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,
City Engineer Chuck Gillette,
and
Director of Public Safety Bob Flowers.
EXCUSED: None.
Audience: Angelo DiSante, Claudette Larsen, Leslye Haws, Derrick Lee, 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.
Alan Rae referred to a PowerPoint presentation, a copy of which is available by request through Ivins City Hall. He indicated that the General Fund Revenue and Expenditures, the Impact Fee Revenue, Water Fund, Sewer Fund and Storm Drain Fund are within what was budgeted. Council Member Roberts requested an electronic version be sent to the Council Members.
Chuck Gillette reported Center Street will be painted with a stripe the week of October 24, 2011. The contractor on the SAA (Special Assessment Area) project has until November 8, 2011 to close out the project. The Engineer on the roundabout project has prepared information for the right-of-ways and an Appraiser is working on appraising the property costs. As soon as the City receives the appraisals the City will submit the appraisals to the Washington County Council of Governments to assist with purchasing the property for the right-of-ways. The City will then start negotiations with the property owners to purchase the right-of-way property. The City likely will not bid the project until the property for the right-of-ways are purchased. . Council Member Roberts referred to a field in the Historic Township area where the property owner cleared the weeds and now when it rains the soil is eroded. He inquired if there are any plans to help alleviate that problem. Kevin Rudd indicated the City is working with the property owners and is suggesting to anyone with weed issues that the weeds be mowed rather than plowed to help hold the soil together.
Kevin Rudd reported that the weed season is over and indicated any issues with property owners regarding weeds were addressed by courtesy letters and resolved before an Administrative Citation was issued. The Building Department has issued three (3) building permits in October with a total of approximately 55 for the current year.
There was no one present from the Planning Commission. Mayor Hart reported that he attended the Planning Commission meeting and the Planning Commission held a Public Hearing on a proposed amendment to the Ivins Transportation Master plan.
Council Member McDonald inquired if the Mutual Aid Agreement is a continuation of what the City has been doing. Judy Gubler stated this agreement is new and addresses the Washington County SWAT team.
MOTION: Council Member Roberts moved to approve the Mutual Aid Agreement between Washington County and Ivins City
SECOND: Council Member Jolley
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 |
Judy Gubler indicated there have been some abuses of Ivins EMS system. As an example there is one individual who has called for EMS 51 times this year. Currently the City cannot charge a fee for a non-transport. The State of Utah allows the City to charge for assessment and supplies and suggested the City adopt the fees from the State of Utah and refer to the maximum State fees in the Consolidated Fee Schedule. The City has not been charging anything for an emergency response where the individual is not transported. Dale Coulam stated it would be sufficient on the Consolidated Fee Schedule to indicate that the City charges the State approved rates. Council Member Jolley agreed that excessive calls need to be addressed and indicated Ivins EMS overall needs to be complimented because those calls wouldn’t happen if the residents didn’t have confidence in Ivins EMS. The Mayor and Council agreed that the Consolidated Fee Schedule should be brought forward to address ambulance fees.
Dale Coulam indicated he previously provided a draft ordinance to the City Council to review and it is now on the agenda for discussion. He would like to make one change regarding relocation of facilities before the ordinance is adopted. Mayor Hart inquired if this ordinance has been adopted by other cities in Washington County. Dale Coulam stated Washington City has adopted the ordinance and a cable franchise agreement with Baja. Council Member Rusick indicated the ordinance is very comprehensive and demanding of the cable franchise companies. Council Member Roberts had concerns with the utility companies being allowed to dig up and replace the new roads and requested that whenever possible, the utility companies bore under the roads to avoid damaging them. He referred to access programming and stated it would be nice to have access programming but thinks there should be an incentive to the franchises to provide that but doesn’t think it should be a requirement. Mayor Hart indicated the franchise agreement was deliberated and worked through with the Community Education Channel (CEC) at length before it went out to the cities and he attended several meetings where the representative from the cable company and the administrators from the CEC were in attendance. There is no resistance on the part of the cable company with the agreement. Dale Coulam stated the franchise agreement itself will contain more detail regarding access, pass through fees and similar. The agreement requires the City to file an annual report with the cable company on the pass through fees although the City does not receive the fees. He requested that at the next CEC meeting the Mayor attends that the Mayor inquire about the annual report provision. The City would not have the information to prepare the report but the CEC would.
