07.30.19 Council Minutes

THE STATE OF UTAH
COUNTY OF SEVIER
CITY OF RICHFIELD

At the City Council
In and For Said City
July 30, 2019

Minutes of the Richfield City Council meeting held on Tuesday, July 30, 2019 at 7:00 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. APPOINTMENTS
5. MINUTES APPROVED
6. EXPENDITURES APPROVED
7. BID ON AIRPORT PROJECT AWARDED
8. ORDINANCES ALLOWING POTBELLY PIGS DISCUSSED
9. POLICIES FOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT APPROVED
10. CHANGES NEEDED TO THE PARADE ORDINANCE DISCUSSED
11. RESOLUTION 2019-5 DISSOLVING THE RICHFIELD REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY ADOPTED
12. RESOLUTION 2019-6 ADOPTED
13. ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEE AT THE GOLF COURSE APPROVED
14. OTHER BUSINESS
15. EXECUTIVE SESSION
16. RECONVENE & ADJOURN

 

1. OPENING REMARKS were offered by Councilmember Nielson.

 

2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE was led by Councilmember Christensen.

 

3. ROLL CALL. Present: Mayor David Ogden (Not voting), Bryan Burrows, Richard Barnett, Kathy Christensen, Connie Nielson, Matt Creamer (Not voting), Mike Langston (Not voting), Michele Jolley (Not voting). Excused: Kevin Arrington.

 

4. APPOINTMENTS. The Council considered appointing Camisha Reed to the Library Board. Motion: Appoint Camisha Reed to the Library Board, Action: Approved, Moved by Kathy Christensen, Seconded by Bryan Burrows. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yea = 4). Yea: Bryan Burrows, Richard Barnett, Kathy Christensen, Connie Nielson. Excused: Kevin Arrington.

 

5. MINUTES APPROVED. The Council reviewed the minutes of the meeting held June 11, 2019. Motion: Approve the minutes of the meeting held June 11, 2019, Action: Approved, Moved by Richard Barnett, Seconded by Connie Nielson. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yea = 4). Yea: Bryan Burrows, Richard Barnett, Kathy Christensen, Connie Nielson. Excused: Kevin Arrington.

 

6. EXPENDITURES APPROVED. The Council reviewed the June 2019 Warrant Register and Cash Disbursement Journal. Councilmember Nielson asked about the Fourth of July expenses for this year. Mr. Langston stated that we budgeted $70,000, but we probably spent close to $85,000 with the purchase of some additional pup ups and trailer. Councilmember Barnett asked if what we purchased was adequate or will be need to purchase more. Mr. Creamer stated that at this point we have not really discussed this. We have 2 that the county has allows us to use, but one of those was somewhat destroyed by wind 2 weeks earlier at the balloon festival. With 2 of theirs and 4 of ours, it pretty well covers spectator seating for the stage and our large food booths. We have 12 of the 13×13 pop-ups that we allow for smaller booths on a first come first serve basis. We ask everyone else to provide their own.

Motion: Approve the Cash Disbursements and Warrants for June 2019, Action: Approved, Moved by Kathy Christensen, Seconded by Richard Barnett. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yea = 4). Yea: Bryan Burrows, Richard Barnett, Kathy Christensen, Connie Nielson. Excused: Kevin Arrington.

 

7. BID ON AIRPORT PROJECT AWARDED. Mr. Creamer stated that we had a bid opening for this project to complete the fencing and paving at the airport. We advertised, but it was thought that because of the time of year, we only received one bid from A & D Jensen. The bid was a little higher than the engineer’s estimate, but FAA is willing to their funding based on the new numbers. The engineer is recommending award of the bid to A&D Jensen Contractors in the amount of $138,070. Mr. Creamer stated that the motion should include authorizing Mayor Ogden executing a notice to proceed once the bonds are in place.

Councilmember Burrows asked what the completion date for the project would be. Brandon Jensen stated that the completion date is 15 days from the day the project starts. Councilmember Burrows wondered if this was possible. Mr. Jensen stated that it is possible if done according to the bid. Motion: Award bid for $138,070 to A & D Jensen Contractors for the airport project and authorize Mayor Ogden to sign a notice to proceed when the bids are in place, Action: Approved, Moved by Bryan Burrows, Seconded by Richard Barnett. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yea = 4). Yea: Bryan Burrows, Richard Barnett, Kathy Christensen, Connie Nielson. Excused: Kevin Arrington.

 

8. ORDINANCES ALLOWING POTBELLY PIGS DISCUSSED. Councilmember Nielson is worried about not having an animal control officer. She is sensitive to the fact that there are people who want and need comfort animals. There is not any way to regulate animals in the City. There is an ordinance against roosters and we have a lot of roosters in the City right. We do not have a way to manage them or enforce the ordinances. Chief Lloyd stated that they go out and deal with complaints as they get them, but they do not go out and proactively look for them. It is one of the highest calls they answer.

Councilmember Nielson asked if the size of property and regulating this way. Councilmember Christensen stated that a potbellied pig is more like a dog. It is not a farm animal.

