City Council

Copy of the City of Ivins record for City Council, preserved by OwnUtah.com Ivins Meetings. Official source: City of Ivins Granicus archive.

CITY COUNCIL
MINUTES
January 19, 2012

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 Roberts, and Council Member Densley.
STAFF: City Manager Judy Gubler, City Attorney Dale Coulam, Building and Zoning Administrator Kevin Rudd, Director of Public Works Dave Glenn, City Engineer Chuck Gillette, and Deputy City Recorder Martha Wilson.
EXCUSED: Council Member Mendenhall

Audience: Adrian Meyer, Jessica Havard, Phil Moulton, James Sullivan, Angelo DiSante, Jenny Johnson, Barbara Rusick, Lance Anderson, Sarah Nitta and others who did not sign in.

Mayor Hart indicated that Council Member Mendenhall was excused.

Boy Scout Troop number 1824 led the Flag Salute

Council Member Roberts led the Invocation

Council Member Roberts disclosed that he is a property owner residing in the Special Assessment Area (SAA) as it relates to agenda item 5)B. There were no other disclosures or conflicts of interest with items on this meeting's agenda.

Phil Moulton stated Ivins would be a great area for a disc golf course. There are over 3,000 established disc golf courses in United States. Anyone can play and it is easy to learn. The discs cost between $5.00 and $15.00. Disc golf is a game that individuals play, throwing a disc to the basket and is growing in popularity. There are 18 disc golf courses throughout the State of Utah and the closest one to Ivins is in Brian Head. He suggested Abby Gail Park in Ivins located off of Snow Canyon Parkway and Tuacahn Drive would be a perfect location for a disc golf course. The approximate cost to build an average nine (9) hole disc golf course is $18,000. He indicated he could have it built for $9,400 and would require very little maintenance. It would be a benefit for Ivins to have the disc golf course at Abby Gail Park and it would be nice for Ivins to have the first disc golf course in Washington County.

Kevin Rudd reported there have been three (3) single family building permits issued for the first of the year. There are also three (3) subdivision applications that have been submitted and are going through the process. The following are total building permits issued in the respective year: 2011 - 76; 2010 - 47; 2009 - 33; and 2008 - approximately 80.

Dave Glenn reported the City is currently advertising for bids for the Center Street and Tuacahn Drive roundabout project. The bid award meeting will be in February 2012 and then a recommendation to approve will go forward to the City Council. The MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organization) has funded a regional transit study that is in draft form. Once it is in final form he will provide a copy to the City Council for review. The City of St. George’s SunTran transportation service has grown over the last several years and there is some interest to expand the service to other communities. Funding options for the expansion are being explored and more information should be available in a couple of months. Ivins has been crack sealing Center Street in anticipation of the slurry seal which will likely begin in March. The Transportation Expo will be on February 7, 2012 from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. The City has a booth every other year and will not have a booth this year but some of Ivins staff will attend the expo. Council Member Densley inquired what the possibility is of SunTran expanding to Ivins and what should Ivins be doing to encourage that. Dave Glenn indicated one of the recommendations that came from the study is the recommendation for an Interlocal Agreement between Ivins and the City of St. George but there are costs involved with that. St. George receives a lot of funds from the government to run SunTran but they have not been able to utilize all of those funds because they have not had the matching funds. If there were other communities participating they would be able to use the funds and expand SunTran. Mayor Hart stated that approximately one (1) year ago staff conducted a needs survey, determined what the potential use would be in Ivins and worked through what the cost would be to the City to have SunTran expand into Ivins. The cost was over $250,000 and at that time it wasn’t feasible for the City to do that.

Chairman Reed reported the Planning Commission discussed the free annual zoning amendment requests. There are five (5) requests and the Planning Commission gave direction to proceed with all requests and directed staff to prepare language for the Planning Commission’s review. After approval of the language, one (1) or two (2) Public Hearings will be scheduled. It may be possible to hear the requests in one (1) Public Hearing to save on costs but the Planning Commission wants to make sure each applicant receives a fair hearing. The Planning Commission continues to work on re-writing Chapter 19 of Ivins Zoning Ordinance.

