Copy of the City of Ivins record for City Council, preserved by
OwnUtah.com Ivins Meetings. Official source: City of Ivins Granicus archive.
IVINS
CITY COUNCIL
MINUTES
August 18, 2011
MAYOR AND COUNCIL: The meeting was called to order at
5:30 p.m. and announced there was a quorum present.
All present included Mayor Hart,
Council Member Elwell,
Council Member McDonald,
Council Member Jolley,
Council Member Roberts,
Council Member Rusick,
and
City Recorder Kari D. Jimenez.
STAFF:
City Manager Judy Gubler,
City Attorney Dale Coulam,
Director of Finance Alan Rae,
Building and Zoning Administrator Kevin Rudd,
Public Works Director Dave Glenn,
and
City Engineer Chuck Gillette.
EXCUSED: None.
Audience: Claudette Larsen, John Bremseth, JoAnne Cooper, Grey Larkin, Tim Bryan, Lance Anderson and others who did not sign in.
Council Member McDonald led the Flag Salute
Council Member McDonald gave the Invocation
There were no disclosures or conflicts of interest with items on this meeting's agenda.
Judy Gubler informed the Council that Ivins City has been awarded the Certificate of Achievement for the CAFR (Comprehensive Annual Financial Report) and the Outstanding Achievement for the PAFR (Popular Annual Financial Report). Alan Rae prepared and submitted all of the information required for these awards. There is a 78 page checklist of components required for the CAFR. The CAFR and PAFR are established by the GFOA (Government Finance Officers Association) and the GFOA has invited Alan to sit on their review board to review other entities that are submitting for the CAFR award. Judy Gubler congratulated and expressed appreciation to Alan and his wife. Mayor Hart presented Alan Rae with the CAFR and PAFR awards. He thanked Alan for his good character and work with City staff and stated Alan is a tremendous asset to the City.
Alan Rae stated the culture of Ivins City is excellent and expressed appreciation for his position with the City. He provided a fiscal year end June 30, 2011 financial report, a copy of which is available by request through Ivins City Hall. Alan reported that the General Fund expenditures in every category were under budget and all funds have positive balances for the year end.
MOTION: Council Member Jolley moved to suspend the rules at this time and move to item 2)D and continue on and come back to item 2)C when Mr. Walter arrives
SECOND: Council Member Elwell
VOTE: The motion carried unanimously.
| Council Member Elwell |
AYE |
| Council Member McDonald |
AYE |
| Council Member Jolley |
AYE |
| Council Member Roberts |
AYE |
| Council Member Rusick |
AYE |
Kevin Rudd reported building permits are up this year. The City issued ten (10) single family dwelling permits last month. The Sensitive Lands Committee has been meeting regularly and will be providing information to the City Council in the near future regarding the Sensitive Lands ordinance as it relates to commercial property. Kevin and Judy Gubler met with the new owners of Red Mountain Spa. The owners have been working on a new long range master plan for the remaining vacant property which consists of approximately forty (40) acres. The City has received a zoning amendment application from a private citizen regarding accessory buildings. A Public Hearing regarding the zone amendment will be held at the Planning Commission and then forwarded on to the City Council. Tracy Marrott is continuing to address Code Enforcement issues.
Dave Glenn reported on the SAA (Special Assessment Area) township improvements and indicated all of the curb and gutter on the east/west streets between 100 East and 200 East will be put in the week of August 22, 2011. All of 100 East north of Center Street will have road base by August 19, 2011 and all of the underground water lines are complete with the exception of a small piece of irrigation line that needs to be relocated. The next scheduled paving date is in mid September. The contractor was able to complete all of the improvements south of Center Street before school started. Dave is working on putting together maps outlining the proposed road improvements. The Council previously requested cost information for roundabouts and Dave Glenn provided the City Council with a one page document containing that information. A copy of the document is available by request through Ivins City Hall or on the website at
www.ivins.com
Chuck Gillette indicated he really appreciates the work that Desert Hills Construction is doing on the SAA (Special Assessment Area) Historic Township project. There will be a design review meeting on August 30, 2011 regarding the Center Street and Snow Canyon Drive roundabout. Staff is working with the consultant to accelerate the design and construction of the project. Chuck is working on updating the Culinary Water System Master Plan and the Capital Facilities Plan. Council Member Rusick complimented and congratulated Ivins Public Works Department for the work they have done on the SAA project.
