Highland City Council Meeting
November 3, 2010 7:00 PM - ???
I attended the session from7:00 PM until 9:50 PM at which time the City Council and Mayor went into Executive Session. They were expected to be 1 hour, at which point I came home.
Community Issues:
Mary Lowe - Highland Citizen, addressed the Council. She indicated her backyard bordered a major road and asked that consideration be given whereby she could build a 6’ high privacy fence. Request being considered.
Kent Gibson – Highland Citizen, addressed the Council. He made the identical same request as Mary Lowe above. Request being considered.
Michael Smith – Highland Citizen and student at Lone Peak addressed the Council. He indicated the curb has been painted red on the road that loops behind the high school and wanted to know if he would be ticketed if he parked curbside. It was decided that the curb had been painted red in error and that he could park curbside without fear of a ticket. The City will sandblast the red paint off the curb.
Minutes:
October 19, 2010 – City Council Work Session. After some discussion and correction to the written record the minutes were approved.
October 19, 2010 – Regular City Council Meeting. After some discussion and correction to the written record the minutes were approved.
Scheduled Items:
Motion:
Chris Lee and wife – Future Potential Highland Residents have placed an offer on Lot 8 in the Hyde Estates. This is on a court. There is an existing trail that goes right thru the middle of the court. The City wanted the garage placed (side entry garage) such that it would force the residents to drive out of their driveway instead of backing out of the driveway. According to the City this would be safer for the pedestrians using the trail. Councilman (CM) Braithwaite said public safety was king and the stipulation should not be waived. Tom Butler said we have been surrendering our freedoms for 10 years now, private property was king, and that the side entry garage stipulation should be waived. Hikers should have enough common sense to look both ways before crossing the court and that if they were struck by an auto driven by the Lee family then that is what insurance is for. Butler gets my vote in the future. The council waived the stipulation.
Motion:
The site plan and architectural plan for a new Walgreens retail store complete with a drive-thru located on Lot 6 (northwest corner of SR92 and the Alpine Highway) was approved by the Council.
Ordinance:
Amending Section 3-612, Fences, Walls and Hedges, relating to fencing requirements for property adjacent to arterial, collector streets, and open space areas, fencing between different uses, and fencing design requirements.
Current fencing regulations have led to several concerns from property owners with homes that abut open spaces and are either adjacent to or in close proximity to a public street or active open space area. The concerns expressed have focused on privacy and security issues. The Open Space Committee is recommending that the fencing requirements be changed to allow 6’ opaque fences adjacent to main transportation corridors and open space areas greater than fifty feet in width.
The police chief was not in favor indicating such a fence, which blocks the view of the back of the Barbecoa Fast Food Franchise made it easy for that particular establishment to recently be burglarized. CM Braithwaite felt a 4’ high fence with another 2’ of open fencing would be sufficient for property owners and that that would allow police and other neighbors to monitor each other’s property. He also felt that this kind of a fence would result in safer trails, where open spaces were fenced on both sides. He argued that open spaces fenced on both sides were not safe as they became alleyways and no one from the outside could see in and monitor the well being of pedestrians. CM Tom Butler than spoke his piece. He again said private property is king. If the owner wanted a 6’ opaque fence for privacy issues than he should be able to have it. CM Butler said crime concerns in the “alleyways” could be controlled if more residents got their conceal carry permits or even open carried their weapons. He said people that wanted to leave their private property and travel the public trails should accept some responsibility for their own safety and well-being. CM Smith indicated 50 feet was a lot of real estate and that that should be brought down to 40 feet.
The fencing regulation as proposed two paragraphs above was adopted except that the 50 feet will be changed to 40’.
Motion:
Adopting a new Open Space Agreement & Application for Improvement of open space. An open space agreement allows a resident, in certain circumstances, the ability to landscape a portion of the City owned open space…this would typically appear as the extension of someone’s back yard. A moratorium was placed on additional open space agreements on August 3, 2010 until it could be reviewed and possibly amended.
There was a lot of discussion led by CM Smith. He was in favor of waiving the $240 annual fee as the resident who did the landscaping would then take care of it, reducing the burden on the City, who wouldn’t do as good a job of keeping it up as the private resident probably would do. It was decided by the rest of the council however that there wasn’t enough data collected to make that determination. The new Open Space Agreement is going to be adopted. The annual fees will remain in place until enough data is collected to allow a logical determination as to whether it should be waived at some time in the future or not.
Jim S.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
City Council Oct. 19, 2010
Thanks to Jill C. for this.
Last night, I attended the CC Meeting. Here is my summary of what was discussed:
I. Four citizens made appearances at the beginning:
1. Gerald Omer: lives in a rental that backs up to a public trail. He maintains his area of the trail, but is concerned about debris, concrete chunks, and other misc. that has been showing up on the other parts of the trail. Wanted to know if the city could do a once a year clean up, or post signs.
2. Gina Brown: She stated that money from the city has been set aside for landscaping a hill in the ViewPoint Hill area. She wanted to know if the neighbors could have some input/help plan what is to be landscaped on this hill. Response by John Park (City Administrator): Sprinklers have been put in place. It is a very steep hill and they are looking at planting wildflowers.
3. Kip Gibson: (from Beacon Hills area). Wanted to know if they have revised the fence ordinance and if he was on an upcoming agenda or if there was an update. Response from Nathan Crane (Comm. Dev. Dir.): It is on the Planning Commission Agenda next week. They will work on the proposed ordinance, then it will be come back to the City Council.
II. There was no Public Hearing. It was cancelled because there was no 10 day notice given.
III. Presentation- Annual Library Report (Presented by Kent Slade):
Last year, they had over 6000 borrowers (1/3 of the city). 166k items were circulated. Their goal was to have 25k items and they've exceeded that goal and now have over 29k items catalogued. They have circulated 449 items from other libraries. They've had over 9300 uses on their computers. Over 3,000 children used their Children's Programs. In October 2011 they can submit for a Certified Library and then patrons can use other libraries. This has been their first FULL year of service. We can compare our library size to Payson and Brighm City. They are in need of new staff and money for materials. The videos wear out very quickly. They have a very energetic Library Board. Brian B. asked about goals. Mr. Slade answered that their long range plan is to become State Certified. They have met their goals for this, now it is just waiting time. Scott S. stated that the library is almost built out. In future we'll need to make a plan. Mr. Slade stated that if they could get $10k in next year's budget, they would be able to hire one PT staff.
The question was then brought up about the library fees, and where were they going? Lynn Ruff stated that they money can go back to the Library Foundation. The Mayor requested that the above statistics be mailed to himself and the CC members.
IV. CC Minutes from 10/5/10: A few grammatical changes to the minutes (from Kathryn S). Minutes were adopted and approved.
V. Open Space Improvement (this was the longest portion of the meeting):
Here is the history taken from last night's agenda:
BACKGROUND:
On June 15, 2010 the City Council approved an Open Space Improvement application submitted by
Robert Boyer for property located at 4071 West Park Circle in the View Pointe Subdivision.
On July 20, 2010 Debbie Kinjo, a View Pointe Subdivision resident appeared before the City Council
regarding this approval and asked the application be reconsidered. At the July 20, 2010 meeting Mayor
Ritchie noted correctly that Matt Shipp was working with Mr. Boyer to suspend the agreement until
the Open Space Committee has time to address this and other issues on Open Space agreements. Mr.
Shipp informed Mr. Boyer via e-mail on July 20 that his open space agreement was rescinded.
• Staff has been told that Mr. Boyer intends on planting trees in the open space area the weekend
of October 16, 2010.
• A few neighbors in the View Pointe subdivision have contacted member(s) of the City Council
concerning lack of proper notification of the surrounding neighbors.
• The City Council is working with the Open Space committee to establish details to allow open
space agreements based on individual circumstances unique to every open space subdivision.
• The open space agreement dated May 27, 2010 states the following in paragraph seven of the
agreement, “City may in its sole discretion require the removal of said improvements at any
time”.
• Although the City Council did inform Mr. Shipp to work with Mr. Boyer to not allow the
improvements until they have a chance to rework the open space policy, Council never took
formal action.
• At least one member of the City Council has expressed concern that the Council was not
properly informed that the improvements were to take place on open space that was previously
improved.
On October 13, 2010 the City Administrator contacted Mr. Boyer via e-mail asking Mr. Boyer to not
improve the open space the weekend of October 16th in order to allow time for the City Council to
officially review this application.
Back on June 15, when Mr. Boyer submitted his original landscape plan and request to plant on the Open Space behind his home, the plan had included bushes, flower beds, and many trees. The city council told him that he could just plant the trees. According to Mr. Boyer, he had contacted several of the neighbors before talking to the city and they were ok with his plan. After the city approved his plans, the neighbors decided that they didn't want the trees in their open space. The reasons they cited were 1) it would block their views, and 2) it would take up too much space in the Open Space that they all share, and 3) it would be used as a fence for privacy and they don't want fences. After receiving complaints from the neighbors, the city asked Mr. Boyer to not plant the trees until something could be worked out.
Within the last week, several of the City Council Members went and looked at all of the homes locations, the height of the homes, the size of the open space, etc. Mr. Boyer came to the meeting last night ready to revise his landscaping plan to include 6 trees (3 maples, and 3 dwarf blue spruce) which he had already purchased. He wanted to plant all 6 of them 5' off of the back of his property line on the Open Space property. There were several neighbors there and they didn't want that. After MUCH discussion between the City Council members and all of the neighbors, it was decided by the City Council that he can plant 3 trees (of any variety) no more than 5' off of his property and the other 3 trees will have to go on his own property. After this decision was made, the Mayor gave a plea to the neighbors to not let something so small as this mar the relationships they have with one another. The final vote from the CC was: "Yes" Tom, Kathryn, Scott; "No" Larry and Brian.
VI. Communication Items:
1. Lone Peak Public Safety & Police Report (by Larry Mendenhall):
Larry read a bunch of statistics:
Last month they responded to 421 public generated calls and 355 officer generated calls. They did 68 traffic stops, and reponded to 20 medical calls. In Alpine there were 22 animal calls and 22 for Highland. There were 13 abandoned 911 calls in Alpine and 20 abandoned 911 calls in Highland.
Kathy Loveland is our Victim Assistant. She assists citizens in community paperwork, provides leadership, listening ear, and helps family members when there is a death (until other family members arrive).
Chief Botkin recommends that for greater safety we lock up our homes, shut garage doors, and keep animals locked up.
2. Cedar Hills Boundary Adjustment (presented by John Park):
Cedar Hills wants some of our property. They are calling it a "Boundary Adjustment" which is similar to an "Annexation". Part of the property that Cedar Hills wants from us includes their golf course and the Highland Hill by the GC and some county property on SR-92.
Scott S. stated that we need to keep in mind the properties that could some day be developed for a tax base. John Park (City Adm) stated that our city neighbors to the east and west are aggressively expanding their commercial tax bases and we get all of the headache (traffic, etc) and none of the benefits.
What Cedar Hills wants will leave a penninsula for Highland, which by state law should not be done.
Kathryn reminded us that Zone #2 is a "Well Protection Site".
Tom wanted to know if this is a land swap, or is Cedar Hills just wanting our land.
Mayor said that we will send 2 CC members, the city adm. and himself to meet with 2 of their CC members, city adm. and mayor. Kathryn and Brian volunteered to be a part of this committee.
3. Future Work Session (presented by Mayor Ritchie) will be Nov. 3. Nov. 16th the County is invited to go through the Interlocal Agreement. It is very detailed and they need to go through it before it gets put on an agenda. Larry wanted to know why we need to do an Audit Work Session. Kathryn stated that she wants more transparency. $700k and $900k were supposed to be paid to Highland and she want to make sure they were depostied.
John talked about Exaction Fees: There is a contractor (interested in some developing in Highland--I think he said) who wants a session concerning these fees. A work session was set up for Dec. 16th 5:00 before the CC Mtg.
4. Last June, the CC was informed that the monthly water bills (for every citizen) have been $5.02 short for the last 5-7 years. That ends up being $18k short per month and a $215k per year loss. We haven't been running in the red, but because of this, our reserves are not as high as they should be. Last June, it was decided that , since the taxes had already been raised, that they would not raise the water bill yet and wait until the next budget session (in July 2011). Now, there is a need for a new pump. It will take a month before Matt Shipp can get the pump out of the ground to see what it will take to repair it (costs would range from $10k to $200k). Kathryn was very adamant about not raising the fees without public notice. They will discuss this more after they find out how much the repair bill will be. The Public Hearing will be determined at a future time.
Last night, I attended the CC Meeting. Here is my summary of what was discussed:
I. Four citizens made appearances at the beginning:
1. Gerald Omer: lives in a rental that backs up to a public trail. He maintains his area of the trail, but is concerned about debris, concrete chunks, and other misc. that has been showing up on the other parts of the trail. Wanted to know if the city could do a once a year clean up, or post signs.
2. Gina Brown: She stated that money from the city has been set aside for landscaping a hill in the ViewPoint Hill area. She wanted to know if the neighbors could have some input/help plan what is to be landscaped on this hill. Response by John Park (City Administrator): Sprinklers have been put in place. It is a very steep hill and they are looking at planting wildflowers.
3. Kip Gibson: (from Beacon Hills area). Wanted to know if they have revised the fence ordinance and if he was on an upcoming agenda or if there was an update. Response from Nathan Crane (Comm. Dev. Dir.): It is on the Planning Commission Agenda next week. They will work on the proposed ordinance, then it will be come back to the City Council.
II. There was no Public Hearing. It was cancelled because there was no 10 day notice given.
III. Presentation- Annual Library Report (Presented by Kent Slade):
Last year, they had over 6000 borrowers (1/3 of the city). 166k items were circulated. Their goal was to have 25k items and they've exceeded that goal and now have over 29k items catalogued. They have circulated 449 items from other libraries. They've had over 9300 uses on their computers. Over 3,000 children used their Children's Programs. In October 2011 they can submit for a Certified Library and then patrons can use other libraries. This has been their first FULL year of service. We can compare our library size to Payson and Brighm City. They are in need of new staff and money for materials. The videos wear out very quickly. They have a very energetic Library Board. Brian B. asked about goals. Mr. Slade answered that their long range plan is to become State Certified. They have met their goals for this, now it is just waiting time. Scott S. stated that the library is almost built out. In future we'll need to make a plan. Mr. Slade stated that if they could get $10k in next year's budget, they would be able to hire one PT staff.
The question was then brought up about the library fees, and where were they going? Lynn Ruff stated that they money can go back to the Library Foundation. The Mayor requested that the above statistics be mailed to himself and the CC members.
IV. CC Minutes from 10/5/10: A few grammatical changes to the minutes (from Kathryn S). Minutes were adopted and approved.
V. Open Space Improvement (this was the longest portion of the meeting):
Here is the history taken from last night's agenda:
BACKGROUND:
On June 15, 2010 the City Council approved an Open Space Improvement application submitted by
Robert Boyer for property located at 4071 West Park Circle in the View Pointe Subdivision.
On July 20, 2010 Debbie Kinjo, a View Pointe Subdivision resident appeared before the City Council
regarding this approval and asked the application be reconsidered. At the July 20, 2010 meeting Mayor
Ritchie noted correctly that Matt Shipp was working with Mr. Boyer to suspend the agreement until
the Open Space Committee has time to address this and other issues on Open Space agreements. Mr.
Shipp informed Mr. Boyer via e-mail on July 20 that his open space agreement was rescinded.
• Staff has been told that Mr. Boyer intends on planting trees in the open space area the weekend
of October 16, 2010.
• A few neighbors in the View Pointe subdivision have contacted member(s) of the City Council
concerning lack of proper notification of the surrounding neighbors.
• The City Council is working with the Open Space committee to establish details to allow open
space agreements based on individual circumstances unique to every open space subdivision.
• The open space agreement dated May 27, 2010 states the following in paragraph seven of the
agreement, “City may in its sole discretion require the removal of said improvements at any
time”.
• Although the City Council did inform Mr. Shipp to work with Mr. Boyer to not allow the
improvements until they have a chance to rework the open space policy, Council never took
formal action.
• At least one member of the City Council has expressed concern that the Council was not
properly informed that the improvements were to take place on open space that was previously
improved.
On October 13, 2010 the City Administrator contacted Mr. Boyer via e-mail asking Mr. Boyer to not
improve the open space the weekend of October 16th in order to allow time for the City Council to
officially review this application.
Back on June 15, when Mr. Boyer submitted his original landscape plan and request to plant on the Open Space behind his home, the plan had included bushes, flower beds, and many trees. The city council told him that he could just plant the trees. According to Mr. Boyer, he had contacted several of the neighbors before talking to the city and they were ok with his plan. After the city approved his plans, the neighbors decided that they didn't want the trees in their open space. The reasons they cited were 1) it would block their views, and 2) it would take up too much space in the Open Space that they all share, and 3) it would be used as a fence for privacy and they don't want fences. After receiving complaints from the neighbors, the city asked Mr. Boyer to not plant the trees until something could be worked out.
Within the last week, several of the City Council Members went and looked at all of the homes locations, the height of the homes, the size of the open space, etc. Mr. Boyer came to the meeting last night ready to revise his landscaping plan to include 6 trees (3 maples, and 3 dwarf blue spruce) which he had already purchased. He wanted to plant all 6 of them 5' off of the back of his property line on the Open Space property. There were several neighbors there and they didn't want that. After MUCH discussion between the City Council members and all of the neighbors, it was decided by the City Council that he can plant 3 trees (of any variety) no more than 5' off of his property and the other 3 trees will have to go on his own property. After this decision was made, the Mayor gave a plea to the neighbors to not let something so small as this mar the relationships they have with one another. The final vote from the CC was: "Yes" Tom, Kathryn, Scott; "No" Larry and Brian.
VI. Communication Items:
1. Lone Peak Public Safety & Police Report (by Larry Mendenhall):
Larry read a bunch of statistics:
Last month they responded to 421 public generated calls and 355 officer generated calls. They did 68 traffic stops, and reponded to 20 medical calls. In Alpine there were 22 animal calls and 22 for Highland. There were 13 abandoned 911 calls in Alpine and 20 abandoned 911 calls in Highland.
Kathy Loveland is our Victim Assistant. She assists citizens in community paperwork, provides leadership, listening ear, and helps family members when there is a death (until other family members arrive).
Chief Botkin recommends that for greater safety we lock up our homes, shut garage doors, and keep animals locked up.
2. Cedar Hills Boundary Adjustment (presented by John Park):
Cedar Hills wants some of our property. They are calling it a "Boundary Adjustment" which is similar to an "Annexation". Part of the property that Cedar Hills wants from us includes their golf course and the Highland Hill by the GC and some county property on SR-92.
Scott S. stated that we need to keep in mind the properties that could some day be developed for a tax base. John Park (City Adm) stated that our city neighbors to the east and west are aggressively expanding their commercial tax bases and we get all of the headache (traffic, etc) and none of the benefits.
What Cedar Hills wants will leave a penninsula for Highland, which by state law should not be done.
Kathryn reminded us that Zone #2 is a "Well Protection Site".
Tom wanted to know if this is a land swap, or is Cedar Hills just wanting our land.
Mayor said that we will send 2 CC members, the city adm. and himself to meet with 2 of their CC members, city adm. and mayor. Kathryn and Brian volunteered to be a part of this committee.
3. Future Work Session (presented by Mayor Ritchie) will be Nov. 3. Nov. 16th the County is invited to go through the Interlocal Agreement. It is very detailed and they need to go through it before it gets put on an agenda. Larry wanted to know why we need to do an Audit Work Session. Kathryn stated that she wants more transparency. $700k and $900k were supposed to be paid to Highland and she want to make sure they were depostied.
John talked about Exaction Fees: There is a contractor (interested in some developing in Highland--I think he said) who wants a session concerning these fees. A work session was set up for Dec. 16th 5:00 before the CC Mtg.
4. Last June, the CC was informed that the monthly water bills (for every citizen) have been $5.02 short for the last 5-7 years. That ends up being $18k short per month and a $215k per year loss. We haven't been running in the red, but because of this, our reserves are not as high as they should be. Last June, it was decided that , since the taxes had already been raised, that they would not raise the water bill yet and wait until the next budget session (in July 2011). Now, there is a need for a new pump. It will take a month before Matt Shipp can get the pump out of the ground to see what it will take to repair it (costs would range from $10k to $200k). Kathryn was very adamant about not raising the fees without public notice. They will discuss this more after they find out how much the repair bill will be. The Public Hearing will be determined at a future time.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
City Council Meeting 8/17/2010
Hi All:
There were two huge things discussed tonight:
First, approving a contract for the Murdock Connector Highway. It was approved. See my notes. Basically, if the highway costs more than $4 million, Highland City carries ALL costs.
Second, approving expenditures to make the former City Building ADA compliant. $66K approved. I think this is ridiculous.
*********************************
Highland City Council Meeting
August 17th, 2010, 7:00pm
Open Petitions:
1. A woman petitioned for the city to consider reducing building permit fees. She is building a windmill on her property, and has a $260 building permit fee and a $480 conditional use fee (I think because the pole is 45 feet high?)
2. A man showing his support, and also those of his neighbors, for agenda item #7 regarding remodeling the former city hall per ADA requirements. They would like to see it as a building for use of dance recitals and other community events.
Motion: Perpetual Easement on Property to the rear of the former Highland Water Company.
Global Signal Acquisitions has requested to perpetually lease the property. They would essentially purchase it for $223,000. Currently, the income is $16,512/annually. The city would not ever need access to the land. It was recommended by the City Commissioner to table it until they get further information because he feels they have incomplete information. Motion made to continue this item when all information is gathered.
Motion: Approve or Deny the request from Alpine School District for a water requirement reduction for the 9600 N, 6900 W subdivision.
Alpine School District currently owns the subdivision, which consists of 3 lots. One lot is owned by the LDS church, which has already had the requirement waved. The School District asked for the requirement to be waved on the other 2 lots (which are asphalt roadway).
This would set a precedent for excluding waving the water reduction requirements on roads.
My comment: this seems a bit ridiculous. Of course roads should not have a watering requirement.
Moved: to deny the request. Seconded.
Motion: Approving the Interlocal Cooperation Agreement with Utah County for the Highway project known as “Murdock Connector”.
Utah County will reimburse $186,605 of design work purchased by Highland City. Utah County will not reimburse Highland City until they sign the contract.
Utah County obligates Highland City over $4 million dollars for the highway. The city will own the highway and be responsible for maintenance.
A debate ensued for a long time concerning assuming the cost over $4 million on the road. One council member believes the road will cost about $8 million. Another city council member believes this is a great way to get a very good road that we need anyway, and at least we get part of it, if not all, paid for.
Motion to accept the contract, seconded. Ammendment proposed to have $4 million dollars clarified—how exactly will that be spent. Seconded. All in favor.
Motion: Authorizing expenditures as a capital priority to remodel the former City Hall per ADA requirements.
Cities exist to better the residents. We need a gathering place. We need a way to encourage kids to get off the couch and participate, to interact. Two grand pianos have gone unused and been ruined. There is no place to gather for senior citizens. If we have recitals/family events, grandparents will attend. It must be ADA compliant. Arts Council promises to do fundraising for any other costs above making the building ADA complaint. They would not come back to the city for additional funding.
Utilities, paid for by the city, would be about $4000/year. The possibility was raised of recouping that money through rental costs of the rooms in the building.
Is the cash flow good enough for us to do that? $33,000 would come from capital building fund. The rest would come from the general fund.
One Council Member expressed concern that the Highland City has been in crisis mode for the past year and agreed not to discuss this for six months, yet it’s only been two. He believes would should be conservative and wait. He is concerned that this building will simply be a place for the Arts Council and not a community center. He mentioned that the Pointe Academy could work with the Arts Council to use their rooms. Let’s look at the options.
Motion made by Larry Mendenhall to approve the expenditure.
Discussion: City Managers says they feel comfortable with cash flow in approving this request.
Approved.
There were two huge things discussed tonight:
First, approving a contract for the Murdock Connector Highway. It was approved. See my notes. Basically, if the highway costs more than $4 million, Highland City carries ALL costs.
Second, approving expenditures to make the former City Building ADA compliant. $66K approved. I think this is ridiculous.
*********************************
Highland City Council Meeting
August 17th, 2010, 7:00pm
Open Petitions:
1. A woman petitioned for the city to consider reducing building permit fees. She is building a windmill on her property, and has a $260 building permit fee and a $480 conditional use fee (I think because the pole is 45 feet high?)
2. A man showing his support, and also those of his neighbors, for agenda item #7 regarding remodeling the former city hall per ADA requirements. They would like to see it as a building for use of dance recitals and other community events.
Motion: Perpetual Easement on Property to the rear of the former Highland Water Company.
Global Signal Acquisitions has requested to perpetually lease the property. They would essentially purchase it for $223,000. Currently, the income is $16,512/annually. The city would not ever need access to the land. It was recommended by the City Commissioner to table it until they get further information because he feels they have incomplete information. Motion made to continue this item when all information is gathered.
Motion: Approve or Deny the request from Alpine School District for a water requirement reduction for the 9600 N, 6900 W subdivision.
Alpine School District currently owns the subdivision, which consists of 3 lots. One lot is owned by the LDS church, which has already had the requirement waved. The School District asked for the requirement to be waved on the other 2 lots (which are asphalt roadway).
This would set a precedent for excluding waving the water reduction requirements on roads.
My comment: this seems a bit ridiculous. Of course roads should not have a watering requirement.
Moved: to deny the request. Seconded.
Motion: Approving the Interlocal Cooperation Agreement with Utah County for the Highway project known as “Murdock Connector”.
Utah County will reimburse $186,605 of design work purchased by Highland City. Utah County will not reimburse Highland City until they sign the contract.
Utah County obligates Highland City over $4 million dollars for the highway. The city will own the highway and be responsible for maintenance.
A debate ensued for a long time concerning assuming the cost over $4 million on the road. One council member believes the road will cost about $8 million. Another city council member believes this is a great way to get a very good road that we need anyway, and at least we get part of it, if not all, paid for.
Motion to accept the contract, seconded. Ammendment proposed to have $4 million dollars clarified—how exactly will that be spent. Seconded. All in favor.
Motion: Authorizing expenditures as a capital priority to remodel the former City Hall per ADA requirements.
Cities exist to better the residents. We need a gathering place. We need a way to encourage kids to get off the couch and participate, to interact. Two grand pianos have gone unused and been ruined. There is no place to gather for senior citizens. If we have recitals/family events, grandparents will attend. It must be ADA compliant. Arts Council promises to do fundraising for any other costs above making the building ADA complaint. They would not come back to the city for additional funding.
Utilities, paid for by the city, would be about $4000/year. The possibility was raised of recouping that money through rental costs of the rooms in the building.
Is the cash flow good enough for us to do that? $33,000 would come from capital building fund. The rest would come from the general fund.
One Council Member expressed concern that the Highland City has been in crisis mode for the past year and agreed not to discuss this for six months, yet it’s only been two. He believes would should be conservative and wait. He is concerned that this building will simply be a place for the Arts Council and not a community center. He mentioned that the Pointe Academy could work with the Arts Council to use their rooms. Let’s look at the options.
Motion made by Larry Mendenhall to approve the expenditure.
Discussion: City Managers says they feel comfortable with cash flow in approving this request.
Approved.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
City Council Meeting Minutes 20 July 2010
by Devirl
It was a five-hour meeting but an important one for the Country Club Subdivision.
Appearances
1. Greg Parkinson, member of the Open Space Steering Committee (OSSC), spoke first. There is a new U-Haul storage facility in Highland. – Greg asked the City Council to tell the Planning Commission to verify the information an applicant gives them before approving anything. The picture shown to the PC was nothing like what is actually on the site. The buildings were never built and RV’s, boats etc. are being parked there without permission from the City. There are two problems.
a. No PC member visited the site and therefore the PC made an uniformed decision.
b. Enforcement issue - City is not enforcing its own regulations. NOTE: The City Development Director once told me (EDB) that enforcement wasn’t his (City Hall’s) job. They depend on the residents to point out infractions; reactive, not proactive. That assumes the residents know the law and take the initiative to report the problem. It’s been my experience that even when infractions are reported, the city historically does not respond well. I talked to Councilman Smith about this after the meeting. He’s had the same experience and the Council will move to improve on that. I suspect the new City Administrator, John Park, will get an assignment. By the way John came across in the meeting as quite knowledgeable and is not shy about speaking up.
2. Dave Hall, also a member of the OSSC, spoke in support of the proposed ordinance to allow street legal ATV’s to be operated on the city streets. The CC approved the new ordinance and directed Police Chief Botkin to enforce the ordinance ie pull over the ATV drivers and verify that the vehicle is street legal, the driver is licensed and over sixteen. Objective is get the “five year old ATV drivers” off the residential street. The chief said the police department will respond to calls from citizens.
3. Resident Compliant – Similar situation to #1 above: The City Council recently approved an application for a resident to landscape ten feet into an open space area. The applicant misrepresented the impact on the open space area and the neighbors No one actually went out and looked. Scott Smith took responsibility for the bad decision. The applicant’s neighbors complained to the Open Space Committee Monday and spoke at the CC meeting Tuesday. The approval is being rescinded. “This will not happen again.” said Smith.
At this point we were twenty minutes into a five-hour meeting and this report is on its way to being ten pages long. The rest of the notes will be much more cryptic. The meeting minutes will be on the website in about thirty days for those who want all the detail.
Agenda Items – not taken is sequence by the CC.
6.1 Tree Commission Report – Highland was given the Tree City USA award again for about the 12th year. Mayor Ritchie was very complimentary. We were one of just a couple cities that planted over 400 trees this year. The annual tree planting included 3 Eagle Scout projects, 132 volunteers, 258 volunteer hours, and about $8000 in grant money. I’m guessing the replacement value of the trees planted over the past ten years exceeds $3,000,000. Their value will triple in the next ten years.
7.1 & 7.2 Group Home and Elderly Home Ordinances passed. We, the residents in the Country Club Subdivision, received several complements and expressions of appreciation from the Mayor, three council persons and a couple members of the Planning Commission. Some of the comments were:
a. “You did work that we did not have to do.”
b. “This is a model ordinance for other cities to follow.”
c. “I read the ordinance very carefully and couldn’t find anything I would change.”
Larry Mendenhall of the old regime told me personally that they really thought there was nothing they could do but to approve the Makin application. He voted in favor of the new ordinance and was very happy to do so.
7.3 CC approved a temporary change to the Town Center development plan to limit the number of residences to 162 (Toscana Town Houses). The CC still has a lot of research and debate left concerning the town center development.
The CC had three difficult issues handed to them in January. A legal battle over a rehab facility, a large town house development that nobody wanted and a budget that had to be cut. In addition they have the SR-92 construction and the 4800 West widening going on. The covering of the Murdock Canal and the addition of a major trail have added significantly to their burden. They are working hard (the CC probably 20 hours a week each and mayor Ritchie 40+) and solving tough problems.
7.4 Street legal ATV on Highland streets. Alpine passed a similar ordinance 18 months ago and Chief Botkin said the police have not had an increase in accidents, etc. in Alpine.
7.? The CC discussed a farmer’s market for Highland. There was considerable deliberation. The CC was very careful to word it well. I think it got approved.
9.1 There was a serious safety issue so the CC approved a change to Wendy’s drive through traffic flow. “This is a big improvement.” Councilman Smith said he asked a U-DOT supervisor about putting a light in where Town Center Drive enters SR-92. He was told, “Do even talk to me about that.” Matt Shipp, City Engineer, shrugged his shoulders, bounced his head a couple times and said ”Don’t’ worry about it Scott. He says that to everyone. We’re working on it.”
8.1 Use of Highland City Hall for meetings. Tom Butler championed the reduction in use fee for the residents, pushed for longer hours and more availability. Tom said, the building belongs to the residents of Highland and they should be able to use it. He’s trying to make the building more accessible to the citizens. The new cost will be between $10 and $15 per hour and is open to everything but a religious meeting. Tom checked the insurance liability coverage and it’s not a problem. Councilman Smith wanted to verify Tom’s findings.
9.2 There is $460K earmarked for Beacon Hills Park. This is money that has already been collected from developers and can only be spent on the Beacon Hills park. The only problem is the money was collected and sort of moved around over the last couple years and $0 has been spent up there on grass, trees and facilities. The current CC budgeted some money for this and is collecting the funds. They approved $72K to be spent to finalize the plan and start making park like improvements. This has been dragging on for seven years. The current administration is working long overdue issues.
9.3 The CC approve $35K for sod for the Highland Hills Detention Pond. NOTE: The CC is acting in a fiscally responsible way. They check cash flow before funding budgeted projects. If the cash flow drops off they will delay projects that are in the budget. Remember, they cut 9.9% out of the city budget in order to balance the books going forward and to have a little money for long overdue projects. Matt Shipp is making a serious contribution to the city’s cash position by bringing work in house and cutting his budget.
5.1 The CC eliminated an ordinance pertaining to rock crushing outside the gravel pit. West Rock is crushing rock on site so the CC is acting proactively to eliminate the possibility of someone else coming along and setting us a rock crushing facility some where else in Highland. NOTE: West Rock pays Highland City about $12,000 a month for the rock they pull out of the pit. This will go on for another 5 to 10 years.
5.2 International Building Code was adopted by Highland City Council on a 3 to 2 vote. There were about eight companion codes that were included. One of them is the International Fire Code. NOTE: The only thing not specifically called out in the Group Home ordinance that we wanted was a reference to the IFC. The Group Home ordinance states that ”all applicable building and safety ordinances will apply”. We indirectly got the IFC too!! It can be done.
It was a long and successful night. The new administration is making a few minor mistakes BUT they are taking responsibility for them and moving quickly to rectify those errors and are taking steps to resolve many tough issues inherited from the previous administration.
Make it a point to attend the Planning Commission, Tree Commission, Open Space Steering Committee and/or the City Council meetings some time during the next six months. They are public meetings. They are often tedious but what is talked about affect all Highland residents one way or another. We all can make a difference.
It was a five-hour meeting but an important one for the Country Club Subdivision.
Appearances
1. Greg Parkinson, member of the Open Space Steering Committee (OSSC), spoke first. There is a new U-Haul storage facility in Highland. – Greg asked the City Council to tell the Planning Commission to verify the information an applicant gives them before approving anything. The picture shown to the PC was nothing like what is actually on the site. The buildings were never built and RV’s, boats etc. are being parked there without permission from the City. There are two problems.
a. No PC member visited the site and therefore the PC made an uniformed decision.
b. Enforcement issue - City is not enforcing its own regulations. NOTE: The City Development Director once told me (EDB) that enforcement wasn’t his (City Hall’s) job. They depend on the residents to point out infractions; reactive, not proactive. That assumes the residents know the law and take the initiative to report the problem. It’s been my experience that even when infractions are reported, the city historically does not respond well. I talked to Councilman Smith about this after the meeting. He’s had the same experience and the Council will move to improve on that. I suspect the new City Administrator, John Park, will get an assignment. By the way John came across in the meeting as quite knowledgeable and is not shy about speaking up.
2. Dave Hall, also a member of the OSSC, spoke in support of the proposed ordinance to allow street legal ATV’s to be operated on the city streets. The CC approved the new ordinance and directed Police Chief Botkin to enforce the ordinance ie pull over the ATV drivers and verify that the vehicle is street legal, the driver is licensed and over sixteen. Objective is get the “five year old ATV drivers” off the residential street. The chief said the police department will respond to calls from citizens.
3. Resident Compliant – Similar situation to #1 above: The City Council recently approved an application for a resident to landscape ten feet into an open space area. The applicant misrepresented the impact on the open space area and the neighbors No one actually went out and looked. Scott Smith took responsibility for the bad decision. The applicant’s neighbors complained to the Open Space Committee Monday and spoke at the CC meeting Tuesday. The approval is being rescinded. “This will not happen again.” said Smith.
At this point we were twenty minutes into a five-hour meeting and this report is on its way to being ten pages long. The rest of the notes will be much more cryptic. The meeting minutes will be on the website in about thirty days for those who want all the detail.
Agenda Items – not taken is sequence by the CC.
6.1 Tree Commission Report – Highland was given the Tree City USA award again for about the 12th year. Mayor Ritchie was very complimentary. We were one of just a couple cities that planted over 400 trees this year. The annual tree planting included 3 Eagle Scout projects, 132 volunteers, 258 volunteer hours, and about $8000 in grant money. I’m guessing the replacement value of the trees planted over the past ten years exceeds $3,000,000. Their value will triple in the next ten years.
7.1 & 7.2 Group Home and Elderly Home Ordinances passed. We, the residents in the Country Club Subdivision, received several complements and expressions of appreciation from the Mayor, three council persons and a couple members of the Planning Commission. Some of the comments were:
a. “You did work that we did not have to do.”
b. “This is a model ordinance for other cities to follow.”
c. “I read the ordinance very carefully and couldn’t find anything I would change.”
Larry Mendenhall of the old regime told me personally that they really thought there was nothing they could do but to approve the Makin application. He voted in favor of the new ordinance and was very happy to do so.
7.3 CC approved a temporary change to the Town Center development plan to limit the number of residences to 162 (Toscana Town Houses). The CC still has a lot of research and debate left concerning the town center development.
The CC had three difficult issues handed to them in January. A legal battle over a rehab facility, a large town house development that nobody wanted and a budget that had to be cut. In addition they have the SR-92 construction and the 4800 West widening going on. The covering of the Murdock Canal and the addition of a major trail have added significantly to their burden. They are working hard (the CC probably 20 hours a week each and mayor Ritchie 40+) and solving tough problems.
7.4 Street legal ATV on Highland streets. Alpine passed a similar ordinance 18 months ago and Chief Botkin said the police have not had an increase in accidents, etc. in Alpine.
7.? The CC discussed a farmer’s market for Highland. There was considerable deliberation. The CC was very careful to word it well. I think it got approved.
9.1 There was a serious safety issue so the CC approved a change to Wendy’s drive through traffic flow. “This is a big improvement.” Councilman Smith said he asked a U-DOT supervisor about putting a light in where Town Center Drive enters SR-92. He was told, “Do even talk to me about that.” Matt Shipp, City Engineer, shrugged his shoulders, bounced his head a couple times and said ”Don’t’ worry about it Scott. He says that to everyone. We’re working on it.”
8.1 Use of Highland City Hall for meetings. Tom Butler championed the reduction in use fee for the residents, pushed for longer hours and more availability. Tom said, the building belongs to the residents of Highland and they should be able to use it. He’s trying to make the building more accessible to the citizens. The new cost will be between $10 and $15 per hour and is open to everything but a religious meeting. Tom checked the insurance liability coverage and it’s not a problem. Councilman Smith wanted to verify Tom’s findings.
9.2 There is $460K earmarked for Beacon Hills Park. This is money that has already been collected from developers and can only be spent on the Beacon Hills park. The only problem is the money was collected and sort of moved around over the last couple years and $0 has been spent up there on grass, trees and facilities. The current CC budgeted some money for this and is collecting the funds. They approved $72K to be spent to finalize the plan and start making park like improvements. This has been dragging on for seven years. The current administration is working long overdue issues.
9.3 The CC approve $35K for sod for the Highland Hills Detention Pond. NOTE: The CC is acting in a fiscally responsible way. They check cash flow before funding budgeted projects. If the cash flow drops off they will delay projects that are in the budget. Remember, they cut 9.9% out of the city budget in order to balance the books going forward and to have a little money for long overdue projects. Matt Shipp is making a serious contribution to the city’s cash position by bringing work in house and cutting his budget.
5.1 The CC eliminated an ordinance pertaining to rock crushing outside the gravel pit. West Rock is crushing rock on site so the CC is acting proactively to eliminate the possibility of someone else coming along and setting us a rock crushing facility some where else in Highland. NOTE: West Rock pays Highland City about $12,000 a month for the rock they pull out of the pit. This will go on for another 5 to 10 years.
5.2 International Building Code was adopted by Highland City Council on a 3 to 2 vote. There were about eight companion codes that were included. One of them is the International Fire Code. NOTE: The only thing not specifically called out in the Group Home ordinance that we wanted was a reference to the IFC. The Group Home ordinance states that ”all applicable building and safety ordinances will apply”. We indirectly got the IFC too!! It can be done.
It was a long and successful night. The new administration is making a few minor mistakes BUT they are taking responsibility for them and moving quickly to rectify those errors and are taking steps to resolve many tough issues inherited from the previous administration.
Make it a point to attend the Planning Commission, Tree Commission, Open Space Steering Committee and/or the City Council meetings some time during the next six months. They are public meetings. They are often tedious but what is talked about affect all Highland residents one way or another. We all can make a difference.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Emergency Services may be cut
Here is some information that we received. We don't know who the original source is.
"I attended the meeting this morning (Public Safety Board Meeting? - Thursday morning at 7:00 AM), for the public input at the Highland City offices on EMS/Police budgets. (It was at 7:00am, which is darn near impossible for people to attend for public input!!!!)
For right now, they adopted a temporary budget. But these 2 cities are still not in the clear, which will greatly affect our school! If they go with the proposed budget, it will mean we will NOT have a full-time officer on campus next year, and we will NOT be offering the Law Enforcement class. (because Officer Thurston will have to go out on patrol to replace the positions lost)
There are still 2 more times you can give a show of support and request that they DO NOT cut the bduget.
Alpine City Council meeting May 25th 7:00pm
Highland City Council meeting June 1st 7:00pm
PLEASE get the word out, get your neighbors to attend 1 or both of these meetings if you live up here. I don't live in this area, but I am going to both meetings because I work in this area, and so do all of you. If any of you happen to need an ambulance, or police service, you may or may not get it if there aren't enough officers or paramedics able to respond (they cannot leave a call until they are finished, so you would have to WAIT YOUR TURN).
Channel 4 News at 5:00pm tonight will be commenting on this. "
--------------------------------------------
This is what I (EDB) found out.
I talked to Lorie Adams first. She has been the secretary for the Safety Board for 13 years.
I talked to Police Chief Botkin for a few minutes at Lorie's desk.
I talked to Jess Adamson (past mayor) this afternoon.
Jess and I attended the CC budget working meeting Saturday morning.
BACKGROUND - Emergency Medical Services (EMS) -the paramedics and fire fighters - and the Police have separate budgets and different jurisdictions.
POLICE - Two cities served - Alpine and Highland - The board meets at least monthly and each town is represented by two city councilmen. Larry Mendenhall is the chairman this year and Tom Butler is the second representative from Highland. