Mayor Hart stated that when the City Council appointed the Grand Marshal for 2014, Chris Blake was a suggestion. He read Resolution No. 2015-19R, appointing Chris Blake as the 2015 Heritage Days Parade Grand Marshal. A copy of the Resolution is available by request through Ivins City Hall. Council Member Roberts inquired if the parade was going to be turned over to a private entity like the Historical Society to control parade entries. Dale Coulam indicated it would be eventually. Jenny Johnson with the Ivins Historical Society stated they are in the process of obtaining 501(c)(3) non-profit status and expect to have that done by this time next year. Dale Coulam suggested the City look into how the Days of 47 Parade operates and how they select their Grand Marshal.
MOTION: Council Member Elwell moved to approve Resolution No. 2015-19R, a Resolution of Ivins City, Utah, appointing a Grand Marshal for the 2015 Heritage Days Parade
SECOND: Council Member Roberts
VOTE: The motion carried unanimously.
| Council Member Elwell |
AYE |
| Council Member McDonald |
AYE |
| Council Member Mendenhall |
AYE |
| Council Member Roberts |
AYE |
| Council Member Densley |
AYE |
Roll call vote. All Council Members voted in favor.
Ordinance 2015-11 re Land Use Plan w map
2008-07-10 General Plan Adopted 2008
2008 Map Land Use Plan Figure 1
2008 Map-Storm Water Course Figure 2
2008 Map-Roadways Figure 3
2008 Map-Parks and Trails Figure 4
2008 Map-Expansion Annexation
Revised General Plan as of 7-30-15
Mayor Hart and the City Council Members discussed several changes to the General Plan and agreed to include language provided by Mayor Hart, a copy of which is available by request through Ivins City Hall. They also agreed to the following changes/additions: add page numbers to the document; soften the use of the word "resort destination" and re-evaluate that in the future; change the words "scenic views" to "vistas"; include Red Mountain Elementary as a STEAM school and clarify when it opened; clarify the reference to the Tobler residence doubling as a school; include the correct name for the Movara resort; change the words "religious leader" to "ecclesiastical leader"; add the word "hospitality" to the bullet point under "The Community's Vision for the Future" section add a bullet point with a parenthetical regarding roundabouts so that it reads "Require roundabouts at major intersections (anything requiring traffic controls more than a four-way stop)"; a sentence making referenced to Ivins Reservoir and a recreation center under Goal 9 Recreation; change the reference from Special Improvement District (SID) to Special Assessment Area (SAA); include language from the previous General Plan regarding Kayenta Water; include language regarding water conservation with something that indicates that existing residents would be treated fairly as it relates to water conservation; add the words "for the arts" under Arts and Culture Goal 15 so it reads "Seek public and private funding for the arts."; under "Red Cliffs Desert Reserve", note that Ivins City is the only City in Washington County to sign on as a managing partner; include another category or something similar to encourage the use of low impact, alternate energy source vehicles under the "Air Quality" section, as well as a sentence to the effect that the City would continue to develop renewable energy resources within the City as part of City operation; under "Municipal Campus and Public Square" state "Currently our City Hall, Fire Station and City Park are located on this block as well. Change the word "Roadway" to "Transportation"; and include water conservation strategies and policies referenced previously, add that as a bullet point under "Water" as well. The Mayor and Dale Coulam will finalize the General Plan with the additional changes.
MOTION: Council Member Roberts moved to continue the discussion on the General Plan until the next City Council meeting
SECOND: Council Member McDonald
VOTE: The motion carried unanimously.
