All present included Mayor Hart,
Council Member Elwell,
Council Member McDonald,
Council Member Mendenhall,
Council Member Roberts,
Council Member Densley,
and
City Recorder Kari D. Jimenez.
STAFF:
Parks and Recreation Director Benny Sorensen,
Public Safety Director Bob Flowers,
and
City Manager/Attorney Dale Coulam.
EXCUSED: None.
Audience: Kenneth Anderson, Claudette Larsen, Jenny Johnson, Lisa Rutherford, Dennis Mehr, Kathy Barth, Rich Bryant, Fletcher Shives, George Stoddard, Tracey Welsh, Matt Marten 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.
Presentation
Celeste Maloy with the Washington County Attorneys Office is a Deputy County Attorney and provided a PowerPoint presentation to the City Council. A copy of the PowerPoint is available by request through Ivins City Hall. The County would like the BLM to adopt Alternative A to the plan because it is the least restrictive of the options and would allow for the greatest use of the lands by the public. The land can be protected for future generations with Alternative A while allowing for recreational, environmental and agriculture needs. The County feels that the current BLM draft plan fails to balance the uses in any of the other alternatives. The County is concerned with several elements of the BLM's draft plan, including reintroduction, translocation and supplemental releases of California condors into historic habitats; loss of ATV open ride area; significant restriction of recreational uses; acquiring non-federal lands with in the management area and manage those acquired lands consistent with the management prescriptions of the adjacent public lands; establishment of grazing utilization levels and grazing permits no longer being available for livestock grazing if grazing permits are voluntarily relinquished; water rights, which includes the BLM pursuing acquisition of surface and ground water rights which would affect municipal water supplies and growth, no authorization of land uses that would export water from the national conservation areas and ensure that the BLM obtains water rights on all inventoried point water sources such as springs, seeps, wells, reservoirs etc.; language regarding collaboration and cooperation with local governments has been removed; the proposed Northern Corridor route; the addition of three (3) new areas of critical environmental concern; proposed preservation of the Old Spanish Trail Corridor; changes to the Wilderness Characteristics language; eliminated recreational uses; restricting or eliminating activities when management could address concerns; firearms not allowed to be discharged in tortoise habitat except during licensed hunting and protecting paleontological or heritage sites that are projected to occur. The County would like substantive comments from the municipalities sent to the BLM regarding the draft plan because once the plan becomes final, it becomes the governing document. The County has a link on their website where individuals can submit a ready-made post card comment or can submit their own comments. The website is www.washco.utah.gov. Mayor Hart clarified that any comment made by the City Council would have to be approved by the City Council and the next City Council meeting is on October 15, 2015, which is the deadline to submit comments. The Mayor and City Council agreed to place this item on the Joint City Council and Planning Commission Special Meeting agenda and discuss it on Tuesday, October 6, 2015. Mayor Hart indicated that the draft plan consists of 1100 pages, is difficult to read and if approved, will be the regulating document for approximately 20 years and was written by two (2) people. He clarified that he spoke with Keith Rigtrup who is a co-writer of the BLM Resource Management Plan and it was explained to the Mayor by Mr. Rigtrup that Alternative B is intended to be midway between Alternative C and D, with Alternative C being the most restrictive and Alternative D being the least restrictive. Some of the concern is that there is only one option across all three alternatives which doesn't provide any alternative to choose from. Celeste Maloy stated that one of the items that the County is commenting on is that BLM's Alternatives B, C and D in 80% of the issues, are exactly the same. There's supposed to be a conservation alternative, a commodity alternative and one that is a hybrid of the two but there is no commodity alternative. Council Member Roberts inquired if staff could analyze some of the issues that would be concerns for Ivins City and then the Council could look at those when they discuss this at the joint meeting on October 6, 2015. Council Member Mendenhall suggested that if additional information is available from the BLM, that that information should be included on Ivins website with contact information, as well as what the County has provided. Mayor Hart inquired if staff could contact ranchers regarding the concerns. Dale Coulam indicated that would be asking staff to selectively chose certain individuals in the community and obtain their comments and opinions on this issue. That's not staff's role but as elected officials, the Mayor and City Council could do that. He would not be opposed to putting both the County's objections and thr BLM contact information on the website as was suggested. Council Member Densley inquired if the BLM is going to listen to the comments that are made. Mayor Hart clarified that any substantive comments will be addressed and responded to by law. Celeste Maloy stated that the State legislature passed a bill last year, requiring all of the counties to write a Resource Management Plan. Resource Management planning is currently done by the Forest Service and the BLM. They are required by Federal law to do that as well as take input from local entities and if there's a local State or County plan, that has to be integrated into their document or explain why they're not. This year all of the counties are writing a plan so that from day one when the process starts, the counties can be at the table with a plan that has public buy-in. She requested that Ivins City and its residents provide her with what Ivins City and the residents think it important to have in the Washington County's Resource Management Plan. She would like that information by the end of the year and will be back in the spring with a draft of the plan. Council Member Roberts inquired if Washington County's congressional representatives are doing anything regarding the draft BLM plan and inquired if it would help to contact them. Celeste Maloy indicated that they are and that it helps for them to hear from their constituents.