Kip Hansen stated that this could be considered as a specialty animal or a companion animal. Councilmember Barnett liked the Spanish Fork City ordinance. He wants to make sure that we are not just talking about Ms. Norish’s pig or her individual situation. He does not want pets, but he has nothing against people having pets. This is about what is in the best interest of the community at large. He thought that a similar ordinance to the one that Spanish Fork City has would work.

Councilmember Burrows asked if Councilmember Barnett’s recommendation would be to require a permit. Councilmember Barnett stated that we require a permit for dogs, so we should require a permit for potbellied pigs.

Councilmember Nielson stated that Spanish Fork has a lot of requirements, but we really do not have a way to regulate or monitor it.

Mayor Ogden stated that there seems to be enough support to draft an ordinance and hold a public hearing for this.

 

9. POLICIES FOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT APPROVED. Chief Trent Lloyd discussed by some of the policies that he is amending. He is updating them a little at a time. The policies discussed were as follows: Recruitment and Selection; Grievances; Reporting of Employee Convictions; Drug and Alcohol-Free Workplace; Sick Leave; Communicable Diseases; Smoking and Tobacco Use; Seat Belts; Body Armor; and Employee Speech, Expression and Social Networking. Councilmember Burrows asked if the County’s policies are similar. Chief Lloyd stated that they almost mirror the County’s policies. Motion: Approve the policies for the police department as presented by Chief Lloyd, Action: Approved. Moved by Bryan Burrows, Seconded by Kathy Christensen. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yea = 4). Yea: Bryan Burrows, Richard Barnett, Kathy Christensen, Connie Nielson. Excused: Kevin Arrington.

 

10. CHANGES NEEDED TO THE PARADE ORDINANCE DISCUSSED. Chief Lloyd explained that we had a problem this year with businesses putting chairs out in front of their buildings before the time stated because of the way the ordinance was worded. Chief Lloyd will meet with the County Attorney and come up with some language to be discussed at the public hearing set for next week.

 

11. RESOLUTION 2019-5 DISSOLVING THE RICHFIELD REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY ADOPTED. Mr. Langston stated that the Redevelopment Agency has been used or in effect or had a budget for probably 12 years. The Legislature passed a law that every entity in the State has to be registered with the Lieutenant Governor’s office. There is a filing for each registration of $50. They will not allow us to just say that we do not use it any more; they require us to dissolve the Agency. Motion: Adopt Resolution 2019-5 dissolving the Richfield Redevelopment Agency, Action: Approved, Moved by Kathy Christensen, Seconded by Richard Barnett. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yea = 4). Yea: Bryan Burrows, Richard Barnett, Kathy Christensen, Connie Nielson. Excused: Kevin Arrington.

 

12. RESOLUTION 2019-6 ADOPTED. The Council reviewed Resolution 2019-6 Which expresses the City’s intent to seek financing for a new swimming pool/community development center, outlining said financing request, peroration and maintenance control and costs, and setting a public hearing to accept public comment. Mayor Ogden explained that we are up against a timing situation. He and Mr. Creamer met with Malcolm Nash this morning and Councilmember Burrows spoke with Commissioner Ogden and he had indicated that there is no way that this can be on the ballot until next. So Mayor Ogden is a little concerned about this.

One of the requirements by the County was that the City had to pass a resolution. This is a way to show that the City is committed to this project before they schedule a bond election.

Councilmember Burrows does have some concerns about this project because it has gone from 6 million dollars, to 7 million dollars and now to 8 million dollars. We are starting border on going it alone. Mr. Creamer stated that if we go it alone and the County chooses not to participate of the voters choose not to participate from the County’s side of things; then we formulate our plan for going it alone and move forward.

Councilmember Burrows member noted that Roosevelt spent 14 million dollars on their indoor/outdoor facility. Pat Wilson had come up with some good numbers, better than we have seen, that matched up with other projects that have done the same thing and Councilmember Burrows would trust those figures. Mr. Wilson talked about doing it differently than what Roosevelt had done which would cut those costs significantly and he also talked about the plan of having everything in place to do the outdoor pool. Mr. Creamer stated that the County is saying that the outdoor pool absolutely has to happen, which is why the amount has changed to 8 million. We could still go to the CIB for a 50/50 grant/loan and they could go as low as 1%. If that could happen, we would still be talking about the same debt service that we were talking about at the 3.5 million.

Councilmember Barnett has stated that with the money the City has been putting away, we would have enough money to build an outdoor pool, or at least a significant portion. Councilmember Burrows stated that we should consider maybe going it alone and ask for 10 million.

Mr. Creamer indicated that we could still approach the Legislature and see if they would still be interested in doing a partnership with the College.

Kip Hansen stated that he spoke with the Commissioners earlier in the week and Commissioner Ogden said that they are not interested in packaging the bond without the outdoor pool. That is what people want. He also said that counties should not get involved in recreation, and Mr. Hansen’s point was that the County is already involved in recreation.

Some other concerns that Councilmember Burrows has is with the Medicare that just came down to the State and the issues with the sales tax proposals.

