All present included Mayor Hart,
Council Member Mehr,
Council Member McDonald,
Council Member Johnson,
Council Member Elliott,
Council Member Gordhammer,
and
City Recorder Kari D. Jimenez.
STAFF:
City Manager/Attorney Dale Coulam,
Director of Finance Lane Mecham,
Building and Zoning Administrator Mike Rodriguez,
and
Public Works Director/Engineer Chuck Gillette.
EXCUSED: None.
Mayor Hart acknowledged that a Quorum was present, attending via the electronic "Zoom" platform. Mayor Hart indicated that at the end of this meeting, he will go through and acknowledge that the Council Members were still present and attended the meeting electronically.
Council Member McDonald gave the Invocation
There were no disclosures or conflicts of interest with items on this meeting's agenda.
Building Dept report
Public Works Summary of Operations
Engineering Report
Mike Rodriguez reported that March was the busiest month for issuing building permits that the City has seen in five (5) years. The inspection load has not decreased although there have only been two (2) building permits issued for the month of April and they are continuing to address code enforcement issues.
Chuck Gillette reported that he issued COVID-19 policy for his department where only one (1) staff member is working in the office and the other two are working from home and rotating. He also implemented four ten hour shifts for the Public Works field crew with one employee on-call for the 5th day. The primary activity in Public Works has been replacing water valves on 200 East. With the purchase of new equipment, they have been finding that there aren't many clogged sewer pipes in the City so there hasn't been much pipe cleaning. He reported that they closed the public dumpster service to protect staff. Chip seal will be put on the roads identified in the pavement management plan and then will be covered with a slurry seal by the end of May. The HA5 product will be put on specific roads next week and then a slurry seal done when the cape seal is done. The road on 200 West has been paved and the concrete walkway on the west side of Fire Lake Park is complete. There is an item on the Consent Agenda tonight for installation of a block wall at the Public Works yard. They intend to install a block wall on the boundary of Public Works yard and cemetery but will hold off on installing the covered parking at this time to be conservative. He referred to the Transportation Master Plan and requested that they look at dates for a joint work meeting with the City Council and Planning Commission. He requested that they be thinking about streets and Highway 91 and what they think the Highway 91 corridor should look like. He also requested that they think about wall designs. There are a lot of different subdivisions that have different wall designs and he'd like to see those be more uniform, rather than each subdivision doing their own thing. He also referred to landscaping buffer requirements and inquired if the Council thought they are enough or if the buffers are too big. A resident owns land next to Highway 91 and thinks that the required 30' landscape buffer is too much. There are some oddly shaped properties and a large buffer could be a burden for those properties. Mayor Hart requested that an email be sent out to obtain some dates that the joint meeting could be held. Council Member Mehr referred to the block wall for the Public Works yard that borders the cemetery and inquired if he was at the cemetery, what he would see in the Public Works yard. He would like to preserve that sacred space and mitigate any distractions there. Chuck Gillette indicated that the existing Public Works yard is screened by trees and the plan was to screen with trees and use covered parking with some fabric on the covered parking. When the new Public Works yard is built, the Parks and Recreation department will use the current Public Works yard and he saw the improvements as permanent improvements. He reported that they kicked off the Highway 91 design project with UDOT (Utah Department of Transportation) and a resident is willing to dedicate some land for needed right of way on 200 East to finish widening that street between 300 South and 400 South. That will be bid out and come forward in the near future. Council Member Johnson stated her concern about the dumpster situation and inquired if there was any way possible to resume that service because it would be good to have a place to take stuff and felt that it could be done in a manner that would be safe for the employees. Chuck Gillette indicated that the problem is when an employee sees someone struggling to put items into the dumpsters, they have to help them. Mayor Hart stated that the backhoe is out there anyway and inquired if the operator could stay in the backhoe and the stuff put it in the backhoe bucket and then dumped into the dumpster. Chuck Gillette indicated that they will make that happen. Mayor Hart suggested that a temporary sign be placed, indicating that the operator will not be able to assist outside of the backhoe. Council Member Mehr referred to the idea of a uniform wall along Highway 91 and liked that idea. Mayor Hart commented that there is currently a wall design that has been used on Snow Canyon Parkway and Center Street that has worked and looks good.
