THE STATE OF UTAH
COUNTY OF SEVIER
CITY OF RICHFIELD
At the City Council
In and For Said City
June 23, 2020
Minutes of the Richfield City Council meeting held on Tuesday, June 23, 2020 at 4:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Richfield City office building located at 75 East Center, Richfield, Utah. Mayor David C. Ogden presiding.
1. OPENING REMARKS
2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
3. ROLL CALL
4. FIRE STATION REPAIRS DISCUSSED
5. FUNDS FOR SURVEY OF SEWER LAGOONS APPROVED
6. STATE RETIREMENT RESOLUTION 2020-5 ADOPTED
7. RESOLUTION 2020-6 ADOPTING CERTIFIED TAX RATE
8. BUDGET RESOLUTION 2020-7 ADOPTED
9. RECESS TO CONVENE
10. RECONVENE
11. USAGE AGREEMENTS FOR FIELDS AND PARKS TABLED
12. ORDINANCE 2020-7 ADOPTED
13. OTHER BUSINESS
14. EXECUTIVE SESSION
15. MEETING ADJOURNED
1. OPENING REMARKS were offered by Council Member Hansen
2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE was led by Council Member Christensen.
3. ROLL CALL Present: Bryan Burrows, Kathy Christensen, Todd Gleave, Kip Hansen, Connie Nielson, Mayor David Ogden, Michele Jolley.
4. FIRE STATION REPAIRS DISCUSSED. Fire Chief Brian Worely discussed needed repairs at the Fire Station and the costs thereof. He stated that birds are pecking holes through the eve of the fire station. They have patched it a couple of times, but it continues to get worse. There are 13 to 15 different holes. They thought they had a water leak because of the look of the ceiling tiles, but when they got up in there, they found that there had been so many birds in there that the bird dung has damaged the ceiling tiles. They do not know if there are bats in there, but they do have birds in the bays and the kitchen every week. They are making a mess all over the stairs too. They were able to get two bids, one from Busks and one from Outsiders. This will include facia on the front of the beam and going all the way to the wall so it is all closed off. That is the only solution to getting rid of the birds sitting on the eves. Councilmember Christensen asked if they would do the repairs on the inside or from the outside. Chief Worley stated that the repairs would be made on the outside and then the firemen will clean up the inside and replace a few of the ceiling tiles after the repairs are made.
Chief Worley noted that this is too nice of a building to just continue to band-aid. We spent a lot of money getting this building and we want to keep up on the maintenance and keep it looking good.
Councilmember Nielson asked if the Asian Doves are causing the problem. Chief Worley stated that they are like a woodpecker type bird, starlings, etc. Chief Worley noted that the birds are sitting on the beams and pecking the walls. Councilmember Burrows wondered if we should approach the County to see if they would pay half of the repairs. Chief Worley stated that he has not discussed this with the County because we just received a grant from the County to replace all of our air packs. The City was going to pay 5% and the County was going to pay 5%, but some of the smaller cities and towns did not have the funding, so the County stepped up and paid 10% for all of the communities, including Richfield City.
The air packs are good for 15 years. They are about $7,000 a piece to replace. We had 5 packs with the new truck that were still good. Everything else we had was expired. The Fire Department has been putting money into a capital improvement fund to purchase new packs. This will last us 15 years, so it is a great shot in the arm, so he has not approached the County.Councilmember Hansen has looked over the two bids and there is about $6,500 difference between the bids. It looks like Outsiders has given and little more detail, so he asked Chief Worley if we were getting the same job with either company. Chief Worley stated that he had talked to both of the contractors and part of the difference is the Busk Inc. has a scissor lift and Outsiders would have to rent one. It was noted that that was half the difference in the two bids. Councilmember Burrows wondered if the insurance would pay for any of this. The City staff will check into this.
Motion: Award bid to Busk, Inc. for repairs to the fire station and check with the insurance company to determine if this would be covered, Action: Awarded, Moved by Kathy Christensen, Seconded by Kip Hansen. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yea = 5). Yea: Bryan Burrows, Kathy Christensen, Todd Gleave, Kip Hansen, Connie Nielson.
5. FUNDS FOR SURVEY OF SEWER LAGOONS APPROVED. The Council considered approving a survey to be done of the sewer lagoons to determine the scope and cost for the necessary sewer lagoon repairs. Mr. DeMille discussed the sewer lagoons and the repairs needing to be made. He stated that the water has been going into this cell for over a year and there is only about one foot of water in it. Calculations that he has made and that the health department has made indicated that this cell should have been overflowing in about one year from the time that we started to fill it.
