Joe Phillips with Sunrise Engineering provided a PowerPoint presentation to the Mayor and City Council. A copy of the presentation is available as an attachment to this agenda. He indicated that he made some minor revisions from the last presentation. Nothing changed with the growth projections, facility inventory, existing levels of service or the demand projections. They did change the recommended improvements to reflect prioritizing the Ivins South Regional Park above the 400 South and 400 East Park so that is impact fee eligible. The Impact Fee Analysis changed in that improvements increased and that changed because they switched the interest rate on the financing terms from 2% to 3%. Cost per growth unit went up with that as did the recommended impact fee calculation. The demand piece of this did not change and that is because there is an existing level of service that is already in place and that was established at 7.42 acres of Park and 3.12 miles of Trail over the 10 year planning horizon. The only difference in that piece is they prioritized the Ivins South Regional Park over what was the 400 South and 400 East Park. The trails are excluded from the impact fee calculations on the premise that they are already included in the Transportation Impact Fee and/or will be required of a developer through the improvements that they would typically make. Eligible expenses include the debt service, which Ivins does not have but project costs were based on bid tabulations from projects that they have done as a company. They set the property values at $225,000 an acre through discussions with SUHBA (Southern Utah Home Builders Association). The interest rate is now set at 3% to represent the increase in costs over time and the financing was changed from 2.5% to 3% over 20 years for financing. The effect of all of that changed the maximum allowable impact fee from $4,756 per unit, to $5,224, which is an increase of $468. Dale Coulam stated that Council Member Johnson noted that in the study there is still a reference of a library but Ivins does not have a library in Ivins and commented that would need to be removed. Mayor Hart opened the Public Hearing. There being no comments, Mayor Hart closed the Public Hearing. Dale Coulam indicated that if the Council moved to approve or adopt this, that they do so as amended. Council Member Mehr referred to the Executive Summary on the Analysis letter "E" where it says the existing impact fee is $3,594.15 per ERU and the proposed maximum allowable impact fee is $5,220.00 per household and inquired if per ERU and per household were the same thing? Joe Phillips stated yes and he could make that change to be consistent. Council Member Scott stated that he liked the changes and he was in favor but wanted to clarify a few things. The idea is that these impact fees be paid for by the new housing units to create 7.24 acres of additional parks and why that amount, it is so that the population density per acre will remain the same and parks will not be more congested when Ivins has an increase in population and that the new households are paying for 100% of the impact that they are creating by adding visits to parks but the Master Plan envisions three (3) new parks over the next 10 years consisting of 32.5 acres of new park. Currently Ivins City has just over 30 acres of parks so Ivins is envisioning doing much more than just simply adding enough parks to cover the added population but adding a significant improvement to the community. In the report, the estimated costs today is approximately $17 million of which $6.3 million will come from the new households for the demand they are putting on parks, leaving $11 million that Ivins is going to have to find. This is a great vision for the City and he liked it but the Council would be passing something where they are saying that Ivins goal is to spend an extra $11 million and almost double the parks in the City future. If the City were to bond for that, the City would need approximately $750,000 a year to pay for the bond to cover that extra $11 million. He wanted to pass the ordinance but they need to realize that what they're saying is their vision is to create a lot more parks and it is a significant amount of money. To make payments on a bond to cover the extra cost, the City would have to raise property taxes by 36% or have enough other sources of revenue or get grants. Council Member Mehr inquired if the City has already adopted the Parks and Trails Master Plan? Dale Coulam stated not the new one. The plan and the ordinance are still open and tonight is the Public Hearing. The Council would adopt the plan, the analysis and the ordinance as amended. Mayor Hart indicated that adopting the plan does not require the City to develop all of the 30+ acres. If that doesn't happen within that 10 year window, it simply continues on because it is a vision that the City would ultimately like to have. Council Member Mehr stated that the primary purpose is to adjust the impact fee so that it accurately reflects what happens in reality. Mayor Hart clarified that what it's mostly about is having the various parks in the plan so that resources from impact fees can go in any of those directions. Council Member Mehr inquired if there was a significance of using the word "Regional" for the park? Mayor Hart stated that it opens the opportunity for tourism funds to be expended on the park and opens the door for sponsorships of improvements to be put in with partnerships. If it is simply a local park, those grant options go away. The use of the word "Regional" is a stronger title going after recreational funds and implies that if someone is from somewhere else, they can use the facility. Council Member Anderson indicated that for our budget and funding, the City could create a fee and the fee could be less for residents and more for tourists. He would like to discuss that on a future agenda. Mayor Hart stated that Fire Lake Park is free. Council Member Anderson stated that he would change that. Council Member Mehr indicated that we pay taxes and he was not in favor of a fee for Ivins residents. Mayor Hart clarified that adopting the plan, analysis and ordinance allows the City to allocate impact fees. Joe Phillips stated that if their priorities change, the City can bring it back and adjust it.
