11.13.18 Council Minutes

THE STATE OF UTAH
COUNTY OF SEVIER
CITY OF RICHFIELD

At the City Council
In and For Said City
November 13, 2018

Minutes of the Richfield City Council meeting held on Tuesday, November 13, 2018 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. MINUTES APPROVED
5. EXPENDITURES APPROVED
6. PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT
7. PROPERTY MAINTENANCE ISSUES DISCUSSED
8. CANVASS OF ELECTION FOR 2018 TABLED
9. ORDINANCE 2018-5 TO CONTINUE THE ZAP TAX TABLED
10. OPENING AND AMENDING OF THE BUDGET TABLED
11. CURRENT FINANCIAL STATEMENT THROUGH OCTOBER 2018 REVIEWED AND DISCUSSED
12. OTHER BUSINESS
13. MEETING ADJOURNED

 

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, Mike Langston (Not voting), Michele Jolley (Not voting). Excused: Kevin Arrington, Matt Creamer.

 

4. MINUTES APPROVED. The Council reviewed the minutes of the meeting held October 23, 2018. Motion: Approve the minutes of the meeting held October 23, 2018, Action: Approved, Moved by Kathy Christensen, 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.

 

5. EXPENDITURES. The Council reviewed the October 2018 Warrant Register and Cash Disbursement Journal. Mayor Ogden asked about an expense for a genset service to Cummins Rocky Mountain. Councilmember Burrows stated it was for service on the emergency generator at the fire station. Mayor Ogden asked about the plan review fee for the Community Health Center and if we get this back. It is a pass through for fee we pay and bill the developer for. Mayor Ogden also asked about the cost for tree removal, one of which was part of the 100 East project; but the other one does not show where it was located.
The tree removed was thought to be the one in front of Arlene Harris’ house. It was taken out because a limb fell on her house earlier in the year and when the tree was inspected, it was found to be rotten. Mayor Ogden asked about the charge to Turf Equipment Company for sprinkler parts; his concern being that it was not a local company. He wondered if the parts were something that could be purchased locally. If it is a specialized part it could not be purchased locally and the department heads have been asked to purchase items locally when possible. Councilmember Barnett wanted to know how often we pay United Health Care $40,000. Mr. Langston indicated that this is paid monthly. Councilmember Nielson asked about the payment to George Siggins and if this is Janet, the pool manager’s husband. She wondered if this is maintenance on the pool itself. Mr. Langston stated that it is general maintenance on the equipment and the locker rooms, doors, lights, etc. Motion: Approve the Warrant Register and Cash Disbursement Journal for October 2018, 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. PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT. Monte Turner was present to report to the Council the issues addressed in the Planning Commission meeting held last Wednesday. The Commission approved a request by Jenkins Oil who has purchased Nower’s Chevron for a plan to expand the building on the north toward the sidewalk. It will be a gas and convenience store. One item that the Commission asked was for them to install curb and gutter along the north side of their property. They agreed to do that, but Mr. Turner does not believe that they will be able to do that until next spring. They stated that it would depend upon the winter. The project was approved.

 

7. PROPERTY MAINTENANCE ISSUES DISCUSSED. Mr. Billingsley was asked to get a hold of Mr. Ralph Smith at the house and he explained to Mr. Smith that the City was considering demolishing the house. Mr. Billingsley is not pushing this, but it is something that he has to deal with every year. It is an unusual thing for the City to demolish a home and Mr. Billingsley stated that if the City wants to demolish the house, we should have Richard Chamberlain write this up and submit it to the court.

Mr. Smith said that he was a disabled Vet. He stated that he would not allow the City to go in and inspect the home. Mr. Billingsley stated that 11 years ago, Mr. Smith took care of the property, but ever since then, the City has cleaned it up ever year and we have already cleaned it up this year. Mayor Ogden explained that the City was going to take it to the next level hoping that we would not have to mitigate it every year because we want to have our City be safe and have it look nice, which is debatable. Mr. Smith explained that he is gone from March has stayed as late as December 19 on fires. Usually, you go for 2 weeks and come back for 2 days and this might be one of the reasons he is not there. He learns about this in July and he might be in California, Washington or Oregon. Councilmember Nielson spoke to Mr. Smith stating that Mr. Smith knows this is going to happen every year, so she felt that it is something that he could control because he could have someone take care of it or have someone mow the lawn. Mr. Smith said that he will do that from now on.