Lane Mecham reported that things are proceeding as they normally would. The current year's budget will likely finish out normally for the most part. He reported that the City Recorder, Human Resources Generalist and City Treasurer are working remotely from home as much as possible and only come in to the office for a few hours if needed. Mayor Hart thanked the City for making the work environment comfortable for the employees. Lane Mecham indicated that the City receives mail, payments and just about anything that would normally be walked into the lobby, through the drive-thru window.
Mike Rodriguez reported that there was one item on the agenda regarding a single amended plat for Palisades at Snow Canyon Phase 6 where six (6) lots on south side were combined into three (3) larger lots. Council Member Gordhammer inquired if the Planning Commission would be addressing agenda items regarding the lighting ordinance where sign boards would be excluded and removing gas stations as an allowed use in the resort commercial zone. Dale Coulam commented that this last Planning Commission meeting was their test electronic meeting and the Planning Commission has been moving forward with applications that the City is required to address. The City is planning on bringing the City ordinance agenda items forward to the Planning Commission in May.
Staff Report
Mayor Hart indicated that this is a system that could be used in the replacement City Hall and involves a ground loop where water comes up and is then ejected back down approximately 300 feet and the purpose is to provide a far more uniform medium for exchanging heating and cooling than air temperature. In order to verify that the proposed City Hall site is suitable, it requires boring the hole. Council Member Mehr inquired if this work is done and the City does not move forward with a new City Hall for awhile, if this test would need to be repeated. Mayor Hart stated that it would not need to be repeated because the conditions do not change. The test is essential when comes to getting the mechanical design done and is similar to a soils test.
MOTION: Council Member Gordhammer moved to approve the expenditure of $12,655 for Water Source VRF test borehole
SECOND: Council Member McDonald
VOTE: The motion carried unanimously.
| Council Member Mehr |
AYE |
| Council Member McDonald |
AYE |
| Council Member Johnson |
AYE |
| Council Member Elliott |
AYE |
| Council Member Gordhammer |
AYE |
Mayor Hart commented that all of the information he's receiving from the Governors Office, is that the State is likely going to see a fairly dramatic drop in revenues going into the next fiscal year. The City needs to be prudent about this and may want to look at having certain projects or certain pieces of equipment delayed until the City sees how things play out next year. Lane Mecham as far as property tax, the City matches the rate that the County Auditor posts for the City but they have not posted that yet so the property tax number that is in the budget currently is somewhat tentative. The property taxes take care of themselves through the County. Department Heads are looking at any expenditure that can be deferred and they are looking at only replacing staff if the position is needed. The same things were reiterated through the Utah League of Cities and Towns conference recently. Mayor Hart agreed and commented that the information the League provides is worthwhile information. The City needs to recognize that it is in an unusual position as a City because the City doesn't have much in the way of sales tax and doesn't really have much in the way of transient room tax or revenue through Tuacahn and property tax is dictated by the County. Council Member Mehr stated that the City needs to take a cautious approach and be very proactive in managing expenses and deferring where the City can because the last thing he wants to do is to come back to the community and raise taxes because they have not managed and governed appropriately. Council Member Gordhammer echoed Council Member Mehr's comments and inquired why the City receives very little revenue from Tuacahn. Mayor Hart clarified that Tuacahn is a 501(C)(3) non-profit so the only real sales tax that the City receives is through the gift shop and concession sales. Council Member Mehr added that lodging for those who are Tuacahn primarily occurs in St. George and not Ivins. Lane Mecham referred to the City property that had been under contract and stated that with the property not under contract or sold, it creates risk in the budget because the construction of the new City Hall was largely dependent on the City property selling. The City could go forward with the new City Hall where the City would obtain financing for City Hall and defer the cash for the future. The City could ask the CIB (Community Impact Board) for a $3.5 million loan and the required match from the City would be $1 million. Debt service on that loan would be approximately $220,000 per year. Mayor Hart indicated that the City wants to do the smart thing and is committed now for the design. The City had a similar situation around 2008 where the City ended up doing the township project for roughly half the price because of the economic situation. The City may determine that it's prudent to move forward with the new City Hall but he would want to talk to the contractor about the bid environment because projects are being pulled across the state and the bidding environment may be good. Dale Coulam referred to one of the teleconferences with Lt. Governor Cox where he referred to budgeting and