Public Hearing Notice
Presentation
| 3. |
Special Revenue Funds ? a. Public Safety; b. Streets; c. Parks |
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Municipal Building Authority Fund |
Public Hearing Notice
Cade Visser reported that there are eight (8) funds that are being reviewed for Public Hearing for Fiscal Year 2023 and Fiscal Year 2024. For Fiscal Year 2023, there is one major difference in the General Fund, recycling and garbage costs were higher than budgeted so those expenditures need to be increased because it is not allowed for a department to go higher than what was budgeted for. He clarified that the deficit is only in the General Fund. The different funds are the General Operation Fund; the Debt Service Fund, which is a way to pay for debt; the Special Revenue Fund, which is impact fees; Capital Projects that has its own set of accounting; and the Enterprise Funds, which is water, sewer, and storm drain. Those are independent of each other and have their own cash accounts and operation expenditures and revenues. He reported that Ivins City has received a little under $100,000 in interest for investment earnings, putting Ivins on track to have around $700,000 this year in interest earnings. Based on the data from the Federal Government, the plan is to hold that rate and possibly raise it in June. If that is the case, that may potentially increase Ivins interest between $100,000 and $300,000, which would trim down most of the deficit. Council Member Mehr inquired if the funds are in different accounts at different institutions? Cade Visser clarified that Ivins City has the bulk of the cash in the PTIF (Public Treasurers investment fund), which is administered by the State and is a State Money Market and then the rest is in a Zions Bank account. Mayor Hart opened the Public Hearing.
Paul Bryson stated he is an Ivins resident and resides in the Palisades subdivision. He worked in the government for a long time and was trying to figure out how Ivins City goes about doing the budget process. He has seen several different ways that budgets come together. One way is to simply add 10%, for example, over what was spent last year. Occasionally, an agency does a zero based budget, which is basically down to the basic level of focus that is needed for the operation to run and then they look at those things that are necessary to have in the future. He has had City Managers come to him and tell him to spend all of the budgeted money or the budget will be cut next year. He was curious as to how Ivins City gets to the budget. He saw a social media post from Council Member Scott regarding law enforcement and how that has increased the budget, but he does not understand why it has gone up. He did not know why Santa Clara and Ivins joined the Police and Fire forces because the greatest liability is with the Police Department. He was also trying to figure out, every week he puts his blue recycle can out but there is no sorting of the blue recycle cans even though residents are paying for the blue recycle cans. He did not see the benefit of that recycling. He sees the trash truck come by and the stuff from the blue recycle can goes into the same truck that regular waste goes into. Mayor Hart indicated that the budget process has been ongoing now since the first of the year and there have been outlines of how the whole process unfolds. Dale Coulam stated that this begins with the process of not saying we're going to have an automatic increase to the budget. It was stated that at least some cities might do it that way or that is one method. The method that Ivins City uses is to meet with all the departments, those departments go over what the projected needs are. The departments are not told to use their budget or lose it. Ivins City has been increasing the Reserve Fund. For example, it used to be that there could only be a 9% reserve in the Reserve Fund but that would not cover much of the annual budget in a downturn. So the State of Utah has now increased that level to 35%. Ivins City has been increasing its reserves and now has over 30% in reserves. Rather than a spend it or lose it type of mentality, Ivins City saves any unused funds and adds them to the Reserve Account. Ivins City department heads are very conservative. When talking about a deficit, amounts in the Reserve Account can be used to offset the projected deficit and balance the budget. There are several cities in the county who have said that expenditures are outpacing their revenues and have opted to withdraw from their Reserve Fund to cover that gap to balance their budgets this year. As for Law Enforcement, unfortunately there are a lot of unfunded mandates from the State, such as updated body cameras, radios, software and dispatch and Law Enforcement does not have a choice in a lot of those items in their budget. Those are high expense items. Ivins City has worked on a very lean budget, with a very lean staff for years. At the last City Council meeting, the Council tentatively approved the tentative budget but the Council has not approved anything. It's just a tentative budget that is being brought forward for public comment. In doing that, it was a balanced budget and some things had to be cut in a lot of areas. Most cuts were things that would be nice to have but were not critical needs.
Sharon Gillespie resides at 575 East Ridgecrest Circle. At the last City Council meeting part of the concerns about the budget revolved around Public Safety. She supported Public Safety, Police and Fire 10,000%. To get additional support from the community, there might be additional transparency that can be offered by those departments like looking at the types of calls and the numbers of calls. Some residents have voiced concerns about how many of the calls are revolving around transients, how many of the calls are Ivins residents, how many of the calls are Santa Clara and similar. That data may be available but they just don't know where to find it. She would like to continue to support Public Safety but would like to see some data to understand more and seeing some shared resources and shared services. Maybe residents could help because there is a vast array of talented professionals in Ivins that might be able to help with negotiating or things like grant writing to help Public Safety. She thought that transparency going forward would be truly helpful to understand, especially since services are shared between Santa Clara and Ivins and serving both communities. Mayor Hart commented that Council Member Mehr had an idea to have a discussion with Public Safety and Fire at the next Talk About. SCIPD Captain Rich Rodgers commented that he loves stats, numbers and Google pin maps. If anyone wants to talk about statistics or numbers, contact him and come into his office and he will go over anything that is needed. He has numbers going back to 2012 when Santa Clara and Ivins combined. He would be glad to go over it with anyone. Paul Bryson commented that he has 39 years in law enforcement and was curious if anyone had gone on a ride-along because it was important for the Council to participate so that they know what goes on. Mayor Hart indicated that Council Member Anderson, Council Member Johnson and himself have all gone on ride along with officers. He clarified that the merging of Santa Clara and Ivins with law enforcement occurred first and then fire occurred later. It was originally done as a cost saving measure and the savings were substantial. Both cities calculated the expenditures and was roughly $250,000 savings to both cities. The primary increase for Fire and Rescue was a major shift in the structure of the Fire Department. Both cities primarily had volunteer fire departments, which has been difficult to maintain because of the training requirements made by Federal and State requirements. Fire Chief Parker has been manning the stations with professional personnel and the new Fire ISO report shows that reports of remote Kayenta had a rating of 9 and 10 but once the Center Street Station was reopened, that rating dropped down to 4.66 and that will be enhanced in next year's budget. Fire Chief Parker clarified that SCI Fire has an ISO rating of 4 and the lower the number, the better. There are only two (2) cities in the State that have an ISO rating of 1 and that is Salt Lake City and South Salt Lake City. SCI Fire scored 66.27 out of 105 and it will be another five (5) years before receiving a new score. SCI Fire has received new software that will keep track of all of the records. He sent the Council a report of the calls from January 2017 to April 2023. Calls continue to increase. Mayor Hart commented that the Santa Clara and Ivins City Councils get together twice a year to discuss the budget and plans for the future. It is still believed that the combined services save both cities money. The Fire Department is under the management of the City of Santa Clara and the Police Department is under the management of Ivins City. With both cities combined, there are under 20,000 residents and that is manageable with the two cities combined.
Sharon Barton lives on Mesa Vista Drive and expressed kudos to the Police and Fire Departments and felt very fortunate to have them. She inquired how the costs is shared since it is shared coverage. Mayor Hart clarified that it is based on population. Sharon Barton inquired if once Black Desert Resort comes on board, if that will raise Ivins Cost because of tourists? Mayor Hart stated that he did not know if that has been worked out yet because Black Desert Resort is not on board yet but there will be a discussion about that. Ivins City was formerly served by the County and had no police force. He inquired of Council Member Johnson has to how far back the fire department goes. Council Member Johnson indicated that she was on the force for 25 years and it was probably there for 10 years before that. Mayor Hart stated that Ivins has had a volunteer fire department for many years and law enforcement was contracted with the County and ambulance services were provided through Dixie Ambulance. Ivins City then took on its own police department and ambulance service because the level of service was so bad, making it almost impossible to get a response in a timely fashion. Public Safety is the number one responsibility of the City and that is why it is in the budget. Council Member Johnson clarified that the Fire Department started in 1974.
