Minutes - Aurora City Council Meeting
November 23, 2015
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Present:			
Conducting:			Mayor Scott Gurney
Council Members:	Joanne Shaw, Nancy Kennedy, Andy Rasmussen, Daven Quarnberg, Richard Curtis
Excused:	 
Recorder:	Clint Johnson
Maintenance Supervisor:	Dan Rasmussen 
Guests:	Amber Curtis, Max White, Cari Dodd, Nanci Johnson, Jordan Bosh, Portia Vossburg, Jodi Gurney, Aaron Ainge, Shaylene Wasden
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Call to Order / Roll Call / Statement of Notice Given	Mayor Scott Gurney called the city council meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and welcomed everyone to the meeting.  He indicated that council members Joanne Shaw, Nancy Kennedy, Andy Rasmussen, Richard Curtis and Daven Quarnberg were present. The mayor noted that the time, place and agenda of the meeting had been placed on the state notice website and provided to the Salina Sun newspaper via the state website notification system and to each council member and mayor by personal delivery of copies of the Notice and Agenda at least two days prior to the meeting.  The Notice and Agenda were also posted at the Aurora City Office building (20 South 120 East) and at the Aurora Post Office (196 West Center).  Richard Curtis gave an opening expression of choice.

Review of Minutes and Motion to Approve	The council reviewed the minutes of the council meeting held on October 19, 2015 and made a minor correction.
Richard Curtis moved that the council approve the minutes of the October 19, 2015 council meeting. Joanne Shaw seconded the motion and those voting 'aye' for the motion were:  Joanne Shaw, Daven Quarnberg, Nancy Kennedy Richard Curtis and Andy Rasmussen.  Voting 'nay':  no one.  The motion passed.

Fire Station Construction Update-  Mayor Gurney informed the council that he had received the final paperwork on the fire station construction project.  He stated that there is $16,368.84 still remaining to be paid.  There was a question about cement tear-out that had been billed but had been done by Aurora City.  The cost of the tear out was $7286.00.  Before the final check can be sent, Daven or Andy was going to visit with Mike Crane to see if that was a different part of the contract or if the money was indeed owed.  Mayor Gurney signed the final paperwork and everyone commented on the beautiful nature of the fire station.

Open Session-  Aaron Ainge came before the council to question the high cost of utilities in Aurora.  The council explained all of the costs of the water bill.  

White's Sanitation-  Max White came before the council to renew the contract Aurora City has with White's Sanitation.  The contract will be for 5 years and will impose a 50 cent increase in the garbage collection fees beginning with the March 2016 billing.  The council made Mr. White aware that  the city would like to order their dumpster for clean-up week around the 2nd week in May.  Mr. White stated that he will try to remember that request.  

          Daven Quarnberg made the motion to approve the contract with White's Sanitation.  Andy 
          Rasmussen seconded the motion and those voting 'aye' included Daven Quarnberg, Andy
          Rasmussen, Joanne Shaw, Richard Curtis and Nancy Kennnedy.  Those voting nay were no one.


Request to use the fire station-  Aurora resident Jordan Bosh came for the council to request usage of the city fire station to hold a hunter safety course on Dec 5th.  Mr. Bosh stated that he had hoped to get the scout cabin or city building for the class but both buildings had been previously reserved.  Daven stated that he will make the fire station available for the class.  

Request for water bill reduction-  Portia Vossburg came before the council to request a hardship reduction in her monthly water billing.  Currently Mrs. Vossburg did not qualify for any of the reductions in water billing but she stated that she has a very fixed income and is having difficulty making the monthly payments.  After a short discussion that council determined that Mrs. Vossburg did indeed have an economic hardship.

          Richard Curtis made the motion that Aurora City reduce Mrs. Vossburg's water billing to the over
          80 years old rate.  Nancy Kennedy seconded the motion and those voting 'aye' included Richard
          Curtis, Nancy Kennedy, Joanne Shaw, Andy Rasmussen and Daven Quarnberg.  Those voting 'nay'     
           were no one and the motion passed.