Neil Walter is on the Vista Charter School board and indicated that the school is currently leasing the property it was built on but is looking at options to acquire the land. The facilities cost would be reduced by approximately $250,000 a year if the school is able to acquire the land. The school is working with a loan product through the State Treasurer’s office for a financing package and the school may need Ivins City to provide a letter of recommendation or a letter of support. Council Member Rusick inquired if Vista Charter School is owned by a corporation. Mr. Walter stated it is a non-profit corporation and the building is owned by a for-profit corporation. Council Member Rusick inquired why the State of Utah is involved in lending money to the corporation if it is not a State agency. Mr. Walter indicated the school is organized in a school district similar to the Washington County School District. Vista is a State charter school and the State helps facilitate the lending process. With this type of financing an issuer is required and the issuer is typically a Municipality, County or a State and in this case, the State is the right conduit for the school to be pursuing at this time. Council Member Rusick inquired if the State is going to have a bond issue to obtain the money to lend to the corporation. Mr. Walter stated yes and indicated the State will not own any of the bonds and will not pay for any of the costs to issue the bonds. It is similar to another school district working through the State Treasurer’s Office. The State is ensuring Vista is following the right procedures.
There was no one present from the Planning Commission to provide a report. Mayor Hart reported the Planning Commission is getting close to finalizing the commercial zoning changes.
There was one Citizen Comment submitted by Steven Goeser. Mr. Goeser requested the City consider allowing the placement of a storage container on an acre lot at 65 West Center Street. Dale Coulam stated the ordinance is specific. Storage containers like the one that is on Mr. Goeser’s property are prohibited. Currently there is a mechanism in place where Kevin Rudd can issue a temporary approval of storage if it is tied to a building permit with a definite time period. If the storage container is going to remain on the property in the future, there would need to be an application filed to amend the zoning ordinance to allow storage containers. Judy Gubler clarified that there have been a number of the storage containers in the area and the owners have been notified to remove them because they are not allowed. If Mr. Goeser were to pull a building permit for the home on the property, construction storage would be allowed on a temporary basis. Council Member Roberts would like the City to discuss changing the ordinance because on the larger lots he doesn’t see the reason for the ordinance to be so restrictive if they’re hidden and out of view. Judy Gubler clarified what Council Member Roberts is suggesting is that the City Council would sponsor a zone amendment. That appears to be in conflict with a recent situation where another individual wants to amend the ordinance to allow a larger storage building and that individual has paid the $1,000 filing fee. She inquired if the City Council wants to sponsor these or do they want the applicants who are requesting the amendments to pay for it. She is looking for consistency. Council Member Rusick stated the City Attorney needs to address Council Member Roberts suggestion because if the City Council wants to address this, it has to go through the whole process and if the Council sponsors the amendment, the City would be spending $1,000 of tax payers money for the one and another $1,000 of tax payers money for the other request. She is sympathetic to the problem but she is not sure that is fair to all of the tax payers for the City to sponsor the zone amendments. Council Member Roberts indicated the point of this Citizen Comment is worthy to discuss as a future agenda item.
| 4) |
PUBLIC HEARING AND ACTION ITEMS - NONE |
Mayor Hart provided a proposed amendment to the Transportation Master Plan requiring roundabouts to the City Council. A copy of the proposed amendment is available by request through Ivins City Hall. The recommended amendment would establish roundabouts as the required traffic management solution for intersections needing more than stop or yield signage. It would preclude the use of traffic signals except as a last resort and only with the approval of the City Council. Judy Gubler clarified that amending the Transportation Master Plan requires a process that starts with the Planning Commission. The Mayor and City Council Members agreed that City should proceed with the process to amend the Transportation Master Plan.
Mayor Hart referred to the report provided by Dave Toth with the Economic Development Committee at the City Council meeting on August 4, 2011. He provided a drawing of proposed directional signage for businesses. A copy of the drawing is available by request through Ivins City Hall. It may be worthwhile for the City to build the signs and place them and then require the businesses to pay an annual fee or something similar for their business to be displayed on the signs. The purpose is to draw additional visitors into the City. The approximate cost for the large wayfinding sign is $6,000 with the smaller ones costing approximately $3,000 each. The total approximate cost is $15,000 for the proposed signs. The Mayor and City Council agreed that the Economic Development Committee should pursue funding options for the signs.