Bill Boehm resides at 622 Tearasinab and thanked the Council and Staff for their work and service. He questioned what are the variety of other revenue sources that Ivins City has? He also questioned the impact of Black Desert Resort with growth and visitors and the amount of energy, funds, personnel and cost to permanent residents that is required to sustain that so that Black Desert could have an ISO rating of three (3) and if those costs are being shared equally? Dale Coulam clarified that impact fees are defined strictly by State statute and a City must follow the process and formula outline in that statute. Joe Phillips regarding impact fees, he is a Consultant who was hired to do the study of the analysis and draft the ordinance. That all follows that statutory process exactly and a City cannot deviate from that process. Dale Coulam stated he has been with Ivins City for almost 20 years and the Council has taken the position that it is not fair to existing residents to pay for new development so new development pays their share of their impact of what's allowed by law. Bill Boehm stated that although impact fees only address one aspect of the total cost over time and is an initial cost. His concern was the impact that those who will be using the community resources coming to Ivins for two (2) or three (3) days. What is the cost to the City to sustain almost 2,000 units that are within the City, possibly on any given weekend with what is happening here with Ironman? What is the cost to the City and how is that being reimbursed? What is happening in terms of providing ongoing funds from those who use the community on a temporary basis? Mayor Hart clarified that when it comes to something like Ironman, the organization pays the law enforcement personnel to man and the rest of it's done by volunteer so that the City doesn't incur a cost on that. Impact fees are designed to cover the cost of infrastructure expansion to cover the demand that's placed by whatever it is, and those impact fees have been substantial. The difference is that Black Desert Resort will also pay a property tax like residents do to sustain or to pay their way as time goes on. In addition to that, Black Desert’s retail areas provide sales tax and the folks that stay in those hotel rooms pay a transient room tax that is designed to compensate the City for the additional burden on services that are incurred by having transient people, meaning tourists visitors, come to the City. Bill Boehm inquired about looking at what's collected in terms of tax for those rooms compared to other destination locations in the area because Ivins is turning into a destination location if it isn't already. When was the last time that was looked at and is it realistic based on the volume that's happening and the demand that is needed to support the ongoing services by those who are visiting? Does that need to be re-addressed? Is it appropriate to consider an increase that would help as part of a total package to really cover the costs of running the City? Mayor Hart indicated that the transient room tax is not set by the City. If there were enough hotel rooms in Ivins, Ivins could apply with the County to establish what's called a resort tax. As far as the analysis of Black Desert Resort paying their way, Black Desert will need to be in operation to see if what it is draining out, is more than what is coming in. The projected revenue to the City is substantial. With regard to the City budgeted, it is projected to be a shortfall this budget and the same thing is anticipated in next year's budget. Purchases have been deferred in this current budget that will probably need to occur next year. Money may need to be pulled out of Reserve Funds at some point in time. The Black Desert Resort project becomes the rescue that would help Ivins City achieve a budget that would allow the new equipment and other things to be acquired.
Chuck Warren resides at 974 Talasi Way and is President of Desert Preservation Initiative. In the last six (6) months volunteers who are in their 60s and 70s are removing Tamarisks out of the wash in Kayenta. It is hard work but 10% of it is gone. Fire Chief Parker has been a great support but he would love to put staff working but because of budget cutbacks and issues. Washes in Kayenta are the most concerning in the entire county. It is not a matter of if, but when they burn. Support is needed and any help in hiring crews or letting the Fire Department help is needed before it’s too late. Mayor Hart stated that all of the budget information is available online and in that budget information there are graphs and charts that can be obtained from the Ivins City website at www.ivins.com. The Council is not going to adopt the budget tonight and the discussion will continue. The final budget will be adopted in June. There being no further comments, Mayor Hart closed the Public Hearing.
Council Member Anderson inquired how much money is in the ARPA funds (American Rescue Plan Act) funds? Cade Visser stated almost $1.1 million dollars. Mayor Hart indicated the ARPA funds are from a bill that provides additional relief to address the continued impact of COVID-19. The funds are based on population and must be spent in a certain way. There will be a future discussion on how those funds could be used to help balance the budget. Council Member Anderson inquired if the deficit is in 2024 budget and not the 2023 budget? Mayor Hart stated that was correct. Council Member Anderson indicated that Highway 91 was being worked on and so far, it has changed from two (2) lanes to three (3) lanes with a median and turn lanes with a small increase of cost. It is completely funded with impact fees. He has been looking at how Ivins City can establish Highway 91 to be a five (5) lane road from the Western Corridor to 600 West. It would cost an estimated additional $1.1 million dollars but because of the additional efforts from Chuck Gillette, Tom Jorgensen and Mayor Hart, there is a recommended approval for another $1 million dollars from the Tourism Council. It still has to go through the County Commission but there is a good chance that Ivins will get it. The Tourism Council is willing to fund if Ivins City adds bike lanes and trails out to Fire Lake Park, which will cost between $1.5-$2 million dollars. To fix Highway 91 with an overlay like phase one, it would cost $1.5 million making a total for phase two widening for bike lanes on both sides and a complete trail, $4.1 million dollars. If the Tourism Council contributes and the City uses the $2 million in Capital Project funds, $1 million in ARPA funds and $1.4 million in Street impact fees, he proposed using those ARPA funds to put those dollars in the Ivins budget to finish the contract to finish phase 1 and then issue a new one to do the overlay. The problem is the current contract can’t be added to because UDOT requires new studies, and this money is not Federal