THE STATE OF UTAH
COUNTY OF SEVIER
CITY OF RICHFIELD
At the City Council
In and For Said City
March 14, 2023
Minutes of the Richfield City Council meeting held on Tuesday, March 14, 2023,
at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Richfield City office building located at 75 East Center, Richfield, Utah. Mayor Bryan L. Burrows presiding.
- OPENING REMARKS
- PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
- ROLL CALL
- MINUTES
- EXPENDITURES
- HISTORICAL PRESERVATION COMMITTEE REPORT
- PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT
- OTHER BUSINESS
- MEETING ADJOURN
- OPENING REMARKS were offered by Elaine Street
- PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE was led by Todd Gleave.
- ROLL CALL. Present: Mayor Burrows, Todd Gleave, Kip Hansen, Elaine Street, Tanner Thompson, Michele Jolley, Tyson Hansen. Excused: Brayden Gardner.
- MINUTES APPROVED. The Council reviewed the minutes of the meeting held on January 10, 2023. Motion: Approve the meeting minutes for January 10, 2023, Action: Approved, Moved by Kip Hansen, Seconded by Elaine Street. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yes = 4). Yes: Elaine Street, Kip Hansen, Tanner Thompson, Todd Gleave. Excused: Brayden Gardner.
- EXPENDITURES APPROVED. The Council reviewed the Warrant Register for February 2023. Motion: Approve the February 2023 Warrant Register, Action: Approved, Moved by Tanner Thompson, Seconded by Todd Gleave. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yes = 4). Yes: Elaine Street, Kip Hansen, Tanner Thompson, Todd Gleave. Excused: Brayden Gardner.
- PUBLIC COMMENTS. No comments were made.
- HISTORICAL PRESERVATION COMMITTEE REPORT. Elaine Wayland, Richfield City Historian, discussed a report from the Historical Preservation Committee. She is concerned that we are always losing history as people pass and their families throw away things that they do not realize are valuable. We need to be on top of things for many reasons.
Mrs. Wayland found that it was bigger than the City and, in her research, discovered that it should be through the County. She contacted some other counties and received a lot of information about how they are preserving their counites’ histories. Mrs. Wayland met with the County Commissioners and discussed the importance of preserving our area’s histories. She also discussed the need to hire a full-time archivist or a historian.
Mrs. Wayland will continue to work on this and follow up with the County Commissioners. She would like to have a Councilmember assigned to history and work with her and the County Commissioners until something can get going.
- PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT. Blaine Breinholt discussed the Planning Commission meeting held on March 1, 2023. They had four public hearings to discuss, including a shipping fulfillment center in commercial zones, allowing storage containers in commercial zones with certain requirements, and adding additional requirements to the RM-24 zone. They discussed requiring 1,000 feet between RM-24 developments. However, they are now considering setting a minimum lot size of one acre and a maximum lot size of 3 acres for RM-24 developments with a distance based on the acreage of the development. If the developments were only one acre, a quarter of a mile would be required between projects. If it is on 2 acres, maybe a half mile between projects, and if it is on 3 acres, perhaps three-quarters of a mile between projects, they are not all clumped together. Also, the Planning Commission considered setting a maximum number of units at 60.
The Mountain Valley Village development was discussed. The proposed plan would include commercial property along Main Street and Flying J Drive for a hotel, a restaurant pad, an RV Park, and storage units, with townhomes and apartments on the interior area of the property. The Planning Commission recommended approval of phase I of the project, including the infrastructure for the development and the apartments.
A conditional use permit for a home occupation at 371 East 400 North to sell Christmas decorations online for Leon Webb was approved. In addition, a home occupation for a mobile mechanic service for Christine Marsh was approved.
The Planning Commission approved an Air BnB in the home’s basement at 550 West 600 North. In addition, a beauty salon was approved for the old octagon building at Anderson Floral on 400 West.
Chase Christensen was approved for a duplex on 500 East between 300 North and 200 North, but he wants to build a 4-plex there which would require rezoning the property to RM-24. It was tabled until the Planning Commission finished its recommendations for requirements in the RM-24 zone.
Jared Cefalia purchased the old tire store on Main Street and 400 South and has presented a concept plan to divide it into several retail spaces.
- ALLEN DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT. The Council reviewed a development agreement with Donavan Allen to develop the property at 642 South 100 West. Mr. Allen stated that he should not have to put a sidewalk in when it might have to be removed when the street improvements are made. Mayor Burrows indicated that the engineers had assured us those improvements could be tied in, so that would not be an issue. Blaine Breinholt stated that the City’s code requires a curb, gutter, and sidewalk, noting that if we continue to waive these improvements, we will never get them installed. Councilmember Hansen stated that we have a current program where we assist with upgrading existing sidewalks. He suggested the Council look at that and potentially expand that program to include a developed property with no sidewalks.
Mayor Burrows asked why Mr. Allen would not want to put a sidewalk in. Mr. Allen stated that he has talked with a couple of engineers, and they said that typically when there is nothing else on the street, that is done at all, so if they ever chanted the crown of that road or if the properties to the south develop, it will not tie in just right. Then chance of him having to redo that is possible. Mayor Burrows stated that if we changed the crown of the road, that would be the City’s responsibility to replace the sidewalk. He would think that a sidewalk would enhance what Mr. Allen is doing and make it look nicer.
Mr. Allen felt there were a couple of ways to look at it. There are a lot of kids in that area, and if you have some sidewalks there, it could become a liability more than safety. That would be fine with him if that is not a concern. He is just concerned about putting it in, tearing it out, and paying for it again down the road.
Councilmember Gleave agreed with Blaine Breinholt that we should stick to the code, but he has set on the Council many times when we have waived it, and nobody made an argument about it. Then MR. Allen comes in for the same thing, and we tell him he has to do it. Mr. Breinholt stated that it should be removed from the code if the Council wants to waive it. Councilmember Gleave felt that the Council flip-flops depended on who was standing at the podium, and it should not be that way. So which way are we going to do it? Are we going to start with Mr. Allen? Councilmember Gleave stated that we should do this every time from now on.
Councilmember Hansen is not in favor of allowing Mr. Allen to come back in 5 years and renegotiate the installation of the curb and gutter. Motion: Approve the development agreement as presented requiring the sidewalk to be installed now and delaying the curb, gutter, and asphalt shoulder for five years or until the adjoining property development if that is less than five years, Action: Approved, Moved by Kip Hansen, Seconded by Todd Gleave. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yes = 4). Yes: Elaine Street, Kip Hansen, Tanner Thompson, Todd Gleave.
Excused: Brayden Gardner.
- OTHER BUSINESS. Mayor Burrows presented a design for a new pool. He explained that going forward, we will get a cost estimate once we decide on some features that will be included and have some discussions in public meetings for information purposes. Mayor Burrows indicated that we are trying to get to a point where we can go for some funding. However, it may still come down to a vote for a bond. Mayor Burrows stated that he has tried to look at this every which way, and as much as he was hoping we could remodel the existing pool to reduce the costs, it is just not going to happen. If we cannot do something like this now, he does not think we will have a pool in 3 to 4 years.
Mr. Hansen reported that they made a good effort to try and purchase the loader, and he appreciated the leeway the Council gave us. We were hoping to buy it for $55,000, and it ended up selling for way more than that.
Applying for a grant to put a restroom facility in the parking lot at the top of 300 North, where people park to access the bike and OHV trails, was discussed. Carson DeMille stated that they changed the match requirements on the UORG grants we have been getting. It is now a 30% match for Sevier County, which used to be a 50/50 match. So, we do not have to do anything, but if we look at the restroom facility, the match grant amount is $200,000, and with the City’s 30% match, we would be looking at about $285,000, which would be more than enough to build a restroom.
Mr. DeMille also brought up the restoration grant we received last year for the CCC Road and to repave the bike path. That grant is for $150,000, and we could apply for it again this year and gravel and mag another 2 miles of the CCC Road, which would improve the road up to Little Valley.
These grants are due Thursday, so the consensus was to apply for them if Mr. DeMille can get them together in time. Mr. DeMille stated that he would approach the County and see if they would be willing to help with the match on the CCC Road. Mr. DeMille noted that these funds could also be used for an adaptive playground. It was mentioned that we would need new playground equipment for Lions Park. When we get to that point, we should also look at making an application for that.
Mayor Burrows asked where we were on the pump track. Mr. DeMille reported they plan to come in mid-May with an approximate 2-week construction window. He is just finishing up a plan set to put out to bid for the over-excavation of the site. We are hoping we will have a contractor available before then. We will probably have to go back in after them and finish up some sprinklers, sod, and some concrete flatwork. We could potentially do a ribbon cutting in June.
The City received a $10,000 grant to help develop the little mini park on Main Street.
- MEETING ADJOURNED. At 8:50 p.m., Motion: Adjourn, Action: Adjourned, Moved by Tanner Thompson, Seconded by Elaine Street. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yes = 4). Yes: Elaine Street, Kip Hansen, Tanner Thompson, Todd Gleave. Excused: Brayden Gardner.
PASSED and APPROVED this 11th day of April 2022.
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Recorder