suggested that they start with last years budget and cut from there. That is essentially what Ivins has done. The City currently has no offers on the property but that doesn't mean the City won't have one or two forthcoming. Another thing that the League discussed in the meeting is it may be a good time to leverage in this market and the CIB has indicated its willingness to delay some payments. Mayor Hart indicated that he spoke with an individual on the CIB board and as it relates to obtaining a grant, there is likely no chance of received a grant but the CIB does have a substantial lending pool and they may see the CIB's rates drop fairly significantly where a loan through the CIB may be between 1 and 1.5%. The City could apply for a loan from the CIB but nothing happens until the City secures the loan and begins withdrawing. Dale Coulam stated that the City could submit an application in June, go to the CIB meeting in July and request that the CIB suspend their rules and fund at that meeting so that the City could receive the money later this summer. Council Member Mehr inquired what CIB stands for. Lane Mecham indicated "Community Impact Board". Mayor Hart clarified that the CIB was created by the State legislature to manage revenues that come to the state through mineral and oil leases. The board has distributed grants and loans for a long time to communities, particularly those in Carbon County where there's heavy well drilling, but the CIB did pay for a new ambulance for Ivins when the western part of County was assigned to Ivins and they have also paid for series of impact fee studies. Council Member Mehr inquired if in general the City could obtain a loan from the CIB at a low rate to then pay down other debt that the City has. Lane Mecham clarified that the City could and it's called a refunding bond, which the City did in 2016. Council Member Mehr commented that he was not surprised that the offers on the City's property fell through and with all that is occurring with the COVID-19 pandemic, the City Hall project may need to be put on hold. He had a hard time with the idea of borrowing $4.5 million dollars when the City property has not been sold. The general assumption was that the City property was going to be sold, to pay for the new City Hall. He was comfortable with proceeding with the design and understood that it may be a great time to build but he needed more information to put a new City Hall on the tax payers. The project did not feel right to him at this moment in time. Mayor Hart stated that he may be right and the City would not push this if it is not the prudent thing to do. Council Member Elliott agreed with Council Member Mehr and commented that the City is in a position where they are cognizant of what the Mayor has suggested for the best possible scenario for interest rates and construction costs and mindful of what it does to the budget and what the appearance of it is to the residents. She inquired as to the process and if the loan could be pre-paid. That would be a factor for her. Lane Mecham indicated that the City could get callable features through a bank and pay it off but those are additional costs because investors are investing in those bonds for a reason and that might require a higher interest rate through a bank but as far as a loan from CIB, he did not think there were any restrictions on that. Council Member Elliott inquired if there was a scenario where they open an application or apply once a year. Lane Mecham clarified that the process begins a year in advance where the City has to put together a capital list and send it to the Five County Association of Governments and then they prioritize the list. The new City Hall is a high priority on that list. The City then goes to the CIB board for approval. Council Member Elliott inquired if the City applies for a loan and is approved, if the City was committed to take the funds. Lane Mecham indicated that the City could likely waive receiving the funds but there are a lot of cities that have needs and the Governor has said he wants to keep the economy rolling and continue to see the cities do their projects. It's possible that if Ivins was approved but didn't use the money, that money would be taken off of the plate of another City. He suggested that if they apply for the money, that they make sure they pursue it. Council Member Elliott inquired if the City didn't apply, if the next application date would be next June. Lane Mecham stated that it would be January or February of next year. Dale Coulam indicated that there may be an opportunity to apply this fall but that the City could apply this year in June and at the July meeting could ask the CIB to fund the loan in the fall. The City would be okay with submitting an application, going to their meeting and see what they say. The City could always back out. Council Member Elliott stated that it is helpful to know that the City could back out if needed. She suggested that if the City does move forward, the City needs to make a good case to the citizens. Mayor Hart recommended that the City position themselves and put this together and with the professionals involved, determine if this is a good time or not to proceed. Council Member Gordhammer appreciated all of the information and requested that Ivins Realtor provide an update on the real estate market because that would be helpful for her to weigh in on this. The Mayor and City Council agreed. Council Member McDonald was comfortable with the process. Mayor Hart commented that the City should be prepared for this but don't commit at this time.