money so those studies do not have to be done. If $382,000 of ARPA funds and the rest of the ARPA funds could be for next year’s budget or could be moved to Capital Funds, which are used for Capital projects and Highway 91 is a Capital Fund project. Mayor Hart inquired once the current contract for phase one is completed, how much money can be applied to phase two? Council Member Murphy inquired if phase one could be explained. Chuck Gillette stated that phase one starts at 200 East and the road is being widened to a three (3) lane section, which includes a potential landscaping median to Kwavasa Drive and a shared use paved trail from 200 East to Ivins Reservoir/Fire Lake Park. The trail will go all the way to Ivins Reservoir but the widening only goes to Kwavasa. Council Member Anderson commented that it was important to get that median in now so that the old asphalt would not need to be paved over in the future. Mayor Hart indicated it could be expanded into five (5) lanes without having to completely redo the base. Originally that was being funded under a formula that did not include the Federal appropriation but that came through, leaving a surplus which becomes phase two. Phase two is finishing Highway 91 in some form. That road is dangerous for cyclists and needs to be repaired. Chuck Gillette stated phase two picks up on widening the road of 26 to 28 feet of existing asphalt, and adding six feet (6') to each side of the road, making the road 38 feet. There would not be a landscape median but turn lanes would be added at Anasazi Trailhead, Fire Lake Park and Kayenta Parkway, making it safer to make those turns. Mayor Hart commented that the traffic on Highway 91 is largely non-resident. Some Kayenta residents use it but the major traffic is when something happens in the Virgin River Gorge and the I-15 traffic through that gorge is diverted to Highway 91. He questioned what funds are available in the Capital Projects fund? Council Member Anderson stated that right now in the Capital Project Fund the City has just over $2 million dollars. In his conversations, Ivins City is taking $1.1 million of that out, to go to phase one. That leaves $900,000 to go towards phase two and they are needing $3 million. $1 million would be coming from the Tourism Council and $1.4 million coming from Street impact fees. With the $1.4 million and the $900,000 from the Capital Facilities, that makes a total of $2.3 million. Mayor Hart clarified that Council Member Anderson is taking the $1.5 million for the five (5) lanes, assuming that is going to happen. That has not been authorized yet and he would like to keep that separate from this conversation. Questioned if the City disregarded the possibility of the five (5) lanes and just completed phase one under the contract, what resources remain for phase two and/or phase two and expanding the phase one? Chuck Gillette stated that for phase one, $2.5 million dollars was needed to finish that project. It’s taken care of with Parks Impact Funds and the Road impact fees. That leaves $3 million to pay for phase two. If Ivins City was successful at getting the grant from the Tourism Fund, then Ivins City only needs $2 million.
Mayor Hart indicated Highway 91 is not ready to be built. There is a design that needs to be completed, then there's bids so that actual costs can be known. Council Member Anderson commented that UDOT has made statements that the number of bidders now have increased dramatically. Mayor Hart referred to interest he does not see any way that the federal government is going to drop the percentages month to month. It will be incrementally, just like it has been raised incrementally. Cade Visser stated that the Federal Government’s goal is to slow inflation. They are going to leave interest rates as they are but don't want to cause a recession like back in the 70's and 80's. Mayor Hart inquired if it was not a safe bet to say that given the interest that is being accumulating now, is it likely that a year from now Ivins City will be looking at a deficit at all? Cade Visser stated yes and that a lot of the cash Ivins City has, is sitting in that PTIF (Public Treasurers’ Investment Fund) account. Those are warranty bonds and half of that is from Black Desert Resort. That is kept until the infrastructure is done. Ivins City has $10 million that realistically won't be paid out next year at all. It's going to stay in there so even if capital projects are spent down, there is a substantial amount earning interest. Council Member Anderson questioned Council Member Scott what his solution was and what he was thinking to help with the deficit? Council Member Scott indicated that he agreed with Cade Visser that interest earnings may offset that but if the budget deficit stays at $382,000, then the only way to deal with that is to raise property taxes. That has not been done since 2010. Ivins City has been getting additional property taxes every year because there are new buildings that start paying for property taxes. Ivins City has been trying to pay for those additional services that those new homeowners create and the demand for additional services increases. He just wants to cover the general inflation of all of Ivins’ operating costs. The philosophy on property taxes has been backwards. He would like to see realistic interest earnings. There are a lot of taxes that the City is anticipating receiving, property tax, sales tax, room tax, and interest income. That is income. Everything else is taxes that keeps getting called revenue. There are a lot of assumptions as to what they may or may not be, but the cost is the same. They all so far seem to be realistic and fairly on the conservative side. If they are making the same kind of conservative re-analysis on the interest rates and that wipes out the deficit, then it’s done and then get that ARPA money into the Capital Fund. Council Member Mehr questioned the Tourism Council grant and commented that the enthusiasm or motivation for that grant is to do the bike lane and the trail. The trail is going to be done in phase one. Could we do the bike lane as part of a different phase and then get the $1 million from the Tourism Council? Mayor Hart stated that the bike lanes can't be done without repairing the road. Council Member Anderson indicated contract 1A is done and goes from 200 East to Kwavasa and 1B is to make it five lanes to Kwavasa. Phase two is to take the $1 million to get two bike lanes and widen out the road to Fire Lake Park. Council Member Scott questioned if just phase one was done as-is and then do phase two, would Ivins City then qualify for the tourism money? Council Member Anderson stated yes. Council Member Scott commented that the reason for recommending doing the expansion in phase 1B is because it is more cost effective in the long run. It is just a matter of is that the best use of Capital Funds or is there something else that needs to be dealt with?
