there were 6 dogs picked up and 5 returned to owners. One was destroyed for killing chickens and lambs. The department went through a taser training and got updated tasers. Their old ones were more than 10 years old. The new car came just in time. From the law enforcement perspective, the 4th of July went off well. Chief Brandford said that our arrests last month compared to last year are up significantly. There was a brief discussion about quotas, the police officers don't have quotas. Court Report - Trent Herring Mr. Herring stated there were 13 criminal cases and then some traffic citations. Total citations issued for May was 160, June was 88. It's the time of year for tourists and they like to speed through town. City Engineer Report - Patrick Parsons Mr. Parsons said that there aren't a lot of changes compared to last month's water report. According to the precipitation accumulation graph, you can see where the rain events occurred. Reservoirs are still pretty high. They brought dry wash down a little bit, but that has been stopped. It's been trickling through to the 3rd reservoir. Mayor Monson asked if there are any updates on the streets project. They have a schedule that has been given to them by LaGrand Johnson, it's a pretty general plan. Their goal is to do things in order, they have started the concrete waterways and curb and gutter phase and then they will move to the grinding phase. They will hopefully get to the paving phase at the end of August. There are several locations being worked on. Mr. Parsons said that this is a continuation of the project that we started a year ago. They have done some crack sealing in the spring and they will do more in the fall. Planning & Zoning - Bret Hosler Mr. Hosler stated that in the last couple of weeks it's gotten quite busy with street projects and commercial projects as well as the airport and land. There have been land acquisitions and utility line upgrades. We got three acres from the National Guard, that is something we've been working on for a couple years, it is in the Airport layout plan. They talked about annexing the airport and land that goes down the highway. There needs to be land contiguous to Blanding City. We want to update our fuel system, we have some money from the state to do that. We have a commitment from a contractor to do the work, but he is booked out quite a ways. We want to do a separate real so we can fill up our fuel truck faster. It takes over an hour to fill up the fuel truck. With the upgrade it will take about 15 minutes. There is a project that has been approved by the mayor and council. There is money coming from the state, UDOT, aeronautics division. They are going to do crack seal and fog seal on the airport apron, where the airplanes park. It's been needed for a few years now. It should be done sometime this fall. Code related information - There are camp trailers all over town, in driveways and yards and streets. There has been an increase since the campark has closed down. Mr. Hosler stated that historically the council has directed staff to turn their head the other way for a few weeks especially around 4th of July and hunting season and things like that, but as far as living there for months and months, it's not allowed. We need to get word out that that's a problem. He has heard of someone renting out their camper as an AirBnB in their yard. It was stated that the KOA by 7-11 is cleaning the area up and they plan to be a true KOA, nightly camper parking. Elementary school is winding down on their dirt work. He talked about the different soil and the different uses. They are down to the white and green, shaly stuff and some of it isn't smart to use to build on. If you are filling up a low spot, that'll work great, but it could cause more of a problem if you build something on it. Business Items Ordinance 2024-7 - Cody & Beth Allen Annexation The land that is being annexed is on 300 West. It is next to the Preston Palmer land that was just annexed in. It's a vacant lot. Cody and Beth are Cassidy Lyman's in-laws. Councilmember Taylor made a motion to approve Ordinance 2024-7, Cody and Beth Allen Annexation. Councilmember Nielson seconded the motion. Mayor Monson repeated the motion and asked for discussion or questions. Hearing none, he 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. Discussion Items Legacy Trust Update - Bret Hosler Mr. Hosler stated that since they have talked last the Legacy Trust board has met several times. They have had a request for a grant from the San Juan County Historical Commission. Bret talked to them today, they are trying to find someone to match the dollar amount of the grant. Insurance is a possibility for a match. Bret said that they will give them $2000 in grant money if they can find a match. Council member Bowers asked if there is any marketing for this. Mr. Hosler stated that they usually advertise in the spring and do grants around April. Council member Bowers was happy to hear that it was active and working. Splash Pad - Trent Herring Mr. Herring stated that Commissioner Stubbs has shared a few quotes with him for