Mayor Hart indicated a Mayor Pro Tem needs to be designated to conduct the meetings in the Mayor’s absence. He recommended Council Member McDonald serve as Mayor Pro Tem. There were no other nominations and the other City Council Members were in favor.

3)	PUBLIC HEARING AND ACTION ITEMS - NONE

4)	CITIZEN COMMENT & REQUEST FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS - NONE

Judy Gubler provided a list of Special Events/Activities and on-going recreation programs in 2011 to the City Council.  A copy of the list is available by request through Ivins City Hall. She indicated that representatives from the ITC (Ivins Tourism Council), The Biggest Loser, Tuacahn and Red Mountain Spa are present.  The City is involved in these activities in varying degrees.  Some of the major events that are held in Ivins are: Art in Kayenta, Saturday Market, Huntsman World Senior Games, Ironman Fitness Festival, Pioneer Day Celebration, Easter Egg Hunt and baseball and softball tournaments.  Special Event permits are reviewed by staff to coordinate traffic control, possible EMS standby, barricades, parking and similar issues. In looking at all of the events, she proposed the Council discuss the possibility of funding some of the major events by submitting a grant application to help the major events grow. Judy Gubler indicated Council Member Mendenhall could be of great help in this area because she served on the Utah Arts Council and that Council reviewed applications for funding. Judy referred to the Fitness Festival and Heritage Days.  Regarding Ivins Fitness Festival that is held in conjunction with the Ironman, she spoke with Tracey at the Ivins Tourism Council and with Kevin Lewis at the Washington County Tourism Association, it was felt there should be more focus on the race and observing the participants. Benny Sorensen’s thought was to bring the activities closer to the participants and to the viewing area.  It is important to the Ironman that the Ironman participants also feel the energy and activity from the festival and to be cheered on. It’s been suggested that Ivins place more seating in the viewing area, arrangements have been made for shade, a big screen that will stream the Ironman feed and arrangements are being made for the sale of Ironman merchandise at the Fitness Festival. Regarding Heritage Days, Tuacahn approached the City about combining the Heritage Days Arts & Craft Festival with the Tuacahn Saturday Market. The other option that was discussed by Mayor Hart was to change the Heritage Arts & Crafts Festival back to the Harvest Moon Festival where Kayenta may also participate in that.
Mayor Hart thanked the Ivins Tourism Council and representatives from Red Mountain Spa and The Biggest Loser for being present at the meeting and gave them the opportunity to voice their opinion. He indicated that Ivins is a destination community and need to have reasons for people to come to Ivins.
Tracey Welsh, the General Manager of Red Mountain Resort and President of the Ivins Tourism Council indicated that for Ivins festivals to be economic tools they need to be stepped up a notch. The Fitness Festival and Ironman are conflicting and it is hard to compete with Ironman.  She suggested the possibility of the Fitness Festival taking place at a different time where the City applies for a grant, brings in a big band and the festival is held at Tuacahn, Kayenta or some other venue. The City has done a great job in the past but if the City can focus its energies around one (1) or two (2) great events in the upcoming years, she can see those being a reason for people from the Wasatch Front or Las Vegas to spend a weekend in the Ivins area.
Sarah Nitta, a former Biggest Loser contestant and now employee of The Biggest Loser Resort in Marketing and Social Media and Motivational Speaking, stated that during the week of Ivins Fitness Festival, that week is already booked due to the prior years Fitness Festivals. She thinks they are getting return guests because of the exposure from the Ivins Fitness Festival. She agreed that the Ironman and the Fitness Festival may need to be held separately but as far as The Biggest Loser and Ivins Fitness Festival, the festival is a big thing.  The festival is talked about a lot online and is popular with The Biggest Losers potential guests.  Mayor Hart indicated if he could point to one thing that has made the Ivins Fitness Festival extra special is it’s been the fact that people can talk to the Biggest Loser contestants.
Kevin Smith stated that Tuacahn had a joint race with The Biggest Loser Resort that was fairly successful. A lot more people are asking if they can be a part of Saturday Market.  Tuacahn would love to have events at their facilities on Saturdays anytime between March and December and they can generally make it work. There are a few events that may conflict but those could be worked out.  Benny Sorensen indicated he agreed that the City needs to focus more on the Ironman event itself. The organizers want to see people viewing, cheering on the participants and appreciating the event. If the participants are happy, they will likely come back. Currently the Ironman event is the reason Ivins holds the Fitness Festival.  Mayor Hart indicated the City needs to be proactive in promoting events held in Ivins. Council Member McDonald inquired what Kayenta’s view was on events in Ivins. Lance Anderson referred to Heritage Days or the Harvest Moon Festival and stated that whatever is best for the City as far as where the event(s) would be held, Kayenta would support that. Benny Sorensen agreed and indicated the goal is to attract people to Ivins and the City is open to whatever works best. The City also needs to make the citizens more aware of what’s going on in the community because there are individuals who have lived in this area all of their life and have never been to Tuacahn. It would be helpful to put the information in the newsletter for the residents so they are aware of the events that are going on. Mayor Hart asked the Ivins Tourism Council to provide the City with dates and information so that the City can mention those or have a calendar of activities to provide to the residents.