Budgets
Council Member Scott referred to the $2 million in the Capital Projects Fund and inquired if that fund was specifically for roads or is that for any kind of projects? Chuck Gillette clarified that is specifically not for any of the utility funds, water, sewer, or storm drain. Council Member Scott inquired if it could be used for other capital projects other than just roads? Chuck Gillette stated that was correct. Council Member Scott questioned if the $1 million from the Tourism Council would be a road-related item? Mayor Hart explained that the Tourism Council's presentation was specifically requested to assist Ivins City to create the bike lanes and to help with the trail system to the Shivwits border. If it’s granted, it's granted on those very specific terms and the use of that money is not flexible. He inquired about the $1.4 Million in Street impact fees and if all of these monies are available when the current phase one as currently planned is all done? Ivins City does not need any of that money to finish phase one as currently designed. Cade Visser stated that was correct. Council Member Scott indicated that Ivins City would need $1.1 million if phase one was expanded. Council Member Anderson stated that was correct. Council Member Scott inquired how much money was needed to do phase two? Cade Visser stated $3 million. Chuck Gillette clarified that it could potentially be $2 million with the grant. Council Member Murphy stated that phase 1A is going to what it is now and that is taken care of. Phase 1B is $1.1 million additional to make it five (5) lanes and to do phase two is $3 million. Ivins City is looking at $4.1 million to finish out the entire project. Council Member Scott commented that the three (3) sources of funds are the Capital Projects fund, Tourism, and Street impact fees. That makes $4.4 million and that does not even touch the ARPA funds. Council Member Anderson stated that was correct. Mayor Hart commented that the acquisition from the BLM has been negotiated for a year for a future cemetery, Public Works Yard, and Regional Park. That acquisition needs to take place or Ivins City will lose the price per acre on that property. That is something that needs to happen this year. Cade Visser clarified that is in the budget. Council Member Scott indicated that his concern is the $1 million from the Tourism Council and the $1.4 million in the Street impact fees, that is strictly for streets and the Tourism portion is strictly for phase two. His concern about the $2 million for Capital Projects is there is a five (5) year Capital Plan and that wish list totals $35 million worth of projects that are being talked about to theoretically and potentially be done over five (5) years. He would like to know if the $2 million for Capital Projects can be used for other Capital Projects since there are a whole bunch of them? He does not know how important they are, but he would like to at least measure against that. He does not want to make a decision as a one-off thing. Maybe that $2,000,000 is needed for something else that is coming up in the next couple of years. That is important. Mayor Hart stated that in the presentation that was given to the Tourism board, the immediacy of the need was one of the key elements of that presentation and the fact that the City is expending funds to bring that trail system and bike lanes all the way to Kwavasa, and there is a section that's a substantial section that does not have bike lanes, is highly dangerous. That's partly why the City thinks it is going to be successful in that application. The expectation of the County is that they are assisting Ivins is what makes it possible for us to get that done now, anticipating that Ivins City will have more visitors coming and more cyclists using that route all the time. Council Member Scott’s point is taken but it needs to be kept in mind that the supplemental funding is somewhat time sensitive. Council Member Scott indicated that he understood but he does think it should be compared. Council Member Anderson suggested using $600,000 from ARPA funds, leaving $400,000 in there to get the budget back to zero. The City needs $1.1 million from the Capital Facilities funds, leaving $900,000 in the Capital Facilities plan, which will accomplish phase one and phase two and still leaves $900,000 in the Capital facilities plan. Mayor Hart stated that is what the Council needs to determine. Phase 1A is a done deal, is phase 1B and phase two a high priority? If so, Chuck Gillette would need to identify if there are projects at a higher priority on the list. Chuck Gillette stated a lot of his projects are all in irrigation and that is Water and Sewer impact fees, which is funded in a different bucket. Council Member Scott indicated that he did not agree with using the ARPA funds to cover a deficit in the General Fund. The ARPA money should be moved into the Capital Projects Fund because Ivins City is going to have a lot of capital needs. Ivins City would still has a $382,000 deficit that should be covered with a property tax increase since that has not been done in 12 years.