costs of a splash pad. One quote is $150,278.15. This cost doesn't include the cost it would take to connect the tank to the water utilities. There were a few renderings included in the packet of what a splash pad could look like. Mr. Herring stated that he still hasn't heard back from anyone about actual maintenance costs. Mr. Herring talked about costs and maintenance of a recirculation system that would require a chlorine drip or tablets vs. a culinary water system. The chlorine system costs more all around and requires more maintenance. They talked about how much water it takes to run a splash pad. These costs included in the quotes don't include what it would take to reuse the water for watering grass. They talked about the pros and cons. They talked about what they would do on drought years. A suggestion was made to shorten hours that the water runs. There was talk about fencing it in. There was discussion about how long the water would run during the day and if it would be on a timer or a sensor. They talked about insurance, Mr. Herring said that it's minimal and there aren't very many claims made concerning splash pads. Commissioner Subbs was present virtually. She said that she is experienced with fundraising. She talked about a picket fence of sorts with donor's names on it. She said she has talked to people and for the most part people like the culinary system better. They talked about the amount of the grant and the amount that would need to be fundraised. Councilmember Bowers reiterated that this is just to give commissioner Stubbs the go ahead to continue to pursue the grant for the splash pad. If the grant isn't approved then the splash pad won't happen. There was discussion about how much water will be used and how big of a tank would be needed to catch the used water to reuse it to water the grass. Council members want it to be a nice place and nice splash pad and look good if it does happen. Council agreed that Commissioner Stubbs should continue to pursue the grant money. Commissioner Stubbs stated that she has talked to the San Juan Clean Energy Foundation. They have opened up their options for the different kinds of grants that they give out. She would like a letter of support from the city to present to them. Mr. Herring stated that the next time they meet will be in Oct. Mr. Herring also stated that he has requested a grant for the shade structure at the same location as the splash pad. Blanding Elementary Inspector of Record Contract Award - Trent Herring Mr. Herring stated that the city of Blanding is the inspector record for the elementary school. We submitted a quote for $48,000 and it was approved by the school district. They have started working on a French drain at the construction site. Mayor Monson stated that he feels it's important that the city be involved and partners in big projects like this. Mayor Vacancy - Trent Herring Mr. Herring stated that we unfortunately have to prepare for this. The council would have to give the public two weeks notice of the vacancy. Then there would have to be a public hearing. It would be similar to what we've done with council member positions in the past. We would have open meeting interviews, it can't be closed whatsoever. The council would vote on their top pick. The book that Mr. Herring has been referencing stresses that it be an open, non-secret ballot. However, if we want to go with a secret ballot, an attorney can advise us on that. Mr. Herring stated that if the office is vacated Within the first two years of a term then you have an election for an additional 2-year term. If anyone on Council applies for the position they can vote for themselves. We won't know for sure if there will be a vacancy until November. Mr. Herring stated that we would get it done before January. Mayor Monson stated that there is an upcoming appointment at the county level that will very much affect us, the county attorney. They briefly discussed that process and the people that are up for that appointment. Airport Land Lease Options - Trent Herring & Bret Hosler Mr. Herring said that we have someone from the public that wants to build a hangar at the airport. He would lease the land from Blanding. Those contracts are usually 25-30 years. They have the right to renew the contract a certain amount of times and then at the end of the contract the lease and hangar becomes property of Blanding City. We've never done a land lease at the airport. According to the information Mr. Herring has gathered it would be about 30 cents per square foot. It would be about $3000 a year. Mayor Monson asked how property taxes work with airports and leases. He asked if that would go up because of the hangar. Mr. Francom stated that he doesn't think there would be property taxes associated with it because we still own it. The current hanger lease is $100 a month. The hangar that will be built will be bigger than any other hanger down there. It would be built south of the existing hangers. His plan is to build just one for now. He has asked that there be no costs while he is building it. Council member Ewald thinks it will