Councilmember Nielson stated that if we are going to try and do this, we are prepped and ready so let us go for it and see what we can do. If we cannot and do not have the support of the County; we own property ourselves. Our odds are better right now than they will be later on, so if we are going to do it then let us go for it.

Councilmember Barnett suggested that the Council needs to pass this resolution because until we do this, there is no project. By doing so, we are saying that we are in favor of seeing this project go forward.

Councilmember Burrows appreciated all of the work that has gone into this by Mayor Ogden and his crew. At least we are moving somewhat forward. Motion: Adopt Resolution 2019-6 stating Richfield City’s support for the proposed swimming pool/ community development center, Action: Approved, Moved by Richard Barnett, Seconded by Kathy Christensen. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yea = 4). Yea: Bryan Burrows, Richard Barnett, Kathy Christensen, Connie Nielson. Excused: Kevin Arrington.

 

13. ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEE AT THE GOLF COURSE APPROVED. Mr. Creamer stated that staff had met with Todd Mullen and Sherri Christensen to discuss this matter. He explained that we are looking at a net impact to the budget of about $40,000. If we hire another full time employee it would cost about $60,000. Mr. Mullen felt that he could probably save $20,000 in part time wages if he had another full time employee. It is not currently in the budget, but Mr. Creamer stated that the funds could come from the contingency fund or the rec tax fund or a combination of the two. We did not feel that we could necessarily anticipate increased revenues due to this situation. We may see that which could help offset some of the costs.

Mr. Creamer proposed taking half from the contingency fund and taking the other half our of rec tax monies to cover this year and then we look at it in the spring. Councilmember Barnett would be okay with that with the caveat that we take half out of the contingency fund and half out of the recreation fund depending upon how our sales tax revenues come in for year-end and if we can cover it from increased sales tax revenue then we should do that.

Mr. Langston stated that as poor as the spring was this year, we still increased our revenues over last year by $4,000 to $5,000. If we would have had a normal year, that could have possibly been $10,000 or $15,000. That could help fund this as well, but we did not dare use the revenues projection toward this. Councilmember Burrows recalled some discussion about this employee being able to be used in the rec department during the winter months. This was discussed, but Mr. Mullen stated that December and January are really the only months that the golf course is not very busy which is a time when people can take vacation, so there needs to be someone out there to cover all of the time. Motion: Approve funding for an additional employee at the golf course through a decrease in part-time salaries at the golf course, recreation tax funds, and contingency funds, Action: Approved, Moved by Richard Barnett, Seconded by Connie Nielson. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yea = 4). Yea: Bryan Burrows, Richard Barnett, Kathy Christensen, Connie Nielson. Excused: Kevin Arrington

 

14. OTHER BUSINESS. Councilmember Barnett has been told that the Lion’s Park is in absolute disrepair with trash everywhere, dirty tables etc. Mr. Creamer stated that he would take with the Parks Director in the morning. Teddy Lewis asked Councilmember Barnett if he could take his son up to the Lion’s Park and do an eagle scout project because there are some electrical things that need to be looked at. He also asked if the City would pay for the supplies and Councilmember Barnett stated that the City has done that in the past. He referred him to Mr. Creamer.

Councilmember Barnett also mentioned all of the cars for sale that have been parked in the Napa parking lot because it is looking like a used car dealership.

Mr. Creamer reported that our new building official met with the County and felt that they could have a very beneficial relationship which had kind of broken down over the last few years.

Councilmember Nielson has been asked when we are going to start work at the new park. Mr. Creamer stated that there was a bid opening, but the engineer failed to include something in the bid package, so they were informed that they would have to bid the project again with a bid opening on August 2.

Mr. Creamer stated that the street maintenance project is underway. The 100 East project will begin next week. He attended a construction progress meeting on the 1300 South project and the road has been widened and they will be paving that next week and it should be completed within the next 2 weeks. Mr. Creamer needed to know who would be going to the annual League meetings by our next meeting.

Councilmember Christensen reported that the trees on Center Street need to be trimmed before school starts. Mr. Creamer has mentioned it to the Public Works Director, but he will mention it again.

Councilmember Christensen has had complaints about the dumpster parked out on the road at the new Rally Stop convenience store. They were supposed to build and enclosure on the south side of the property. Mr. Creamer stated that he would have the building official visit with them about this.

 

15. EXECUTIVE SESSION. At 8:34 p.m., Motion: to convene an executive session to hold a strategy session to discuss the purchase, exchange, or lease of real property, Action: Approved, Moved by Kathy Christensen, Seconded by Bryan Burrows. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yea = 4). Yea: Bryan Burrows, Richard Barnett, Kathy Christensen, Connie Nielson. Excused: Kevin Arrington.

 

16. RECONVENE & ADJOURN. At 8:51p.m., Motion: Reconvene and adjourn, Action: Approved, Moved by Kathy Christensen, Seconded by Richard Barnett. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yea = 4). Yea: Bryan Burrows, Richard Barnett, Kathy Christensen, Connie Nielson. Excused: Kevin Arrington.

PASSED and APPROVED this 10 day of September, 2019.