Ordinance
Dale Coulam indicated that this is a house keeping issue where generally every three years this is updated and new versions are adopted by the state and in turn, the City updates this ordinance. All of the things that are listed as inserts, such as "Ivins City" are fill in blanks within the International Codes. On a couple of the codes, the City has adopted appendicies, the only appendix that had any controversy was appendix D to the fire code, which requires 96 foot cul-de-sacs. There were discussions about that back and forth and the Council ended up settling on that requirement. Council Member Mehr inquired if the City is mandated to adopt what the state has adopted. Dale Coulam stated that the City has to adopt the basics but there is a procedure through the state that the City can adopt some of the codes with appendicies like the City did with the fire code. Council Member Mehr referred to the section regarding fines and inquired if that was new or already existed. Dale Coulam stated that currently exist in the adopted ordinances. Council Member Mehr inquired at length regarding the fines section and was concerned that section may be viewed by the public as heavy handed and controversial. Dale Coulam clarified that Judges don't generally impose the maximum fine and that section is just defining what the penalty is and the only appendix that has been controversial was Appendix D of the fire code, which requires 96 foot cul-de-sacs. Council Member Mehr gave the example of installing a gas fire place incorrectly and inquired if it was checked out and noted to be installed incorrectly, if he'd go to jail. Dale Coulam clarified that it wouldn't be approved by the building department but if he did something illegal to the fire place that was dangerous, the fines section defines the penalty. Mayor Hart commented that the reason the penalties exist is to have people understand that it's a serious thing to create a dangerous situation and that there could be serious repercussions. Council Member Mehr commented that it protects him from someone else's wrong doing and inquired if one could accidentally violate a code without knowing. Council Member Elliott read the international code and read it as repair work being done in violation of approved construction documents. Mayor Hart clarified that those documents often are the manufacturers recommendations to keep the public safe. Council Member Elliott wasn't sure if it was the manufactures specifications so much but a construction document issued by Ivins. Mayor Hart indicated that if someone installs a fire place that does not conform, the inspector will not approve it.
MOTION: Council Member Mehr moved to approve an Ordinance of Ivins City, Utah, amending Title 14 of the Ivins City Code entitled "Buildings and Construction", Ordinance No. 2020-05
SECOND: Council Member Elliott
VOTE: The motion carried unanimously.
| Council Member Mehr |
AYE |
| Council Member McDonald |
AYE |
| Council Member Johnson |
AYE |
| Council Member Elliott |
AYE |
| Council Member Gordhammer |
AYE |
Roll call vote. All Council Members voted in favor.
