THE STATE OF UTAH
COUNTY OF SEVIER
CITY OF RICHFIELD
At the City Council
In and For Said City
September 28, 2021
Minutes of the Richfield City Council meeting held on Tuesday, September 28, 2021, 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.
- OPENING REMARKS
- PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
- ROLL CALL
- PURCHASE OF A ROUGH MOWER TABLED
- AIRPORT UPDATE
- PUBLIC HEARING – ZONE CHANGE 500 WEST
- AWARD AND AUTHORIZATION FOR NOTICE TO PROCEED WITH THE SEWER LAGOON PROJECT
- RESOLUTION 2021-15 ADOPTED
- ORDINANCE 2021-16 ADOPTED
- REQUEST FOR DENIAL OF ANNEXATION DENIED
- PROPOSAL TO CHANGE METER COMPANIES
- PURCHASE OF A DUMP TRAILER APPROVED
- FINANCIAL STATEMENT REVIEWED
- OTHER BUSINESS
- EXECUTIVE SESSION
- RECONVENE & ADJOURN
- OPENING REMARKS were offered by Councilmember Hansen.
- PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE was led by Councilmember Christensen.
- ROLL CALL. Present: Mayor Ogden, Bryan Burrows, Kathy Christensen, Todd Gleave, Kip Hansen, Connie Nielson, Michele Jolley, Tyson Hansen.
- PURCHASE OF A ROUGH MOWER TABLED. Mr. Hansen explained that we had a demo unit brought down for us to look at. It supposedly had 600 hours and it ended up having 850 hours on it. The air filters were black and it had not been well maintained, so for $43,000 the golf course staff did not feel that this was a very good deal. Mr. Robertson has a contact at TORO and he seemed to think we could get a brand new one for basically the same price as the used one, but we have not had enough time to look into this. We also looked at buying the same type of mower that we bought for the parks, but the golf course staff used tried it and it just does not have the width that they need. They would have to hire another man to run an additional mower to do what the one we have does.
Councilmember Burrows asked if the John Deere quote for $71,040.77 was new. Yes, this was for a brand-new mower. We need to do some more investigation before we will be ready to purchase one. Motion: Table the purchase of a rough mower for the golf course, Action: Tabled, Moved by Kip Hansen, Seconded by Kathy Christensen. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yes = 5). Yes: Bryan Burrows, Connie Nielson, Kathy Christensen, Kip Hansen, Todd Gleave.
- AIRPORT UPDATE. Adam Robinson stated that we will be expanding the apron which is about an $800,000 project, with $36,000 from the State, $36,000 from the City, and the remainder from FAA. We have budgeted for this project in our capital improvement fund for the Airport. He also stated that we need to continue to develop the area on the west side for more hangers, but FAA will not help us on this and it is probably about a $25,000 project. This would give us approximately 150 feet and allow us to lease space for about 4 more hangers.
Mr. Robinson would like to have funds set aside to build some T hangers just north of the Airport building in the near future. That would allow space to be leased for 6 to 8 planes. He felt that the City should build this rather than let someone else because it would be another source of. He believes that it will fill up fairly quickly because we have 10 new pilots at the airport right now.
The Master Plan shows additional areas for future growth of hangers as the airport grows.
Last year we received $20,000 from the COVID money and we used it to seal coat the service road, the parking lot and then we restriped everything. We received another $31,000 this year.
Mr. Robinson reported the number of landings per month comparing 2020 to 2021 has increased. There are some months where we have 600 landings. the hunting season has been good for us. We have grossed $40,000 in fuel sales this past month.
He discussed the upcoming projects for the airport. In 2023 we will get $300,000 from the State for runway rehabilitation and our portion will be $30,000. In 2024, we will have to update the Airport master plan and in 2025 we will have to move the windsock because of its location in proximity to the hangers.
Councilmember Christensen asked if we could use the money from the lease of the ground for hangers to pay for the taxiway.