Presentation
Mike Scott provided a PowerPoint presentation to the Mayor and City Council. A copy of the presentation is available by request through Ivins City Hall. He stated that in late 2013 the Kayenta Arts Foundation (KAF) asked the City to partner with KAF for the purpose of submitting an Our Town Grant to the National Endowment for the Arts and the City Council authorized that partnership. Based on this, it was recommended that Ivins create an Arts Master Plan from which any grant applications would flow. The National Endowment of the Arts looks for support and integration within the community and an Arts Master Plan does that. In May, 2015 Mayor Hart appointed nine (9) individuals to form an Arts Master Plan committee and they met every two (2) weeks between June and August and in between the meetings, the members had assignments. The committee created an Arts Master Plan, recommendations for implementing the plan and a sample ordinance. The committee members included Jan Bush representing the community, Jeff Fisher representing Tuacahn, Roger Head representing the community, Judith Kapuscinski representing the Kayenta Arts Foundation, Matt Marten representing Kayenta Arts Village, Lesley Mendenhall representing the Ivins City Council, Cherrie Stoddard representing Gallery 873 in Kayenta, Rosanna Weeks representing Tuacahn High School and Mike Scott representing the Planning Commission. The mission of the Arts Master Plan is to encourage, foster and promote arts and cultural organizations, arts related activities and artists and to identify arts-related funding opportunities to enrich the quality of life in Ivins City. The committee recommended that an Arts Commission be formed and consist of 5-7 member that are appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the City Council. They recommended that the majority of the members be residents of Ivins, have experience in the arts and arts organizations, serve no more than 3 consecutive 2 year terms, members would recuse themselves from voting on recommendations in which they are involved, they would elect a Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary annually and meetings would be open to the public with minutes taken. The role of the Arts Commission is as a recommending body only, providing recommendations to the City Council. Mayor Hart indicated that the next step would be to bring this forward to the City Council if the Council would like to discuss it. Council Member Mendenhall inquired if it would be possible to have a discussion regarding this on the next City Council agenda. Mike Scott stated that the Planning Commission will be holding a Public Hearing on this at their next meeting on October 13, 2015. Dale Coulam clarified that that the Council could discuss it but that it would be too soon for the Public Hearing and that the Public Hearing on this before the City Council would likely be on the first meeting in November. Discussion regarding this will be on the next City Council agenda.
Parks and Rec Report
Public Safety Report
Mayor Hart indicated that Benny Sorensen was excused but provided a written report prior to the meeting. A copy of the report is available by request through Ivins City Hall.
Bob Flowers provided a written report, a copy of which is available by request through Ivins City Hall. Council Member McDonald referred to the EMS portion of the report and inquired what the difference was in medic 121 and medic 122 calls. Bob Flowers clarified that those are vehicles and one is a backup for the primary vehicle. Council Member Roberts referred to agenda item 5)A regarding the road condition on 200 South near SunCrest West and inquired if he has looked at that regarding safety concerns. Bob Flowers stated he had not been asked to review that. Dale Coulam clarified that a citizen brought that issue up and it was placed on tonight's agenda and that Chuck Gillette has shown a sidewalk on the south side because there's no room on the north side for a sidewalk.