MOTION: Council Member Jolley moved to table item 5)C, considering an approval of Ordinance No. 2011-09 to another meeting
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 |
Council Member Rusick indicated she is disappointed the Council Members did not look at the property in question before approving the zone change. The change will affect the entire City especially the areas that do not have CC&R’s (Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions) on the property. She is also concerned with the number of buildings that would be allowed on a property and for properties looking too commercial. She referred to section 16.12.104(4)(b) regarding the total square footage of any detached garage or other accessory building including agricultural use accessory buildings not being greater than fifty (50%) of the footprint of the primary structure including the attached garage and suggested the City clarify that is the combination of all the accessory buildings and is in total. Dale Coulam stated he would interpret that language to be any, meaning a specific garage or a specific accessory building which would then be subject to the size and limitations listed. He referred to 16.12.104(4)(e) which sets forth the cumulative total square footage shall not be greater than twenty five percent (25%) of the rear yard. In the one paragraph the word "cumulative" total is used which is adding up all of the buildings and that is subject to a limitation based on the size of the rear yard. The other paragraph he interprets as a size limitation for each building that is going to be constructed. If the language is being interpreted multiple ways, he suggested the language be clarified. Council Member Rusick suggested in section 16.12.104(4)(b) in line 2 the word "combined" be added so that it reads in part "The total square footage of any detached garage or other accessory building including agricultural use accessory buildings combined shall not be greater than fifty percent (50%)..." Council Member McDonald agreed with the change as long as casitas are addressed elsewhere and the suggested change does not limit the size of a potential casita down by the cumulative rule. Kevin Rudd indicated he wanted to address Council Member Rusick’s concern about building several large buildings on their property in her neighborhood. He referred to Padre Canyon’s written text and stated that in Padre Canyon only one (1) detached garage, a horse barn, a casita and smaller sheds are permitted in Padre Canyon. Someone in Padre Canyon could not build a larger accessory building other than a detached garage because of Padre Canyon’s written text. Council Member Rusick stated over the years the City Council has suggested eliminating all of the written text and inquired if that were to occur, what protection there would be for Padre Canyon. Kevin Rudd indicated there is no guarantee because the zoning ordinance can be changed by any City Council. Dale Coulam indicated to make it easier for consensus he referred to paragraph (b) where it reads in part "total square footage..." One option would be for that to read in part "total combined square footage..." The other option would be to strike the word "total" in paragraph (b) so that it would read in part "The square footage of any detached garage..." which would help to clarify it is addressing the specific building. He referred to paragraph (e) and indicated that instead of the wording "...of any attached garage..." the wording be "...of all attached garages" which would clarify that that is the cumulative of all buildings and are subject to the twenty five percent (25%) of the rear yard rule. The Mayor and Council agreed to strike the word "total" in paragraph (b) and adding the word "all" and "garages" plural in paragraph (e).
MOTION: Council Member McDonald moved to approve Ordinance No. 2011-15, an Ordinance of Ivins City, Utah, Amending Section 16.12.104 of the Zoning Ordinance regarding garages and other accessory buildings in residential zones, with two amendments, one in (4)(b) striking "total" in the first sentence as well as (4)(e) changing "any" to "all" in the first sentence and "garages" plural
SECOND: Council Member Elwell
VOTE: The motion carried.
| Council Member Elwell |
AYE |
| Council Member McDonald |
AYE |
| Council Member Jolley |
AYE |
| Council Member Roberts |
AYE |
| Council Member Rusick |
NAY |
Roll call vote. Four (4) Council Members voted in favor and one (1) Council Member opposed.