Councilmember Nielson stated that the thing that she is concerned about is safety and where there have been kids sneaking in there and hanging out becomes a safety issue. Councilmember Barnett expressed his opinion that he has no appetite to take down Mr. Smith’s house, but he would like to not have to worry about this property every year. He asked Mr. Smith what he is going to do about this and Mr. Smith asked what Councilmember Barnett would like him to do about it. Councilmember Barnett explained that the City has given him all kinds of instructions of what to do about it and Mr. Smith has seemed to ignore them or do them on his time table, so we sent a letter stating what the City could do if it so chooses, but we would rather not do that. If we could get some cooperation and see some improvement or some movement in a positive direction, that would be great. Mr. Smith told the Council to let him know what they are going to do and then left.

Councilmember Nielson stated that it is interesting to see someone go in and clean up, fix up or paint and the big impact that has on that neighborhood.

Mr. Billingsley then discussed the Calvin Baker property. He stated that it is interesting that we are talking about the 2 houses in Richfield that have been abandoned and not lived in for over 12 years. The history on the Baker home as explained by Mr. Billingsley goes back before 2007 when Paul Hinrichs was sending notices to the owners of this house. At that time it was Janet and Garson Baker in Torrey, Utah. Mr. Billingsley took over in 2007 and he sent a notice of violation to the Bakers and they responded. Janet called him, needed some more time and they cleaned it up. In July 2008, he sent a notice and ended up sending a second notice and again they responded and cleaned it up. In July of 2013, a notice was again sent to the Bakers in Torrey, Utah and they cleaned it up. In August 2014, a notice was sent to Calvin Baker who lives in Austin, Utah because ownership had been transferred to him. Calvin Baker responded and cleaned it up. In 2015, the same thing happened resulting in the property being cleaned up. In 2016, there was no action after the first notice, so a second notice was sent. After the second notice, Calvin Baker cleaned up the property and Mr. Billingsley closed out the case. Last year, 2017, Mr. Baker did some maintenance on the property and there was no complaint filed, so no notices were sent to Mr. Baker.

This year, the first notice of violation along with pictures was sent July 10, to Calvin Baker and nothing was done, so on August 13, 2018 a second notice was sent along with pictures showing the weeds had grown taller and the tree limbs were falling down. On September 20, the weeds had gotten really tall and were taking over the guy’s property to the north. He spoke with Mr. Creamer and Mr. Langston and was given permission for abatement and then on September 27 we did the abatement. That means that we took all of the weeds off the neighbor’s property; took all the junk materials and put in the shed and cleaned up the property. Once the abatement was completed, an invoice with pictures was sent to Mr. Baker by certified mail. After 2 weeks, Mr. Baker had not picked up his certified mail, so Mr. Billingsley sent him a copy of everything by regular mail because Mr. Billingsley knew Mr. Baker was getting the mail from past experience. Mr. Baker picked up his certified letter on October 31, 2018. He had gotten 3 notices that it was waiting for him and on the last day, he picked it up. The abatement expenses totaled $708 dollars including landfill fees.

Councilmember Burrows was contacted about this and it was upsetting to him. He understood that when Mr. Billingsley was brought back, he was supposed to only address complaints. He made the comment that he hoped it was not the City Council making complaints. His concern is that he went and looked at the house that Mr. Billingsley did the abatement on and he is familiar with the house. Then when he drives up the street, within one block of this place, there are 3 other properties that were worse than or as bad as that property, but no complaints have been made on those places. We have created a monster in a way because we have instructed Mr. Billingsley to only handle properties that he has received complaints on. It has given us a bad rap because those who have been complained on look around and find other properties just as bad that no one is doing anything about.

Councilmember Burrows felt that we need to be sure that the property owner has that certified letter and responded or is hand delivered something before we go on their property and do any abatement. Mr. Billingsley stated that if the first class letter does not come back, under State law, that letter is considered delivered. Councilmember Burrows thought that the abatements should go through the Council. That way if they get a call from someone who is upset, the Council would know what is going on. Mr. Billingsley stated that before any abatement is done, the property owner has 60 days to clean it up and they will have received at least 2 notices. He has always gotten approval from Mayor Ogden or Matt Creamer before moving forward with an abatement, so if the Council wanted him to come to them with the abatements first, he would be fine with that.

Councilmember Nielson felt that this was very frustrating because Mr. Billingsley has been asked to do a job and he is following our ordinance and doing what was asked of him.

The Council came to the conclusion that they wanted Mr. Billingsley to let them know when he is going to start an abatement so that they are informed when people ask them questions.

 

8. CANVASS OF ELECTION FOR 2018 TABLED. The matter was tabled.

 

9. ORDINANCE 2018-5 TO CONTINUE THE ZAP TAX TABLED. The matter was tabled.

 

10. OPENING AND AMENDING OF THE BUDGET TABLED. The matter was tabled.

 

11. CURRENT FINANCIAL STATEMENT THROUGH OCTOBER 2018 REVIEWED AND DISCUSSED. Mr. Langston explained that we are up 1.79% in sales tax over last year. Highways tax is up 4.7%, Transportation tax is up .955 and recreation tax is up 4.70% over last year.