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Planning Commission Report |
No report. There was no meeting held on September 29, 2015.
Council Member Mendenhall reported that her home sold and the Oct 15, 2015 City Council meeting may be her last meeting.
Council Member McDonald reported that a constituent asked him to hand out information regarding recycling. A copy of the information is available by request through Ivins City Hall. Council Member McDonald felt that he could find a completely opposite view or study and the constituent understood that.
Council Member Elwell - no report
Council Member Roberts reported that the American Legion Post 711 is sponsoring a Meet the Candidates Night on October 27, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. at the Southern Utah Veterans home.
Council Member Densley reported that he thought Heritage Days went very well.
Mayor Hart invited Jenny Johnson to the podium to report on Heritage Days. Jenny Johnson reported that Heritage Days is improving every year. The Heritage Days committee has decided to cut an hour off of the events next year and end at 2:00 p.m. instead of 3:00 p.m. She's excited about the parade for next year because this year they had to compete with the Dixie Roundup Rodeo parade that was held at the exact same time. Next year they intend to add to the parade route and incorporate the street by the Veteran's home. There's always room for improvement and they intend to look at seating near the entertainment area and shading over the asphalt area. Mayor Hart inquired if she found that they needed more money to promote Heritage Days. Jenny Johnson stated absolutely. Mayor Hart indicated that he went down to Swiss Days in Santa Clara and saw what the potential is for Heritage Days. Jenny Johnson agreed and stated that they would like to keep it geared to the community and not focus as much on income and gear a lot of it to Swiss Days ideas. The soap box derby could be more amazing if word got out to more people about that. The Mayor and City Council conveyed their thanks to the committee.
Mayor Hart reported that he was approached by an individual asking what it would take to name the park that will be in the Desert Rose development, after their deceased granddaughter who was accidentally killed after a car backed over her. The City doesn't have a policy regarding that and typically when someones name goes on anything, it's because the family donated the land for the park; he suggested for a possibility could be if the playground equipment was donated. He inquired if the Council would like to discuss this on a future City Council agenda. The City Council agreed. He reported that Family Dollar is now open and there will be a grand opening in a week.
Dale Coulam reported that he attended the CIB (Community Impact Board) funding meeting. They were very fiscally conservative and had to cut millions from what was going to be funded although Ivins' request for a matching grant went through without any problem. He reported that Wally Ritchie has obtained the CAFR (Comprehensive Annual Financial Report) award from the GFOA (Government Finance Officers Association), the PAFR (Popular Annual Financial Report) award as well as the Budget award from the same association. He stated that while he was at the City Managers conference, he attended a course regarding software to assist with financial trends analyses. Previously those have been done by staff manually and have taken a lot of time but the financial transparency is worth the effort. He referred to the Council requesting that he research and report back to them regarding residency requirements for department heads. He looked into other cities and reported that within Washington County, the City of St. George is the only municipality that requires their department heads to live in St. George. In the metropolitan areas statewide, there was generally no residency requirement or there were a few that were required to live within a 30 minute response time. In rural areas, they require their department heads to live in the municipality. This item will come forward on a future City Council agenda. He referred to the Tuacahn/Center Street center piece and stated that it's completion has been delayed and there's a real likelihood that it will not be done until late winter or early spring. He reported that there will be an agenda item on the next City Council meeting agenda regarding Wayfinding signs in Kayenta. There is a group of residents that represent a total of five (5) properties on or near Paiute Drive, which is a shorter, more direct route to Coyote Gulch, who want a couple of the signs removed. There will also likely be a presentation of the draft Storm Water Masterplan on the next City Council agenda. The City has published a second notice of intent to do all of the studies which is required by law and RFP's (Request for Proposals) will be going out in the next week or two. Mayor Hart referred to the sculpture progress and indicated that when the presentation was made, there was a business partner and partway along there was a parting of the ways. The partner delivered to the foundry a number of pieces that had been delivered prematurely. The artist picked some of those pieces back up to make sure they fit properly. The pieces have also evolved from how they appeared when they went to the foundry the first time and how they appear now. What is going to be delivered to Ivins will likely have an appraised value between $450,000-$750,000.
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Items to be placed on future agendas |