Mayor Hart indicated the declaration has been proposed to Ivins City and is reflective of supporting the utilization of alternative fuels for the purpose of cleaning up the air. Ivins City has been requesting through the Utah Clean Cities Coalition assistance in securing a CNG (compressed natural gas) filling station in Ivins because the western part of the County is not serviced by a CNG facility. Council Member Roberts stated he would support the declaration if there were some amendments made. The first amendment would be that the first "Whereas" be stricken or changed because he does not think that man is the cause of global warming. In the third "Whereas" he would like to add the word "foreign" to "oil" so that is reads in part "...reduce our dependence on foreign oil...". He indicated the State of Utah has great resources that possibly in the future could be oil shell or other forms of fuel and Ivins should not get on the bandwagon to discourage. He would also like to add the following "Whereas" paragraphs: "Whereas, Ivins City does not promote the use of any government funds to subsidize private or public entities for the promotion or development of alternative fuels including ethanol subsidies and Whereas, the free market system is the most reliable and practical market system to promote alternative fuel development". Council Member Rusick indicated she does not think Ivins City has the option of changing the declaration. She would approve it as is and would not support Council Member Roberts changes as suggested. Council Member Jolley stated that with the exception of the first Whereas, he agrees with the other suggestions that Council Member Roberts made. With the declarations intent he would support the declaration and would like to see Council Member Roberts suggestions passed on. Council Member Elwell agreed with Council Member Jolley. Judy Gubler indicated the entity that sent the declaration is looking for support as it has been presented and not Ivins City’s own declaration. The Council can support it as is or with the changes that have been suggested. Council Member Roberts stated he is willing to forego striking the first Whereas paragraph if the City can submit something with the City’s intent on the other two issues and promote Ivins view of the declaration. Mayor Hart indicated that if the City responds to the declaration with the added Whereas paragraphs as Council Member Roberts has suggested, that would be reviewed by the interested parties and may be rejected. Council Member Roberts repeated the Whereas clauses identified above that he would like included in the declaration. Council Member Rusick stated those Whereas clauses are a partisan political statement that Ivins City as a non-partisan body should definitely avoid. Council Member Roberts disagreed with Council Member Rusick. Mayor Hart referred to the declaration and indicated he does not see anything in the document that promotes federal or state funding. Judy Gubler stated that what Council Member Roberts is saying as far as federal funding is worthy of a discussion because Ivins City has discussed obtaining federal funding for a CNG station in Ivins. If that’s an issue, the City needs to be sure they are all on the same page. The entity that the City would be pursuing obtaining federal funds for the station is the entity identified in the declaration. She doubts the City would be able to obtain a CNG station in Ivins without receiving federal funds.
MOTION: Council Member Jolley moved to approve the Declaration of Alternative Fuel Vehicle Awareness Month as it is presented in the example, based on the intent of the example, also adding the word "foreign" to the third (3rd) Whereas to indicate foreign oil
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 |
Council Member Elwell requested the Minutes be removed from the Consent Agenda.
| A. |
Approval of expenditure for streets pavement maintenance |
| B. |
Appointment of Poll Workers and alternate Poll Workers for the November 8, 2011 Municipal General Election |
MOTION: Council Member McDonald moved to approve Consent Agenda items A and B
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 |
Council Member Elwell wanted to bring his concern up with the Council first to discuss and if additional information in the minutes is not necessary, it won’t be put in the minutes. He is remembering over the years the admonitions that when the Council takes action with zoning ordinances and the like that there be evidence on the record, that information that caused the Council to take action as they did, to avoid any challenge of arbitrary and capricious and for citizens to understand how and why the Council made their decision. At the previous City Council meeting, Council Member Elwell asked three (3) specific questions regarding agenda item 4)D "Discuss and Consider approval or denial of the Planning Commission’s recommendation to deny a proposed amendment to Ivins City Code, Zoning Regulations Title 16 Chapter 12, Section 104(4)(b), (limitations on height, size and location of garages and other accessory buildings in residential zones). The first question was 1) what was the problem the current ordinance was trying to address, which was answered; 2) addressing the problem, was the remedy appropriate for all size of lots, which was answered and 3) could the remedy be amended and more fairly applied to varied lot sizes and still accomplish the original intent or purpose. He asked those questions so it would be clear that what the City was looking at was an application or a change to a zoning ordinance that had been put in place for a specific purpose and it was Council Member Elwell’s feeling that the City could amend the ordinance and still maintain the original remedy for what the egregious problem was, that being trying to build an accessory building or garage twice the size of the footprint of a home. Dale Coulam indicated he recalls those three (3) questions and it would be beneficial to add those to the minutes. Council Member Elwell referred to page three (3), line three (3) and requested the word "telephonic" be included before the word "conversation". He indicated he did not go out to the property in question because he wanted his decision to be based solely on a review of the ordinance as applied City wide and not relative to what somebody may or may not be trying to do with an individual piece of property.