Council Member Roberts referred to Heritage Days and indicated he wouldn’t be opposed to separating the arts from that. He has a concern that the City is taking the historical part of Heritage Days by moving it from the center of town at Ivins Park to Tuacahn or Kayenta. He thinks that aspect of Heritage Days should be looked into further. Mayor Hart indicated Council Member Mendenhall has a lot of experience with festivals and recommended that this discussion be continued to the next City Council meeting so that Council Member Mendenhall can provide her insight on this. The Council Members agreed.

Dale Coulam indicated the Ordinance is a formality requested by the Washington County Recorder’s Office that vacates the unused portion of the right-of-way as depicted on a map attached to the Ordinance. The step of preparing and recording a Quit Claim Deed is still required to convey the unused portion of the right-of-way to those who want it. Council Member Roberts inquired what the cost is to the property owner and the procedure for obtaining the unused portion of the right-of-way. Dale Coulam stated the cost involved would be for the property owner to have the survey done by the Engineer which is approximately $600. The City takes care of the recording. Council Member Densley inquired if the property owners know of the possibility that by obtaining the additional land that their property taxes may increase and if anyone from the City has met with the property owners. Dale Coulam stated an individual at the Assessors office has indicated that may not necessarily result in a property tax increase although a new legal description would be created for the particular parcel that includes the additional land. Judy Gubler stated obtaining the additional land is completely voluntary. A property owner can leave their property as it is and not make a change. When the City held the neighborhood meeting it was addressed and the process explained. That will also be explained in a letter that will be sent out to the property owners. The property owner will then need to come into the City and the City will walk them through the process. Most of the property owners that are interested want to build something closer to the property line than is currently allowed. With the new legal description, the property line would change as would the setback. Council Member Roberts indicated that whether or not a property owner obtains the additional property, by ordinance they are still required to maintain that property.

MOTION: Council Member McDonald moved to approve Ordinance No. 2012-01, an Ordinance of Ivins City, Utah, Vacating portions of the right-of-way within the Special Assessment Area for the Ivins Historic Township
SECOND: Council Member Elwell

VOTE: The motion carried unanimously.

Roll call vote. All Council Members present voted in favor.

Dale Coulam indicated he has incorporated the previous requested changes and highlighted the portions in the current document that Council Member Elwell requested. He has reviewed the changes with the Applicant and they are agreeable to the changes.

MOTION: Council Member Elwell moved to approve the First Amended Development Agreement for the Desert Rose Subdivision project of Ivins City, Washington County, Utah, as presented to the City Council this evening along with the revised Preliminary Plan showing changes requested by the City Council
SECOND: Council Member Roberts

VOTE: The motion carried unanimously.