- PUBLIC HEARING – ZONE CHANGE 500 WEST. Mayor Ogden opened a hearing opened at 7:28 p.m. to receive comments on a request to rezone the property located on 500 West between 700 and 800 South. Joe Cefalia stated that would like to develop some apartments on this property. They are requesting a change to the zoning from RM-11 to RM-24. He has some apartments in Orange County, California and he likes to build nice apartments with 3 beds and two bathrooms. Councilmember Nielson asked how many units they are proposing. Mr. Cefalia indicated that they would build 8 units.
The size of the lot is approximately .44 acres so it is not quite half an acre.
Councilmember Gleave asked if it is one or two-story. Mr. Cefalia indicated that it would be 2 stories with 4 units on the bottom and 4 units on top with 2-car garages. Only half of the units would have garages.
Councilmember Burrows asked when they are proposing to start the project. Mr. Cefalia stated that as soon as they can get permits they will start.
Mayor Ogden closed the hearing at 7:40 p.m.
- AWARD AND AUTHORIZATION FOR NOTICE TO PROCEED WITH THE SEWER LAGOON PROJECT. Carson DeMille stated that normally we have a bid opening and then the Council approves an award. This project is being done a little differently. It is a design-assist. They are almost finished with this process. The contractor is in the process of refining their bid so they were not ready with the numbers tonight. They were hoping to begin before the next Council meeting.
We received 3 bids and WW Clyde was the low bid and 8.193 million; Harward and Rees’ bid was 11.9 million and Hales Sand and Gravel was 12.4 million. WW Clyde was almost 4 million dollars lower than the next lowest bidder. WW Clyde asked if the Council would permit Mayor Ogden to execute a notice of award once their final prices were submitted and reviewed, knowing that it would be under their original bid.
Councilmember Hansen noted that their approach to dewatering was quite a bit different from the other contractors. He asked if that was still workable in Mr. DeMille’s estimation. Mr. DeMille noted that they have discussed this and some of the ideas from the other contractors and they are going to implement some of those. One thing discussed was digging a trench along the south and west side of the lagoons, but they want to extend that and capture some of the drainage before it reaches the lagoons. They are wanting to start this immediately.
Mr. DeMille noted that they dug several holes out there to monitor the groundwater and it has dropped a lot. Most of the holes are dry. Motion: Accept and authorize Mayor Ogden to execute a notice to proceed so long as the bid does not exceed their original bid of $8,193,100, Action: Approved, Moved by Bryan Burrows, Seconded by Kathy Christensen. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yes = 5). Yes: Bryan Burrows, Connie Nielson, Kathy Christensen, Kip Hansen, Todd Gleave.
- RESOLUTION 2021-15 ADOPTED. The Council reviewed a resolution to accept the annexation petition for the annexation of 1500 South Street and some adjoining property because the County is requesting that we do away with the islands. We cannot annex the road without the adjacent property that is not currently in the City.
Councilmember Burrows understands why we are doing this, but he does not think it is right to force people to annex. He has a hard time with it because their property taxes are going to increase. He thinks this is just so wrong. Nancy Jensen of A&D Jensen told the City that she would be okay with annexing if the property could be zoned to allow them to keep their animals there. Also, the last parcel of theirs that was annexed was not required to put improvements in along 1500 South and they would request the same along this property as well. Jeff LaJeunesse, an owner of JKL, was approached and indicated that they would be ok with annexing as well. They have approached the City before about connecting on to the sewer and since they are not in the City they have not been able to.
Councilmember Hansen asked what the appropriate zone would be for the A&D Jensen parcel. He noted that the animals would be able to remain there for a certain time regardless of the zoning. The only zone we have is an RR-1 or RR-5. They could also be allowed in the manufacturing zones.
Motion: Accept the Annexation Resolution 2021-15 to annex 1500 South and adjoining properties, Action: Approved, Moved by Bryan Burrows, Seconded by Kip Hansen. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yes = 5). Yes: Bryan Burrows, Connie Nielson, Kathy Christensen, Kip Hansen, Todd Gleave.