We are 86% of the budget for fuel sales at the airport after 4 months. We have had a lot of fuel sales and will be way over on the revenue side, but on the expense side we are obviously going to buy a lot more fuel too, so we will be over there.

On the expense side, in industrial and tourist promotion we are at 50% of that budget already and we are only at 34% of the year being gone. A lot of this is Christmas decorations. We are quite high on sponsorship of events because of the trail days, which we did not use to have. We will probably go over on this line item, so we will need to open and amend this budget.

During the discussion about the street budget, Mayor Ogden and Mr. Langston reported on the CIB meeting they attended last week. Our application requested 40% loan and 60% grant. The CIB approved a 50% loan and 50% grant to help with our road project this coming summer. The project cost is about 4.45 million dollars and they are giving us 2 million dollars in grant. Councilmember Barnett asked what interest rate we received on the loan. Mr. Langston stated that the loan is for 10 years at 2.5% interest. We talked about using our class c road funds to pay it back and Councilmember Barnett noted that if we pay it back over ten years that still leaves us about half of our class c road funds in the meantime to use on other stuff like new roads, bike paths, curb and gutter, etc. As long as we do not stretch this out into a ten year payment and then find ourselves at the end of ten years without having been able to do anything for six or seven years.

As far as the roads go currently, we have spent a lot of money doing crack seal and Mr. Langston reported that we are going to have to do some more money on crack seal and we are probably going to have to hire that out. Our crew simply will not have time to get all of the crack sealing done where we are going to do the project. The 100 East project is also going forward this next year. Our share of that is going to somewhere in the $300,000 range.

Mayor Ogden discussed a meeting that he had with UDOT to talk about our relationship and he talked with them about the 100 East project. He felt that to make the project work properly we need to have a light on 500 South and they agreed. Even though it does not meet all of the parameters, they are really looking toward a light on 500 South. We could even push for another light and he asked the Council for their opinions.

Councilmember Nielson would like to see a light on 300 South. Councilmember Burrows noted that there have been a lot of accidents on 200 South over the years. Councilmember Nielson felt that the addition of the Paiute Clinic on 400 South was going to create additional traffic at that intersection. Mr. Langston felt that having a light on 500 South was important because of the large trucks that come off 100 East and try to get back on Main Street.

We have spent more on temporary help at the golf course with that line item being at 45%, but that make sense since these are seasonal positions. The pool is significantly over on temporary help which is seasonal to some extent, but we are going to go over on this line item. He has made Mr. Creamer aware of this and Mr. Creamer has talked to Mrs. Siggins, but Mr. Langston does not know what those conversations were. Mr. Langston stated that usage is up at the pool. Councilmember Nielson noted that not only are the wages up, but the utilities are up too. Mr. Langston stated that the utilities are at 33% which is on budget.

Water revenue was mentioned and as far as Mr. Langston remembered, this is up about $30,000 over last year at this time. That makes since because it was an extremely dry summer. Sewer revenue is up about $15,000 to $20,000. With large users, their sewer bills are based upon their water usage.

 

12. OTHER BUSINESS. Councilmember Barnett reported that there is a trailer parked to the side of the house on the street on the corner of 530 South and 1000 West. The jacks are down and there maybe people living in it, but it makes seeing around the corner difficult.

Councilmember Barnett spoke with Mr. Creamer the other day about lighting on the bike path and Councilmember Barnett wanted to know what he or the Council needs to do to get a fire lit under somebody to get this project finished. Mr. Creamer told Councilmember Barnett that he talked to Jones and DeMille about getting an updated estimate, but he thinks now he will just take it to a couple of local electricians and get a bid on it because the conduit is already in. We have $80,000 sitting just waiting to be spent on the bike path. Councilmember Burrows felt that we need to go with LED lights when we do it. Mayor Ogden stated he would push to get this going. Councilmember Burrows did not believe we needed to have Jones and DeMille do anything on this. Their part is already done. Mayor Ogden would really like to see the bike path extended across the road from where it ends on the north.

Councilmember Nielson reported that she was to some meetings up north and Commissioner Ralph Brown and Commissioner Ken Mae were sitting with her and they mentioned to her that the County is not in favor of helping us with a pool. They did say that they would be happy to do anything they could as far has helping us get grants or loans from CIB, but they do not want to put any money into O & M.

Councilmember Christensen reported that they will be putting the lights on the trees on Main Street this Saturday. She asked anyone who was willing to come and help.

 

13. MEETING ADJOURNED. At 9:31p.m., Motion: Adjourn, Action: Approved, Moved by Kathy Christensen, Seconded by Connie Nielson.

 

PASSED and APPROVED this 11 day of December, 2018.