Judy Gubler stated the original agreement was entered into seven (7) years ago and it has expired. It is a little unusual in that the City fronted $15,000 and then the rent and the utilities are deducted. This agreement is for a period of one (1) year and the hope is that the City will have a permanent solution at the end of the agreement. Staff recommends that the Council adopt the agreement and then work on a more permanent solution. Council Member Roberts inquired if Kayenta was interested in selling that portion of the building. Judy Gubler indicated it is currently under contract to be sold to the adjacent property owner. This is not the first location that the Ivins City Fire Department has had in Kayenta. It’s to the City’s advantage to have that equipment in that area. Council Member Densley inquired if the City will need to find a piece of property and build a building to put the fire equipment in. Judy Gubler stated the options are to find another location in the Kayenta area or somewhere that is centrally located. Staff is exploring all options. Council Member Densley inquired if there is the possibility of property being donated. Judy Gubler stated that is a possibility but then there is still the cost of the building.

MOTION: Council Member Roberts moved to approve the Lease Agreement for Kayenta Fire House
SECOND: Council Member McDonald

VOTE: The motion carried unanimously.

MOTION: Council Member McDonald moved to approve Consent Agenda item A
SECOND: Council Member Elwell

VOTE: The motion carried unanimously.

7)	CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION

Council Member Elwell - no report
Council Member McDonald - no report
Council Member Roberts reported he attended a meeting where the scouts are going to be able to use flags as a fundraising tool more then they have in the past. He feels it would be advantageous to the City to put together a citywide policy on how they can do that as far as where they can drill a hole in the curb and how they can drill the hole in the curb. Judy Gubler indicated staff can address that.
Council Member Densley reported there is a meeting on Friday, January 27, 2012 at Ivins City Hall from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. with Layton Construction to invite any local subcontractors, suppliers or anybody that wants to get involved and the like who may want to get involved with the VA hospital project. Layton Construction will have their representatives present and will be placing an ad in the paper. They are going to try and utilize as many local people as they can on the project.

Mayor Hart attended the birthday celebration for the City of St. George’s 150th birthday. It was a nice event held at the Burns Arena at Dixie State College. He attended the Economic Summit which was really worthwhile to attend. There are some positive indicators that all of the sectors are showing improvement. The corridor that is coming to Ivins is one of two strong development areas, with the other being Washington Fields. Mayor Hart was invited to attend a meeting with the other Mayors and County Commissioners to update the public on the Vision Dixie program.

Judy Gubler reported the City held the first neighborhood meeting on January 12, 2012. She, Mayor Hart and five others were in attendance. Regarding the SAA (Special Assessment Area) letter that was going to be sent out in mid-December, it was determined to wait and send that after the holidays. The City has made the first interest payment and the property owners will receive the SAA notice at the end of January, with a deadline is March 1, 2012 for payment. The property owners will have to select their option on how to pay the assessment. The interest rate is 1/4 percent less than originally quoted but the assessment amount is the same. The next neighborhood meeting will be on Thursday, January 26, 2012. There will be a closed meeting on Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 4:00 p.m.

Dale Coulam reported on an issue with the telephone system. On the day after the Martin Luther King holiday, Council Member McDonald called City Hall and let us know that the holiday greeting was playing on the day after the holiday. The City also had complaints from residents that the holiday greeting didn’t play on the actual holiday. The date itself is hard coded in the the system and an NEC Telephone Technician has to come on site and re-program the dates. The City was able to change it on that Tuesday to the regular greeting but the NEC Technician told the City the system is no longer serviceable. The City has known for several years that the system needs to be replaced because it is antiquated and parts are not available. The City has budgeted this year for a new telephone in the City Hall building. He will likely be providing a proposal to the City Council for a phone system that will tie City Hall and the Public Safety building together. He forewarned the Council that because the current phone system is not serviceable, there will not be a greeting for the President’s Day holiday.

Council Member Densely would like to discuss on a future agenda allowing commercial advertising for Ivins City businesses in the City newsletter.

9)	CLOSED MEETING - NONE

10)

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION: Council Member Densley moved to adjourn
SECOND: Council Member Elwell

VOTE: The motion carried unanimously.

The meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m.

Respectfully,

Kari D. Jimenez, CMC
City Recorder

*Deputy City Recorder Martha Wilson was in attendance at this meeting. City Recorder Kari Jimenez prepared the Minutes.

Council Member Elwell	AYE
Council Member McDonald	AYE
Council Member Roberts	AYE
Council Member Densley	AYE
Council Member Mendenhall	ABSENT