be a great plan and it will be beneficial. The city will have more fuel sales as well as some utilities that the city provides. Mr. Herring stated that he will get a land lease contract together. We want to make it reasonable so as to not deter him from building the hangar. The city will have jurisdiction on all the building inspections on any projects at the airport. Water, Power, Gas, Sewer Financial Forecasts - Trent Herring Mr. Herring stated this is a continuation from the discussion we had last meeting about water and our base rates. He put together some numbers and forecasts of raising base rates and what the outcome would look like. He talked about the different tiers that exist and the different numbers. Councilmember Bowers asked why we are considering the increase. Mr. Herring stated that we had a water survey done and they suggested that we up our price by five times more than what he has presented to them. The increase is to maintain the systems that we have in place. The increase would be about $4 a month per household if they were at the 20,000 gallon mark. They compared our numbers to Monticello's numbers. Council agreed that they don't like to raise the price that citizens pay, but they feel that this is a very conservative amount and also necessary. It would also prevent having to change prices multiple times a year. Mr. Herring also wanted to talk about landlord properties. Any one meter that services multiple units is called a landlord meter. The current city policy states that each residence that the meter serves, the meter is given 5000 gallons of water and the resident is charged the base rate plus whatever 5000 gallons of water would cost. Anything under 5000 is zero cost because it is built into the flat fee, anything over the 5000 is 10 times that level. The recommendation for landlord properties is to keep it the same structure but creating a tier that puts them into the appropriate levels according to their water usage. Electric- they talked about outside city limit users paying a higher rate. The forecast that Mr. Herring shows are based on the grid access rates that we charge. Our current rate for electricity is $11. There will be a power rate study starting on July 31. The last power rate study recommended that we go up by $1 every year, which we have done. In the next study, he wants to ask where that rate will be capped. He made a spreadsheet and broke it out into inside and outside city limit customers. There are 15.6% of the total customers that are outside of city limits. He went over the different revenue that we would see depending on the amount the rates are raised. If we charged 10% more to outside city limit customers, we would make roughly an additional $900 every month. They talked about annexation and giving customers a reason to want to annex. They talked about the tax revenue from property tax. The general plan essential is our vision of what we want our city limits to be. They talked about customers that get a waterline outside of city limits is required to sign a covenant of annexation, but that's not the case with power or gas. Mr. Herring suggests that we do require it with power and gas. They talked about forced annexation, Mr. Hosler stated that state law says that if you serve public services for 1 year you can force annex them. The council has chosen historically not to do that. If we explore that further we will want to be advised by the city attorney and make sure it's done right. They also discussed the difference between imminent domain vs. annexation. We are hurting for housing and we are also hurting for space. Mayor Monson stated that he personally doesn't like the idea of annexing without giving people the option. He feels like that is outside the scope of government and he doesn't feel like it will change us financially, our tax rates aren't high enough to see that much of a benefit. And he thinks we will find ourselves at the mercy of having to put in infrastructure that we don't have the money for. Water and Sewer are already doubled for outside city limits but power and gas are not. It isn't abnormal to charge outside city limit rates. There are multiple examples of where that applies. Mr. Parsons stated that Rocky Mountain power is proposing to raise their rates by 30% and that will definitely affect us. Mayor Monson stated that electric rates are going to be a big topic in next year's legislative session. They talked about how far out Blanding city powers goes vs. Rocky Mountain Power. Adjournment Councilmember Grover made a motion to adjourn. Councilmember Nielson seconded the motion. Mayor Monson repeated the motion and asked for discussion or questions. Hearing none, he 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 Monson declared the motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 9:10pm.

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

Trent Herring

Contact Email

therring@blanding.city

Notice Posting Details

Notice Posted On

August 14, 2024 10:03 AM

Notice Last Edited On

August 14, 2024 10:03 AM

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