Mayor Hart stated that he took the immediate step with Public Safety and closed the skatepark due to overuse and closed Fire Lake Park for unsanitary conditions. Council Member Mehr indicated that this is a standing agenda item for the foreseeable future and the Mayor and Council can evaluate situation by observing, hearing what the community is saying, watching the data and continuing to monitor the situation. Mayor Hart commented that he attends video conferences twice a week with others in the County and there has been some discussion as to what the appropriate timing is of relaxing restrictions. Council Member McDonald inquired what Ivins say that are at the skatepark. Mayor Hart stated that is says it's closed and Public Safety also had no trespassing signs so a violation could be enforced. Council Member McDonald would like to have seen it say it was closed until further notice because the COVID-19 situation is continually reviewed. Mayor Hart indicated that the rational for the moment is that use of the facilities will likely increase as the weather warms and the Parks and Recreation Director and the Public Safety Director would likely suggest leaving the skatepark and Fire Lake Park closed for the next couple of weeks. Council Member McDonald was frustrated with the restrictions and commented that what he said would happen by closing the restrooms, happened, with people using the restroom elsewhere. He was in Washington City last Saturday and they had not closed anything. He would like to make sure that the City opens its facilities as soon it can so people have a place to go. Mayor Hart stated that they are all faced with the Governor's directive and in consultation with the Public Safety Director, determined those facilities needed to be closed. When there is an accumulation of more than 10 people, that flies in the face of the Governor's directive and he wasn't sure that's the right thing to do. According to Washington City's Mayor, they have closed their playgrounds. Council Member Mehr indicated that the City needs to stay in line with the Governor's directive. Council Member Elliott agreed with being cognitive and opening facilities when they can. Mayor Hart stated that the State parks remain open to county residents only and inquired if Council Member Gordhammer knew if Snow Canyon State Parks bathrooms were open. Council Member Gordhammer stated they are in the campground area but not the others. Council Member McDonald indicated that he's received a lot of emails and comments regarding healthy people feeling like they're being quarantined. Mayor Hart stated that the bottom line is that for any individual, if you're concerned about your own health, stay home. There are some who frankly are just mad about seeing anybody out doing anything so if someone is concerned for themselves, stay home. The problem is allowing those who are less vulnerable to gather, can result in someone becoming a carrier and taking it to someone who is vulnerable. Council Member McDonald commented that they have been hearing that the spike in COVID-19 cases has been coming for the last 3 weeks now and inquired if that is going to continue for weeks on end. Mayor Hart indicated that was anybody's guess. The County went three (3) days with no new cases and then the County had one (1) new case today but it's the hospital directive to prepare for larger numbers and not fewer numbers. Council Member Mehr stated that was correct and it depended on what model you looked at but indicated that they couldn't argue that social distancing is working. He thought that we will feel the pinch in June but the hospitals can accommodate the numbers and those are the indicators for Utah. Council Member McDonald clarified that he was not advocating violating any directives but they need to be very careful about taking away freedoms and that is even more important now. People are already feeling like their liberties are being infringed upon, especially right now and felt that the Council needed to be sensitive to that. He commented that the City of St. George was getting ready to open at least one of their golf courses. Mayor Hart indicated that was correct and that they figured out some ways to do that more safely. He did not want to put staff in a position of having to continually monitor the facilities. Council Member Mehr suggested that they revisit this at the next City Council meeting. He appreciated the economic aspect of this pandemic and commented that if there are individuals who are vulnerable, someone can go shopping for them. Council Member Gordhammer stated that there were 15 people who wanted to start making masks and over last 10 days she and those individuals have made 350 masks, with the bulk of those going to the Veterans Home. She will be at Harmons early tomorrow morning handing out masks for the senior hour. Mayor Hart referred to additional policies or procedures and inquired if they had any suggestions. Council Member McDonald indicated that he felt like by closing the bathrooms and the skatepark, that is punishing or limiting the healthy people. He understood that there was a potential for infection of using a public bathroom but at some point the responsibility needs to be put back on the individual and