Council Member Mehr agreed with Council Member Scott in looking at the Capital Projects list. He referred to Bill Boehm's comment about the cost to Ivins because of growth and Black Desert Resort. The PID (Public Improvement District) was used to incentivize the developer to go faster than the market could bear and now that financial pressure is being felt with the promise it will heal itself. He also does not want to dip into the reserves because it is not if, but when, the national economy is hurt. While looking at adopting this budget, the taxpayer has the same issue and does not have reserves either. Property taxes haven’t been raised in 12 years and that is good government. Let's continue good government and continue ways to turn over every leaf and stone to not raise property taxes on the Ivins community. Council Member Murphy stated that new growth money is to help pay for the new growth. The new growth is supposed to pay for the extra infrastructure and things needed for new growth. New growth can’t just be relied on if it is used for other things because then the City will not have what is needed for the new growth. They should be careful when they say, well we get new growth every year. Yes, that’s on top of the budget of last year but new growth is typically supposed to be for what is needed for Police and Fire, and all the things needed to support that new growth. It can't be used for other things. Mayor Hart commented that growth ultimately comes to an end. There needs to be some means of creating a long-term analysis of the City to know what the future needs are going to be, to fill that gap when growth is over. Council Member Murphy indicated when adding commercial and business growth, their value is taxable and it raises the base. People could pay less if more commercial comes in because it raises the base and lowers the tax rate under truth and taxation. Council Member Mehr stated that Ivins City backs the blue and loves Public Safety and Fire. Increasing the budget $1 million on fire from two (2) years ago is a tough pill to swallow. Ivins has moved from a volunteer force to a professional force with Fire Chief Parker saying that the increase is for improved response times and a better ISO score rating but that is just not true. The data doesn't show that, and he needs an acknowledgement that this is just the cost of going from a volunteer force to a professional force and that was the decision that was made. It doesn't necessarily improve any of the metrics that have been measured. Mayor Hart stated that it does. Council Member Mehr indicated that the ISO rating was a four (4) prior to the Center St. Station being closed. When that was closed, that's what caused the rating to go up. When it was reopened it, the rating came down again. That rating per dollar, he did not see the added value but that ship has sailed and he can accept that, but he thinks it must be acknowledged as a committee and that needs to be called out. Council Member Anderson disagreed and indicated he was there right at the end with the volunteers. It was hard to get a response, especially during the day. If there was a house fire, he was called out and headed to the station to drive the truck because now no one else knew how to drive the truck. It has changed the response times and that is part of the ISO rating. There might be some level, but to make a blanket statement that it didn't help, he disagreed. Mayor Hart stated that time has passed. Ivins has moved away from a volunteer force to professional force and it is an inevitable thing given the pressure and requirements placed on volunteers now than it was years ago. He inquired of Fire Chief Parker, as Santa Clara and Ivins grow with enterprises like Black Desert Resort coming in, which will be a commercial base, along with other resort developments, could a volunteer force handle an emergency there? Fire Chief Parker stated absolutely not. It’s very simple, but those metrics on response times could be looked at. Last year he presented a couple of structure fires with 10–18-minute response times. In Rancho Cucamonga Fire there was a little girl who was about 10 years old in a mobile home on the phone with dispatch who was alive and trapped. Crews made entry and were searching that mobile home but could not find her. She died on that phone call with a fully professional force with 6 to 7 firefighters and a four (4) minute or less response time. It is the same with school shootings. This ISO discussion is great obviously for insurance premiums but that deals primarily with structure fires. That does not include vehicle fires, vegetation fires or any other type of fire that occurs, it's specifically fires and structures. The percentages are standard if you go nationally. Some larger big cities will have higher fire percentages, but it's about the same percentage everywhere. While preparing to respond to a school shooter situation, there are six (6) people on duty, covering 500 square miles. That's a huge problem. SCI Fire is not just in Santa Clara and Ivins. SCI Fire also goes out to the Canyon for EMS or Motoqua for a vegetation fire and they are gone for an hour. An ambulance transport is about an hour. That's the problem. Some calls can be managed with a volunteer response but they still need full-time because 70-80% are medical calls that require an immediate response. It should be noted that Administrative staff does not count for ISO. A Battalion Chief on scene does not count for the personnel number. SCI Fire went up six (6) points just for personnel, that could be $1.8 million because 18 people are needed to get 6 per shift A, B and C, that’s huge. That is where the costs are. He specifically chose a programs-based budget to identify what the needs are then develop the cost for those. He has an excel spreadsheet that could go down to the dollar based on estimates and things from vendors as far as what things cost then developed the budget that way. SCI Fire is still almost $400,000 less than the SCI Public Safety partners. It's really a catch-up game. Mayor Hart indicated that five (5) years ago there were less calls and now that number has increased. It is always being talked about volunteers and the difficulty in getting them because of the amount of training it takes to get them. What has never been talked about is volunteers were only responding to so many calls five (5) years ago. He inquired of Fire Chief Parker if SCI Fire was still a volunteer force, would they be able to respond to the increased call volume? Fire Chief Parker stated no. Mayor Hart indicated that it was a real shake up and a lot of hurt feelings towards this shift from mostly volunteer to mostly professional but today with the statistics being given, how could a volunteer Fire Department respond to 5 times the increased number of calls?
Council Member Anderson indicated that it didn’t. As a volunteer department, only the minimum was done. Mayor Hart stated that is what has turned his thinking. It cannot be ignored that there is a high volume of calls coming in and now and within the next few years, there will be far more complex types of calls than with standard residential. Even Santa Clara City has transformed. Council Member Johnson indicated that she personally thinks if SCI Fire had continued the way it had been going, there would have been some full-time and some volunteer. She agreed with a lot of what Council Member Mehr said about the ship has sailed and you can’t go back. It does need to be acknowledged that SCI Fire was doing a very good job with a volunteer force. There were no complaints and there was no loss that would not have happened if there was a professional department. Chief Parker likes to bring up an incident with a housefire of an individual who lost their life because of response time but that is incorrect. The response times were based on when the apparatus showed up but there were some volunteers who were there within minutes and there were less casualties because those volunteers stopped the family members from going back in, which would not have been the case if they were not there. It is give and take. She still thinks volunteers are valuable and SCI Fire could have had an equally good department with both full-time and volunteers and saved the budget. This is based on 25 years of experience, plus she has all her certifications and is very much as professional as those working for the department now. Mayor Hart inquired of Council Member Johnson if she thinks that a full-time and volunteer force could respond to the number of calls that come in now. Council Member Johnson stated yes. With her experience, whenever there was any type of call there was always enough available along with mutual aid. She did not want to put down what is being done now because she appreciates the hard work. She thinks that it could have been done in a slower progression and not straight to full-time. Mayor Hart inquired of Council Member Johnson if she thought that even with 4 to 5 times more calls, a volunteer force could have handled the compounded workload? Council Member Johnson stated not just the volunteers, but the combination of full-time and volunteers, she absolutely believes they could have. Council Member Anderson questioned the word volunteer. When he first started, it was volunteering and no one received a stipend. In the last few years if someone did a shift, they got paid something. Fire Chief Parker stated that was correct. Council Member Anderson indicated that they are not volunteers then they are just part-time. Fire Chief Andy Parker stated volunteers will get a stipend of $10-$15. There are still volunteers, it is the same crew as when he started with SCI Fire, minus a few that have parted ways. The part-time fire fighters who are getting a wage are now assigned a 24-hour shift instead of two shifts because it's easier to do just one. Council Member Johnson indicated that there are not the same number of volunteers as when Chief Parker came on. There were many who were laid off and let go and the Council knows who those were that were laid off. It is not the same volunteer department that it was. Council Member Johnson's cell phone connection was lost at approximately 8:15 p.m. Council Member Anderson questioned when it is said a volunteer, they receive a stipend of $10-$15 but there are part-time employees working a shift who get a paid wage, who is really volunteering and who is a part-time employee? Fire Chief Parker clarified that those who went through the personnel process are part-time employees. He made that clear in the summary. There are three (3) who are no longer volunteering. Council Member Anderson commented that he was a volunteer for 4 to 6 years, but Council Member Johnson gave up her life for 20+ years to go help the Ivins City Fire Department. A part-time employee is not a volunteer. Fire Chief Parker stated that was correct. Moving forward, it’s not about being professional, it’s about being full-time. It’s about keeping people at the station. Now there are six (6) members that cover three (3) pieces of equipment, two (2) ambulances and one (1) fire engine. Before it was just one (1) ambulance and the pickup truck. Moving forward his goal is to not need mutual aid as often. Council Member Anderson commented that in today’s world, the way insurance is and the mass amount of fire, it puts Ivins City in a different legal stance that requires a different level of attention. Mayor Hart stated that given the direction SCI Fire is headed and with discussions with the City of Santa Clara, we do feel like SCI Fire is an effective Fire Department and it may be expensive, but he feels better now that the station is open on Center Street. Council Member Anderson referred to some of the calls that come in, not everyone is needed to respond to those. There have been calls to replace 9 volt batteries and five (5) people respond.