MOTION: Council Member Elwell moved to approve the Meeting Minutes for September 29, 2011 as amended
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 |
Council Member Roberts - no report
Council Member Rusick reported that she and Mayor Hart attended the ribbon cutting ceremony on the Shivwits Indian Reservation for the gymnasium. It was a delightful couple of hours. There was a parade, dancers and a drum circle. The Council needs to stay aware of the needs of the Shivwits Indian tribe. The tribe was unable to build a larger gymnasium or place bleachers on both sides of the gymnasium due to the costs. She has arranged for private contributions to assist with installing bleachers on the other side of the gymnasium. At the invitation of INKAS (Ivins No Kill Animal Supporters), she attended a meeting of various animal support groups in the area with a woman by the name of Lezlie Sage with Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. INKAS was represented as was FIAS (Friends of Ivins Animal Shelter), PAWS (Providing Animals With Support) and several other animal groups. Ivins animal shelter manager Aggie Smith and two people from Arizona who rescue burros were also in attendance. She was impressed by how dedicated all of the people are also by how overwhelming the animal problem is starting to be, primarily due to people not spaying or neutering their animals. She suggested the City Council think about enforcing by regulation that individuals be required to spay or neuter their animals. If it would be a financial hardship, there are groups that will assist with the costs for spaying and neutering. The regulation wouldn’t apply to licensed breeders.
Council Member Jolley referred to an incident in Davis County, Utah where Spice was outlawed but the sellers were able to get around the law based on the verbiage of the particular ordinance where the synthetic materials or ingredients were not included in the ordinance. He inquired if that is something Ivins needs to be concerned about. Dale Coulam indicated there will always be a way around the law when you are dealing with chemical compounds. Until the City can identify the specific chemical compounds, it is difficult to address them in an ordinance. Council Member Roberts suggested restricting the age of individuals entering a shop or requiring the shop to be so many feet away from schools. Dale Coulam will look into those options.
Council Member McDonald reported there are between six (6) and twelve (12) methane pipes burning at the landfill to burn off the methane produced by the landfill. The original plan was to recycle the methane and use it for fuel in vehicles but the expense to do that is too costly and would exceed the cost of regular fuel.
Council Member Elwell reported on the St. George Wagon train. The play that was written and put on by Nonie Sorenson was outstanding and there was a group of five (5) or six (6) individuals who are descendants of Ivins founding settler Anthony W. Ivins in attendance. He thanked Mayor Hart and indicated Ivins involvement in the Wagon train showed Ivins in a fantastic light.
Mayor Hart reported he met with Mayor McArthur of St. George City and Mayor McArthur expressed how appreciative he and the City of St. George were for what Ivins City did for them with the Wagon train event. Mayor Hart offered a special thanks to the Ivins LDS Stake who on behalf of the City, prepared an incredible meal for approximately 300 people. Mayor Hart referred to a model of the proposed Veterans Memorial Monument and indicated there is a group primarily from the Kayenta Art Village that is raising funds for the monument to be constructed. There will be a fund raising gala on Saturday, October 22, 2011 and all proceeds will benefit the construction of the monument.
Judy Gubler provided written updates to the Council on follow-up items from the City Council meetings in September. A copy of the written reports are available by request through Ivins City Hall. She requested direction from the Council regarding the requirement of shade for horses and/or cattle. The Mayor and Council agreed that issue should be reviewed and requested an assessment/opinion from an appropriate professional prior to it being a discussion item on an agenda. Judy referred to a report provided by Parks and Recreation Director Benny Sorensen regarding a trail in Abby Gail Park. A copy of the report is available by request through Ivins City Hall. Council Member Elwell indicated he would like to see an agenda item relative to the trail in Abby Gail Park and the progress with the HCAC all surface trail. Judy Gubler stated the City would be looking at the Parks and Trails Master Plan. Judy reminded the Council there will be two candidate forums, one presented by The Spectrum on Thursday, October 27, 2011 at Red Mountain Elementary from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and on Saturday, October 29, 2011 presented by Kayenta residents at the Coyote Gulch Art Village in Kayenta, beginning at 10:30 a.m. Notice of these forums have been posted at City Hall and on the Ivins City website.
No report
Council Member Jolley would like to discuss options and alternatives to Rocky Mountain Power for electricity in Ivins.