allow the facilities to be opened and have signs to encourage behavior when using a public facility. The theory of closing the bathrooms was to shorten the public stay but it just redirected where the public used the restroom so he would like to know if there's another procedure to get them back open and have some type of monitoring so that the general public still has places to go. Mayor Hart stated that monitoring falls on staff and he knew that the Parks and Recreation department the Public Safety department don't have personnel to do that. Dale Coulam commented that the Parks and Recreation Director himself told individuals they needed to leave the skatepark and they would either just skate around him or completely ignore him. They only started to leave when a police officer walked up behind them. The City doesn't have enough Police Officers or staff to monitor. Council Member Mehr inquired if the City could use volunteers to clean the bathrooms. Mayor Hart indicated that would be worth thinking about but the danger there is service contact and the City would basically need somebody there with some kind of cleaning supply full time. Council Member McDonald understood this was difficult to tackle but wanted to see ways that adjustments could be made to get them back open as soon as possible for the residents. Mayor Hart commented that the unfortunate thing about Fire Lake Park was the City has very few behaving badly but he did not expect staff to go around cleaning up human feces. Dogs are banned for that reason. Dale Coulam stated that on mowing day this week, in every park where they mowed, it was the most evidence of dogs that staff has seen so people are not cleaning up after their dogs and not following the leash laws. Council Member Gordhammer indicated that she didn't take pleasure in the facilities being closed but commented that if the County is approaching a peak in COVID-19 cases, she wasn't sure that now was time to be asking someone to volunteer to clean the bathrooms. She suggested that the City monitor the situation and be ready to open as soon as they possibly can. Council Member Elliott thanked the Mayor for his careful approach and monitoring of this situation.
MOTION: Council Member Mehr moved to continue this discussion to the next City Council meeting
SECOND: Council Member McDonald
VOTE: The motion carried unanimously.
| Council Member Mehr |
AYE |
| Council Member McDonald |
AYE |
| Council Member Johnson |
AYE |
| Council Member Elliott |
AYE |
| Council Member Gordhammer |
AYE |
Council Member Johnson - no report
Council Member McDonald reported that the Executive Board is meeting continually and still in negotiations with contracts regarding recycling. It is frustrating because he feels like they're being backed into a corner with no other option but to accept the contract . The issue with recycling right now is it costs $110 more per ton to recycle than to bury it. They have done things to extend the life of the landfill with recycling and ideally they would want to continue to do that but there is already going to be a rate increase for general trash collection and the recycling price could increase anywhere from $3 up to $10 per month for recycling per household. He wants to do what's in the best interest of the residents of the County and was worried about the continual increased cost for recycling. Council Member Mehr inquired if there was an option to store the recycled materials until the market was right. Council Member McDonald indicated that there is space to do that but there are certain regulations that have to met because the material can be picked up by the wind and he didn't know if the regulation would allow the material to be stored outside. With them transferring the material to the Las Vegas location, approximately only 15% of that ends up in the landfill versus 55% or more when the material was recycled in St. George.
Council Member Elliott - no report. She commented that the volunteer group that she is a part of is underutilized but they are still there and anxious to serve.
Council Member Gordhammer - no report but referred to rumors or suspicions that the State Parks may close but commented that they are still open to County residents.
Council Member Mehr made a public service announcement. Some residents may be fearful of contracting the COVID-19 virus and are putting off urgent healthcare needs that could become greater problems down the road if they are ignored. Patients with urgent needs should contact their provider, including well child checks and immunizations. A lot of the other visits can be done through video and concerns about who pays for the video has been relaxed because insurance companies are willing to pay for the video conference.
No report
Dale Coulam reported that with the upcoming Public Hearing, the City is looking at ways to handle that with options through Granicus and Zoom. Council Member Elliott would like to see an option for the public to comment live if possible.
Council Member Mehr referred to issues with recycling and requested that be placed on a future agenda if the District is considering raising the recycling fees. Council Member McDonald will continue to report to the Mayor and City Council on what's occurring.