| Council Member Elwell |
AYE |
| Council Member McDonald |
AYE |
| Council Member Mendenhall |
AYE |
| Council Member Roberts |
AYE |
| Council Member Densley |
AYE |
Documents re curbside residential recycling collection agreement
Dale Coulam indicated that the documents the Council have for review were provided by Fay Reber who is the Attorney for the Washington County Solid Waste District. The Council needs to discuss whether they are going to participate and if so, which option are they going to participate in, the opt-out option or the mandatory option. Once that decision is made, that will determine which version of the ordinance will be brought forward for final action. Council Member McDonald clarified that approving this agenda item does not finalize the whole thing. There are still other processes that have to be approved. The District needs to know if they're going to have 50% of the County participate. If that participation isn't achieved, the curbside recycling issue is done. Council Member Densley inquired how the City of St. George is handling the opt-out option. Neil Schwendiman clarified that the St. George City Council is considering to approve at their meeting tonight, ordinance establishing the opt out rules that includes a one-time 60 day opt out option for existing residents. Council Member McDonald referred to the anticipated cost to administer the opt out program being .18 cents per home. Neil Schwendiman clarified that the City of St. George knows it's going to be more than that but have only chosen to add a cost of .18 cents per home. Council Member Elwell stated he had the mindset to vote "no". He indicated the Council Member McDonald did a great job explaining the future costs to the environment and wallet if they do not address the landfill and recycling issue. If the City is going to participate, they should go with the mandatory option because it should be least costly to the tax payer over the long haul. A caveat however, if this is done fairly, and he didn't think this proposal met the fairness test, while he agreed with the need to recycle, the opt out feature and associated cost structure causes sufficient consternation and he didn't feel that the City should move forward with it at this time. He was concerned that the participation percentages are based on an overall calculation and are not relative to the participation level of individual cities. He was also concerned with the cost of the administration fee for an opt out program and felt that cities requiring mandatory participation would in essence be subsidizing entities who chose the opt out program. He felt that with St. George City selecting the opt out feature, that practically guarantees a failure to attain a minimum 50% participation level unless surrounding small cities select the mandatory feature; the offered cost structure would financially punish cities opting for mandatory participation. It's possible that a 70% participation may be achieved before St. George ever reached 50%, yet St. George would benefit by receiving the lower rate. The additional costs are a penalty to the citizens and will have to be born by the tax payer. Until St. George gets serious about this environmental problem or the District eliminates the penalty for cities willing to step up and address a difficult stewardship/environmental issue, he did not want to move forward with this. He also inquired as to what happens when the contract with Dixie Waste expires in five (5) years. Neil Schwendiman indicated the program will be evaluated and based on that, they'll make a determinations about the program. The current market is $5.00 per ton to process the material curbside but as the markets climb, the District will be able to offer money back to the City. The District currently pays $15.94 a ton to bury the material so there is substantial savings to recycle and it prolongs the use of the landfill. The Washington County Solid Waste District has some of the best rates in the State. Someone may look at Cedar City and say they're only $10.00 a month but that's for one (1) can to be picked up and landfilled every week. The Districts $10.65 pays for the binnie program, household hazardous waste program, electronic waste recycling, two (2) cans, bins for City cleanup and bulky waste service. No one is going to find those type of services anywhere in the State for that price. He clarified that if Ivins doesn't participate at all, Ivins' numbers could potentially benefit St. George because those numbers aren't calculated in the percentage rate because they're only calculating the percentage rate based on participating cities and he thinks that St. George will be around 60% participation. He would be surprised if they were under 50%. Dale Coulam inquired if Ivins doesn't enter into the agreement, would the binnie program remain status quo with the money from the program going to Ivins. Neil Schwendiman stated "yes" and in cities that choose the mandatory program, he would be able to utilize those binnies elsewhere. Council Member Densley inquired if there is any opportunity for the City to poll the citizens on this issue. Council Member McDonald clarified there wouldn't be enough time because the District needs to know before October 31, 2015. Mayor Hart indicated for the record that he believes it was completely inappropriate for Councilman Hughes to have participated in any discussion having to do with contracts. Had that discussion taken place in a City Council like this (Ivins) there would have been a recusal required there and in a recent newspaper article, others have voiced concern about that. He didn't know if a recusal would have changed the course of things but that to him was a violation of ethics. That being said, most of the emails the Mayor has received have been supportive of Ivins choosing the mandatory option. Some residents are concerned with