Mayor Hart referred to discussions with the Economic Development Committee and business owners where impact fees caused them to not expand their business. He suggested a five (5) year period of time to pay off the impact fees. Council Member Rusick referred to Washington City deferring impact fees on a project that is in jeopardy and Washington City may have to decide to sue or tear the project down. The impact is immediate when a business goes in. If the impact fees are deferred beyond occupancy, the City needs to look at the recourse of collecting the impact fees if the business fails. Mayor Hart stated the purpose of deferring impact fees would be to market the City and attract businesses to the City. Council Member Rusick referred to the Xetava restaurant and their request to defer impact fees. She indicated there is already a mechanism in the ordinance for the City to review impact fee deferral requests on a case by case basis. Mayor Hart stated the ordinance is pretty vague. The Mayor and City Council would like to review the language in the current ordinance and discuss and review options to defer impact fees for commercial businesses on a future City Council agenda.
A. Appoint Poll Workers and alternate Poll Workers for the September 13, 2011 Municipal Primary Election and for the November 8, 2011 Municipal General Election
| B. |
Approval of Meeting Minutes for August 4, 2011 |
MOTION: Council Member Jolley moved to approve Consent Agenda items A and B
SECOND: Council Member McDonald
VOTE: The motion carried unanimously.
| Council Member Elwell |
AYE |
| Council Member McDonald |
AYE |
| Council Member Jolley |
AYE |
| Council Member Roberts |
AYE |
| Council Member Rusick |
AYE |
| 7) |
CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION - NONE |
Council Member Rusick inquired if the corrected Memorandum of Understanding for FIAS has been signed. Dale Coulam confirmed that it had. Council Member Rusick commented on the beautiful Heritage Days ad in the paper. She noticed the ad referenced a Kruzin Knights car show, and wondered if the group had changed their minds about paying City fees for having a car show. Mayor Hart indicated it isn’t intended to be a car show but an informal gathering for anyone who would like to park their cars around the park.
Council Member Roberts - no report
Council Member Jolley - no report
Council Member McDonald reported he attended a meeting for the Solid Waste District. The County is required to create a fund to maintain the current landfill for 30 years after it is closed. An audit presentation by Hinton Burdick was provided to the Solid Waste District and per the Auditors, the Solid Waste District is financially healthy and managed very well. Council Member McDonald referred to no one being present lately from the Planning Commission to provide a report to the City Council. Judy Gubler stated someone from the Planning Commission should be present to provide a report to the City Council on behalf of the Chair. Mayor Hart stated he will make sure the Vice Chair knows she or someone else is supposed to be reporting to the City Council.
Council Member Elwell provided a written report to the City Council regarding the Festival Committee. A copy of the report is available by request through Ivins City Hall.
Mayor Hart reported he attended a DTEC (Dixie Transportation Executive Council) meeting to approve the Transportation Improvement Plan. A position has been created to coordinate the various entities of transportation. The Mayor received an employee evaluation form from Judy that the Mayor has historically filled out in the past. He inquired how the Council would like to proceed with the evaluation of the City Manager. Council Member Elwell requested the evaluation be handled as it was previously and the other Council Members agreed. Mayor Hart will provide that form to the Council Members and then hold a closed meeting. He requested of the Council that if there are issues to be responded to, that they provide those to him as soon as they can so the City Manager may have the opportunity to respond.
Judy Gubler referred to individuals from DOCUtah previously making a presentation to the City Council and inquired if the Council would like to contribute at any level. The City Council determined they did not want to contribute at this time. There was a sink hole reported by Council Member McDonald that was the result of a slow water leak with a three foot (3') void below the surface. Council Member Rusick referred to water that is spraying out onto the roads from unguarded sprinklers. Judy Gubler indicated the City is very aware of the problem and is working on resolving it. Judy stated the Utah League of Cities and Towns is holding their Annual Convention in Salt Lake City but the dates overlap on the City Council date of September 15th. There will be a lot of good information provided at the convention and inquired if the Council would like to consider an alternative date for the September 15th meeting. The Council re-scheduled the September 15th meeting to September 29th.
Dale Coulam reported the Planning Commission recommended approval of the ordinance adopting Rules of Order and Procedure, which will go forward as a Public Hearing at the next City Council meeting. There will also be a Public Hearing to consider a salary range for the Director of Finance position at the next City Council meeting. He provided a handout to the City Council regarding the salary range calculations. A copy of the calculations is available by request through Ivins City Hall.
MOTION: Council Member McDonald moved to adjourn
SECOND: Council Member Elwell
VOTE: The motion carried unanimously.
| Council Member Elwell |
AYE |
| Council Member McDonald |
AYE |
| Council Member Jolley |
AYE |
| Council Member Roberts |
AYE |
| Council Member Rusick |
AYE |
The meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m.
Respectfully,
Kari D. Jimenez, CMC
City Recorder