Splash Pad Update-  Nanci Johnson came before the city council with an action plan for the construction of a splash pad at the Aurora City Park.  She asked if Aurora City had received an appraisal for the property where the splash pad could be built.  Clint informed her that he did not yet have the appraisal.  Nanci stated that she needed it as soon as possible for the purpose of obtaining grant money before the February 1st deadline.  Clint was directed to get the appraisal done.  Clint had also gone to Sevier County and obtained a plat sheet for the committee to review the area were construction would be completed.  Nanci also informed the council that representatives from Splashpad USA were not getting great endorsements from some communities.  Questions about the company were becoming a concern.  Other companies costs would be about twice the costs of Splashpad USA so the committee was planning on raising more money than at first expected.  Another update will follow at the next city council meeting to be held on December 21st.  Nanci stated that she had some individuals who would be willing to come to that meeting to make a presentation for the city council.  

Ratification of election results-  Clint informed the council that the deadline for an official election canvass in the State of Utah was November 17th.  The city council had postponed their meeting one week so each member of the council had come to the city office before the November 17th deadline to review the election results.  Clint included in the city council packet of information a list of new councilman training meetings and had given that information to City Councilman-Elect Denton Mason.  The council also determined that the swearing in of city council members will be on January 18th at the regular city council meeting.  Clint was directed to inform Councilman-Elect Mason about the event. 

          Joanne Shaw made the motion to ratify the election results and canvass of the Aurora City Election.
           Daven Quarnberg seconded the motion and those voting 'aye' included Joanne Shaw, Daven
           Quarnberg, Nancy Kennedy, Richard Curtis and Andy Rasmussen.  Those voting 'nay' were no one.

Planning Commission-  Nancy Kennedy informed the council that the planning commission had completed work on the nuisance ordinances and that they were going to be reviewed at the next planning commission meeting.  She also informed the council that the commission had canceled their December meeting.  She also mentioned that it might be a good idea to invite the splash pad committee to the planning commission meeting to let the planning commission review the ideas and make recommendations.

Police Department-  Mayor Gurney informed the council that city police chief John Hunt had informed him that he was contemplating quitting as a police office.  Mayor Gurney informed the council that he had told John to take some time to think about the situation and that they would talk further at a later date.  The council discussed the potential replacements and determined to make those decisions at a later date. 

Animal Control-  Clint informed the council that the 2016 dog licensing clinic had been scheduled for February 6th from 9:00-12:00.  Clint took a little abuse from the council and then was directed to proceed with the arrangements.
Parks and Recreation-  Richard Curtis provided the city council with an agenda, financial statement and minutes from the recreation department meeting.  Richard informed the council that he felt like the department was getting to a good place with the help of Kent Freeman and Brady Edwards and that the issues with Salina City were getting resolved.  

Past Due Accounts and water Usage Report Review:  Both accounts were reviewed.

Budget and checks written reports-  The city council reviewed both reports. 

Recorder Items:  Clint discussed with the council the completion of the sidewalk grant, setting up new email accounts for Denton Mason and Nancy Kennedy, his visit to the CDBG grant workshop, meter readings and firemen compensation.

Approval of executive session minutes-  The city council reviewed the minutes from previous executive session meetings.
 
          Daven Quarnberg made the motion to approve the executive session minutes.  Andy Rasmussen
          seconded the motion and those voting 'aye' included Daven Quarnberg, Andy Rasmussen, Nancy
          Kennedy, Joanne Shaw and Richard Curtis.  Those voting 'nay' were no one.  The motion passed.

Executive Session/Closed Meeting:  Mayor Gurney informed the council that there would be no executive session meeting.
          
Meeting Adjournment: Nancy Kennedy offered an expression of choice and the meeting closed at 9:40 p.m.

Approved ________________ (date)

___________________________Mayor    _______________________ Recorder