the additional cost because they live on a fixed income. Mayor Hart inquired if the City can set up a Good Samaritan Fund, similar to what it did through Five Counties when the SAA (Special Assessment Area) project was done or some type of fund where Ivins could add .02 cents per month to the bill and that money would go into the fund to help those who could not pay. Dale Coulam stated he did not think that could be done legally because the Good Samaritan Fund was voluntary. Council Member Roberts indicated that if recycling is going to be required in the future and if Ivins participates now at a lower rate, avoid the administrative fee associated with managing an opt-out program, he would support the mandatory program to keep the rates down. Council Member Densley liked the idea of setting up a fund to help those who cannot pay the fee he'd support the mandatory program. Council Member McDonald clarified that it costs more to pick up trash in Ivins than it does in St. George or pick up trash in Enterprise than it does in Ivins, but everyone pays the same rate so subsidizing already occurs with the current solid waste program. The District board went a direction that he thought was unwise and the board was approached by someone who gave them a story that clouded their judgment. He views everything he does as trying to run a business and do it effectively, efficiently and with as little cost as possible. The direction the board went was because they were swayed and talked into it. From a business standpoint, the best option was to use Republic Waste because they currently handle the trash service and they were doing a pilot program of the recycling program to get it going for the District, at their own expense. In the end, Council Member McDonald was the only dissenting vote. The Executive Board was following what the full board had decided on and because of the discussion that happened between the time that it was approved and the time that the board made their recommendation, there was a group running around to every board member, having a discussion with them and saying why they (Dixie) was the best option. The recommendation of the Executive Board was to go with Republic Waste and when the board made that recommendation, there was an angry group and at the next meeting, the board feared making a decision because of what occurred at the previous meeting when they made their recommendation for Republic Waste. Dixie Waste has constantly been concerned with their growing pains and Council Member McDonald told them over and over that was their problem and not the District's. Neil Schwendiman referred to the Council Members' concern regarding residents who may have financial constraints and stated that there was a hardship clause in the proposed ordinance to address those who cannot pay. Mayor Hart inquired of Wally Ritchie had a feel for what administrative costs would be associated with an opt out program. Wally Ritchie stated the number he heard for St. George was approximately .24 to .25 cents per household as their true cost but Ivins hasn't examined the costs because the scenarios are different due to population and the number of households. If the program is mandatory, Ivins would not have to hire staff to keep track of who is in the program and who is not. Dale Coulam clarified that Ivins would need to hire a part-time person. Regarding formally adopting an agreement or ordinance, it would be his recommendation that they not do that tonight. This is the first formal discussion the Council has had about the specifics and had a representative present to answer questions. It would behoove the Council to take the time to study this but it would be helpful for the Council to provide a preliminary indication as to whether the Council is leaning towards a mandatory program or an opt out program so that he can format the appropriate ordinance. It would be premature to adopt the ordinance tonight and suggested this be on the next City Council agenda. Council Member McDonald fought hard to get costs down as low as he could and having studied this issue and seeing the benefits, he felt it was the City Council's job to look beyond and what is in the best interest of each and every resident is to participate, although he knows that's not realistic. To be good stewards of the land that we have and this area and for the long term savings, he recommended to the City Council that they participate in a mandatory program. He also agreed with a voluntary hardship program as well as a hardship clause. Council Member Elwell clarified that he was not on the fence between the opt out or the mandatory program. If Ivins participates, it should be with the mandatory program and if that's the best in the overall interest, he agreed with participating. He also liked the voluntary hardship program. Council Member Mendenhall thought the City should participate in the mandatory program. Council Member Roberts indicated participating in a mandatory program was the smartest thing to do at this point. Council Member Densley agreed to participate in a mandatory program that has a hardship option. Dale Coulam stated that he quickly reviewed the documents and did not see the hardship clause in the contract or in the ordinance for the mandatory program. It is only contained in the ordinance for the opt out program. Neil Schwendiman indicated that favors including that in the ordinance for the mandatory program. The Mayor and City Council agreed to participate in a mandatory program with a hardship provision and the use of something like the Five County Association of Governments hardship thresholds. Neil Schwendiman indicated that the Solid Waste District has created a tool kit to help cities kick this off and they will be meeting with City staff to show them the information that contains mailers and similar. More information is available at bluecan.org.