- ORDINANCE 2021-16 ADOPTED. The Council reviewed the ordinance that would set standards for Internal Accessory Dwelling Units. Councilmember Hansen stated that there is not any new information that would change what we need to do. He thinks we have done our due diligence. Motion: Adopt Ordinance 2021-16 establishing requirements for Internal Accessory Dwelling Units, Action: Approved, Moved by Kip Hansen, Seconded by Bryan Burrows. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yes = 5). Yes: Bryan Burrows, Connie Nielson, Kathy Christensen, Kip Hansen, Todd Gleave.
- REQUEST FOR DENIAL OF ANNEXATION DENIED. Bob Bishop requested that the Council deny annexation of some property that he is wanting to develop so that he can do so in the County. Councilmember Burrows thought that half of the property was in the City, but none of the property is in the City.
Mr. Bishop stated that the County will not issue him a building permit unless the City denies his annexation. Councilmember Christensen asked Mr. Bishop why he would not want to be part of the City. Mr. Bishop stated that there are too many taxes. Also, he wondered where the water is going to come from. There is no water available to the property. Councilmember Burrows thought there was a well on the property.
The sewer line is on the east side of the property. The closest water runs into the Justice complex.
Councilmember Nielson asked what he planned to do with the property. Mr. Bishop stated that without water he is not sure what he could do. There is a well on the property, but it has been abandoned. The State does not even recognize it.
Mayor Ogden stated that he is thinking 5 or so years down the road and wonder if the City would be rethinking the decision not to annex that property. Houses could be built on that property and they may or may not want to hook onto the sewer, but would not be able to. Mr. Bishop stated that the property is zoned commercial in the County.
Councilmember Hansen noted that this property is within the City’s annexation boundary. Councilmember Burrows stated that there is not anything on that side of the highway that is in the City so he wondered if this was even something that we needed to look at.
Because the property falls within the City’s annexable area, the cooperative agreement we have with the County requires the City to deny their annexation.
Motion: Deny the annexation of the property located at approximately 481 N Hwy 118, Action: None, Moved by Kathy Christensen. Motion failed for lack of a second. Councilmember Nielson stated that we have grown a lot this year and she is sure that we will continue to grow. She wondered if we deny annexation, would this be a problem down the road. Would we be creating more islands?
Councilmember Christensen asked if we annex this property, would the City need to provide water to the property. Councilmember Hansen stated that if he annexes, he would have to bring water to the City. Councilmember Gleave remembered that Derek Stokes was allowed to annex and we made an agreement with him that he could use his well now, but when water was available, he would be required to annex.
Mr. Bishop stated that the cost to get the water to that property, for no more property than what it is, would not feasible to bring the water to it.
Councilmember Christensen asked if he owned water on this property. Mr. Bishop stated that there is not any water on that property and they are selling it with no water. At present, the State is researching to get him back on the well, but he is being told that it will not be much. There is a septic system on the property because there was a mobile home there years ago.
Councilmember Hansen does not know the legalities of this and if a subsequent owner or Mr. Bishop came to the City in the future and wanted to annex, would this decision be final. Councilmember Burrows stated that if we force him to annex then he would not have to bring water to the City. He would have to connect to the City water, but he would not have to provide water for the annexation.
The property to the south of this has storage units and there is not any water there. The Pet Store does have a well. Councilmember Hansen wondered what would happen if the City did nothing. Councilmember Burrows pointed out that the County would not give him a building permit.
Councilmember Hansen does not see anything changing between now and a subsequent meeting. He does not think anything will. Even though he has a little heartburn about it, he would move to deny the request.
Motion: Approve the request for denial of annexation by Bob Bishop, Action: Motion died for lack of a second. Moved by Kip Hansen. Councilmember Christensen stated that it just makes sense that the property east of him would eventually be annexed into the City and then we would have an island. Councilmember Hansen stated that all we can do is act on this today.