Usually, when they do a sewer project, they do it for a minimum of 20 years. If we were to line the large south cell and the two smaller east cells, that would get us through the 20-year mark. Splitting the north cell would get us to at least 30 years.
Some cells would not be worth fixing now because they would not be used, so they would be worthless in 20 years. The cells we have now that have never had water in them are full of weeds, there is no liner in them and they are not any good.
Councilmember Burrows asked what the difference would be to go with a mechanical equipment treatment plant. Mr. DeMille stated that it is always less expensive upfront to build a mechanical treatment facility. They are doing lagoons for Tropic Town right now and they did a study for them and looked at mechanical treatment and lagoons. With a mechanical treatment facility, you have to have a fulltime certified operator and the motors and pumps have to be replaced and then you have chlorination equipment discharge equipment that has regulations and requires testing. Over the long term, mechanical is always more expensive than the lagoon.
Councilmember Gleave wondered why if we have been using the lagoons since 1983 and Mr. DeMille is saying that those cells have been full before, but now we are being told that once we have known we can never use them again. Mr. DeMille stated that he is not saying that they could not use them again, he is saying that they would be full. Councilmember Gleave asked why they will be full in the future, but they have not been for all this time. Mr. DeMille stated that it is because they are leaking at 3 times what is allowable.
Mr. DeMille stated that it may be necessary to fill the bottom and build the backs higher because they do not know what the ground will be like. He is meeting with Brown Brothers Construction next week to see what the constructability of the area would allow. He explained that reconstructing the 70-acre primary and two secondary cells we would be looking at 15 million dollars.
They do not have any survey data on the sewer lagoons so, to give us a good estimate, they want to fly the whole site so that they can map the lagoons. The cost to fly the lagoons will be approximately $8,000.
He believed that the State will be patient with the City as long as they know we are working on something to take of it. Councilmember Burrows asked if there is any money through the State or Federal Government or this type of work. Mr. DeMille stated that the Water Quality offers planning advances and CIB will also do planning grants. Water Quality will do a planning advance which means they will front the money for a planning effort with the assumption that when you do a project we would pay that back.
Mr. DeMille suggested that this will probably be a 3-year project. The design will be at least a 6-month process. We have talked about using some of the material from the detention basin for the fill if it is suitable. Councilmember Hansen asked if the clay is just broadcast to grade or does it have to be incorporated. Mr. DeMille stated that the liner has to be 1-foot thick and it does not have to be solid clay; it just has to be a clay mixture that will meet the State maximum infiltration. He stated that this will be a long process, but we need to get it surveyed.Motion: Approve funds for the survey of the sewer lagoons, Action: Approved, Moved by Bryan Burrows, Seconded by Todd Gleave. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yea = 5). Yea: Bryan Burrows, Kathy Christensen, Todd Gleave, Kip Hansen, Connie Nielson.
6. STATE RETIREMENT RESOLUTION 2020-5 ADOPTED. The State is changing the way that public retirement is calculated for public safety employees. The change would require these employees to pay for a portion of their retirement. Councilmember Hansen felt that it is becoming harder and harder to find good candidates for public safety in general and we do not want to be at a disadvantage in getting the best recruits out there. This resolution authorizes the City to pick-up the portion to be paid by the public safety employees as of July 1, 2020. Motion: Adopt Resolution 2020-5 authorizing the City to pick-up the public safety portion of State retirement, Action: Approved, Moved by Kip Hansen, Seconded by Kathy Christensen. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yea = 5). Yea: Bryan Burrows, Kathy Christensen, Todd Gleave, Kip Hansen, Connie Nielson.
7. RESOLUTION 2020-6 ADOPTING CERTIFIED TAX RATE. The Council reviewed the certified tax rate from the Sevier County Auditor for fiscal year 2020-2021. Motion: Adopt Resolution 2020-6 accepting the certified tax rate from Sevier County Auditor for fiscal year 2020-21, Action: Adopted, Moved by Bryan Burrows, Seconded by Kip Hansen. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yea = 5). Yea: Bryan Burrows, Kathy Christensen, Todd Gleave, Kip Hansen, Connie Nielson.
8. BUDGET RESOLUTION 2020-7 ADOPTED. The Council reviewed the amendments to the budget for 2019-20 and the budget for 2020-21. Motion: Adopt Resolution 2020-7 to open and amend the budget for fiscal year 2019-20 and adopt the budget for fiscal year 2020-21, Action: Adopted, Moved by Kathy Christensen, Seconded by Bryan Burrows. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yea = 5). Yea: Bryan Burrows, Kathy Christensen, Todd Gleave, Kip Hansen, Connie Nielson.
9. RECESS. At 8:06 p.m., Motion: Recess to convene a Municipal Building Authority Meeting, Action: Recessed, Moved by Kip Hansen, Seconded by Kathy Christensen. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yea = 5). Yea: Bryan Burrows, Kathy Christensen, Todd Gleave, Kip Hansen, Connie Nielson.
10. RECONVENE. At 8:10 p.m., regular session reconvened.
11. USAGE AGREEMENTS FOR THE FIELDS AND THE PARKS TABLED. The Council discussed the proposed usage and rental agreements for the parks. Councilmember Christensen stated that she did not agree with not allowing alcoholic beverages or tobacco or vaping products. The City already has a policy that does not allow tobacco products on the parks. Motion: Table the usage and field agreements until the Council has time to review the agreements further, Action: Tabled, Moved by Kip Hansen, Seconded by Kathy Christensen. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yea = 5). Yea: Bryan Burrows, Kathy Christensen, Todd Gleave, Kip Hansen, Connie Nielson.
12. ORDINANCE 2020-7 ADOPTED. The Council reviewed the ordinance to regulate the placement of dumpsters on City rights-of-ways. Councilmember Christensen felt that it was a good thing we were doing this. Motion: Adopt Ordinance 2020-7 regulating the placement of dumpsters on the City rights-of-ways, Action: Adopted, Moved by Kathy Christensen, Seconded by Connie Nielson. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yea = 5). Yea: Bryan Burrows, Kathy Christensen, Todd Gleave, Kip Hansen, Connie Nielson.
13. OTHER BUSINESS. Mayor Ogden reported that the large flag will be fixed tomorrow. He was able to find a 125-foot lift and it will be here at 8:30 in the morning. We are also going to paint the pole while we have the lift. That will save us $9,000. Councilmember Burrows asked if the employees have harnesses? Mayor Ogden that we did. Councilmember Burrows indicated that he would get some harnesses.
The Rotary Club usually does the breakfast on Memorial Day and they wanted to contribute to our flags at the memorial, so they donated $1,000 to help with the flags at the memorial.Mayor Ogden discussed the problems we have been having at the cemetery with theft. He would like to lock the gate the Sunday night before we remove the Memorial Day decorations. He thinks the cemetery should be locked the whole week before Memorial Day. Also, he had a sign that he suggested putting up. Councilmember Burrows did not think people would read it. The council would like to see the kiosk redone and use the leftover pavers from the memorial. Councilmember Nielson stated that there are some chipped and broken pavers at the memorial that need to be replaced.
Councilmember Nielson wanted to discuss the Fourth of July and the parade. After watching the news, she has some concerns about the parade and what we are going to do. She has had a lot of people ask her what we are doing because it has not been advertised. Because the restrictions under the yellow category have changed, it is possible to move forward with a regular parade. We need to encourage people to social distance and wear masks. Councilmember Hansen noted that several communities are moving forward with a regular parade. Mayor Ogden stated that we need to let people know that there will not be any activities held in the park. Councilmember Nielson felt that there would still be people who will go to the park to meet family and friends. Councilmember Nielson wanted to be sure that the parade entries no that they cannot throw candy or other items. Councilmember Hansen indicated that the Council needs to decide what they are doing. The float will be parked by the Ideal Dairy and the Council can meet there before 9:30 a.m. Councilmember Burrows stated that he will not be there.On the 3rd of July, the Children’s Bike Decorating contest will be held at the City Park at 6:00 p.m. Marissa McIff is over this event and she is going to have 3 categories that kids can enter their bikes in. They are most colorful, most patriotic, and most unique. We will have signs posted on the park to remind people they need to social distance. The concert will be held at 8:00 p.m. because we will not have any canopies up and hopefully if we do it later it will be a little cooler. Councilmember Nielson asked if were would still have signs along Main Street to remind people that they cannot leave their vehicles parked there.
14. MEETING ADJOURNED. At 8:44 p.m., Motion: Adjourn, Action: Adjourned, Moved by Kathy Christensen, Seconded by Connie Nielson. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yea = 5). Yea: Bryan Burrows, Kathy Christensen, Todd Gleave, Kip Hansen, Connie Nielson.
PASSED and APPROVED this 22 day of September 2020.