Councilmember Nielson stated that she hates to cause a problem for anyone. She stated that there have been times in the past where they have made a mistake by not looking forward and thinking ahead of what we are going to do. We do not know what is going to happen in the next couple of years. We need to be forward-thinking because there will be water and sewer lines that have to run through there and he may be forced to annex at a later date.
Councilmember Hansen stated that we only have two options; approve the request or deny the request. Tabling it would do absolutely nothing. All it would do is kick the can down the road to do nothing.
Motion: Deny the request to deny annexation, Action: Approved. Moved by Kip Hansen Seconded by Todd Gleave. Vote: Motion passed (summary: Yes = 4, No = 1, Abstain = 0). Yes: Connie Nielson, Kathy Christensen, Kip Hansen, Todd Gleave. No: Bryan Burrows.
- PROPOSAL TO CHANGE METER COMPANIES. Mr. Mogan stated that our current meters are from Neptune and we have had these kinds of meters for over 20 years. We are to the point that some of the meters have reached their life expectancy, so we are going to have to start replacing them. We have been looking at some different options because there are different ways to read the meters. Currently, we have a computer in the truck and we drive through the down which takes approximately 4 to 5 hours.
If we went to a station-based software that would have a server at a central location, like the City office, at the meter reading could be done from that central location.
There is a huge cost in switching out the meters because we have a million-dollar asset in the ground. Twenty years ago, about 80% of our system was Neptune meters so it made sense to continue with that. We have been asked to look at other options because our system is aging and will require some updating. We need to decide if we are going to stay with Neptune or if we are going to go with a different company. A local supplier sells Zenner meters and our current supplier is in *. We have, right now, about 100 bad heads and we have others that are going out each month.
Mr. Mogan noted that there are pros and cons to both systems. We cannot have pieces and parts for each. There are ways that the Zenner meters could be wired into part of our Neptune system, but it makes things very difficult.
A quote from Peterson’s $851,744.12 and then the labor would be separate.
Brad * stated that they typically start with a pilot program and start the program in a certain area of town and then as the meters go bad, we change those out first. The bid given was broken up into 4 different phases to replace the meters moving forward.
Councilmember Nielson asked if we would be able to replace the individual meters that go bad and put in the pieces we need and do it over time or is this something that we need to start over and redo the system.
Councilmember Burrows pointed out that the meters daisy-chain so they read from one meter to the next meter or a repeater would need to be installed. Brad * stated that you build a network across the City and we would be able to pick up most anything. We can do a little of replacing things as needed, but everything in the ground has run its life span and has depreciated out. Communities in similar situations, as they start changing out the meters they find that they have a jump in revenue of what is coming in because the meters get just a little bit of debris in them so the meter takes a little longer to start spinning when the water is turned on.
Councilmember Hansen asked what was a fairly recent community that they have installed one of these systems. Brad* noted the closest community is Annabella. Councilmember Hansen asked how long they have been on the system. Brad* stated within the last year. Glendale was the first community in Utah to go with Zennor meters.
Councilmember Burrows asked how many Neptune meters we still have under warranty. Mr. Mogan stated that we have replaced about 900 meters in the last 6 years. Those are under warranty and they can read with station-based software. They have a 20-year guaranty.
Mr. Hansen stated that, in fairness, we are waiting for Neptune to give us a bid on a station-based system. Councilmember Hansen wondered how long Neptune is committed to supporting the older technology. Councilmember Burrows asked how many meters we are waiting to change right now. Mr. Mogan noted that there are about 100 meters.
Councilmember Nielson stated that if we can go local and the costs are comparable, then we need to go local.
Councilmember Christensen stated that when this was done in the first place, Petersons came in and made a presentation and the City decided to go with Neptune and you figure, they have been with Neptune for 25 years. The amount of money that the City has spent out-of-town, instead of shopping local for 25 years; if we do not make a change in another 100 years or 200 years you are spending all of the money out of your City. We tell people to shop local, but the City Council 25 years ago, to her, screwed up by not caring to shop local.
Right now, Councilmember Nielson stated that we are a big town to live on sales tax and we are a big town to not encourage our community businesses. This is a big deal. This is our survival. She thinks that this needs to be taken into consideration.
Mr. Mogan stated that if we do switch, it needs to be done in a 4 to 5-year period and get it all switched over. This was before his time, but the reason the City decided to go with Neptune is that we were already with Neptune and 80% of the system in the ground at that time was Neptune. If we stay with Neptune, we would not have to change over as quickly, so as the heads go bad they would be changed out. We may have one month where we spend $20,000 or a month where we spend $60,000 and the next month we may not spend anything.
Councilmember Burrows pointed out that if we do a switch over now and we did it over 4 years, we would be looking at $250,000 per year. Mr. Mogan stated that it would cost more than that because this does not include labor and we do not have the manpower to go out and change out all these meters. Something else to consider is that a lot of the meters are in old, 4-bolt setters and expansion setters, and when we start taking those meters apart, we will start creating leaks. Councilmember Burrows stated we would have that when we put in a new Neptune meter. Mr. Mogan noted that this would not necessarily be the case because we would only have to change out the radio when it goes bad and not the whole meter.
Mr. Mogan figured that the cost to change over would almost be double the bid with labor included.
Mr. Mogan was also approached by the other company that is local and sells meters, so they also want a chance to bid on this.
Councilmember Nielson stated that we need to decide how much we are willing to bleed out of our community over the next 20 years. She would like to see the cost of all the companies compared.
Councilmember Hansen wondered if there have been any security issues with these newer systems and if they would be hacked. Brad* stated that generally, the problem is with employees and not with software.
Mayor Ogden asked Brad* if he would be able to find other cities our size and what the cost-benefit would be to change over. Councilmember Hansen indicated that this is probably something that we would have to do an RFP for. Councilmember Burrows stated that Neptune would be cheaper because we already have so many of them in the ground.
Councilmember Burrows asked if there are any grants out there for water conservation that could be applied to this. Brad* is not aware of anything.
Mr. DeMille stated that there would be grants from the Division of Water Quality, but we probably would not get any funds because we do not charge enough for water.
- PURCHASE OF A DUMP TRAILER APPROVED. Mr. Hansen stated that we discussed this in other business at the last meeting. We were able to get a couple of bids and we would use the remaining funds from the repair of the backhoe to purchase this trailer. Jorgensen’s gave us a bid and they will be about 6 months out and Innovative thought it would be about a year out, but they had one come available today. It is slightly different from the other trailers that we have bids for because it has 36” sides and the others 24” sides. The other trailers have a bi-fold door and the Innovative trailer has a 3-way door. It is about $1,000 more given the options on the other trailers. Councilmember Burrows asked how much we have left from the backhoe. Mr. Hansen stated that we have $12,600 and the Innovative trailer is $14,946. Mr. Mogan stated that they originally wanted 36” sides.
Motion: Approve the purchase of a dump trailer from Innovative Trailers for $14,964.15, Action: Approved, Moved by Bryan Burrows, Seconded by Kathy Christensen. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yes = 5). Yes: Bryan Burrows, Connie Nielson, Kathy Christensen, Kip Hansen, Todd Gleave.
PURCHASE OF 3 PARCELS FROM UDOT APPROVED. The Council reviewed the information submitted for the cost associated with the purchase of the 3 parcels of land located south and west of the Cottonwood detention basin for future cemetery space. The total appraisal for the 3 parcels was $162,600. Mayor Ogden noted that the land has to be used for a public purpose and we could not sell the property. He wondered what would happen if the City decided not to use the property for the stated purpose. Would it go back to UDOT and would the City get its money back? Councilmember Christensen could not imagine that we would change what we wanted to use the property for because we do need more cemetery space and that would be a good location for that.
Councilmember Burrows asked if the State owns any of the property that the detention basin is one. They do own some of it and Mr. Mogan is working with the State to determine how much they own. There is also some property owned by the County.
Mr. Mogan stated that this property we are looking at purchasing is very rocky and it may be difficult to get grass to grow there unless we bring in a lot of fill material.
Councilmember Burrows suggested we approach the State about maintaining the part of the detention pond for the cost of the property.
Motion: Table until we get all the particulars, Action: Table, Moved by Bryan Burrows, Seconded by Kathy Christensen. Vote: Motion failed (summary: Yes = 0, No = 5, Abstain = 0). No: Bryan Burrows, Connie Nielson, Kathy Christensen, Kip Hansen, Todd Gleave.
Councilmember Burrows wondered if there has been any soil sample testing done on the property. Mr. Mogan reminded the Council that if we want grass there, we will need to bring in some dirt to make that happen. Councilmember Hansen indicated that this is a good point to make because there are a lot of very nice cemeteries that do not have acres and acres of turf. We might have to have a whole different change of mind for lots of reasons. It takes a lot of water. A cemetery is a public park and so we equate that with lots and lots of lawn, but that does not need to be the case. It could be more xeriscape and a whole different approach that is not a traditional park lawn type cemetery.
Motion: Approve the purchase of the property for $162,600, Action: Approved, Moved by Kip Hansen, Seconded by Kathy Christensen. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yes = 5). Yes: Bryan Burrows, Connie Nielson, Kathy Christensen, Kip Hansen, Todd Gleave.
- FINANCIAL STATEMENT REVIEWED. Mr. Hansen reviewed the financial statement. He noted that the significant sources of revenue are doing okay compared to prior years. Most expenditures are in line with where we should be. Our general fund has a net income of $497,000. The water fund is okay, but as he has mentioned before revenues in August and September were down $35,000 in water sales. That could be due to the stuck meters and the fact that everyone has been told not to water as much. We have earned 24.95% of our revenue and we are 25% into our fiscal year, so we are still on track with what we have projected. Our total operating expenses are looking good in that fund.
The sewer fund has taken a big hit with the lift station and the sewer lagoon project. The line item for work in progress and construction in progress, the balance shows almost one million dollars. Once the bond for the sewer lagoon closes, we can submit for a lot of this money and get most of that back. We have spent $240,000 on the sewer lagoon so far. - OTHER BUSINESS. Mr. Hansen stated that last year we talked about having salt stored in our yard and that it is less expensive to buy it from Redmond, instead of buying it from the County. Also, when we have to get it from the County, they put us on the back burner and cannot get any salt from them until they have taken care of the County. We also have to wait for them to load it for us. We talked about a 3- sided carport which would cost about $5,000 and then we would have to line it. If we are going to benefit from this, we should get it ordered because everything is taking a lot more time to get. He asked the Council if this is something we should do.
Councilmember Burrows wondered if we had not already approved it. Mr. Hansen stated that we talked about it, but it was not decided on. Councilmember Burrows stated that we should look at putting cement stem walls in. Mr. Mogan will get some costs together and bring them back to the Council.
Councilmember Burrows reported that he is still in the process of getting poles for the golf course.
Councilmember Christensen said that our purchasing policy says something about being within 5% then the purchase should be made locally. She wondered if we needed to change this because Amazon would always be cheaper than if you get something locally. She would like to change it in some way so that we get things locally and not from Amazon. Mr. Hansen stated that it is not always possible to buy locally, even from Walmart. Councilmember Nielson stated that we need to set an example and be more supportive of our local business.
- MEETING ADJOURNED. At 9:25 p.m., Motion: Adjourn, Action: Adjourned, Moved by Kathy Christensen, Seconded by Kip Hansen. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yes = 5). Yes: Bryan Burrows, Connie Nielson, Kathy Christensen, Kip Hansen, Todd Gleave.
PASSED and APPROVED this 26th day of October 2021.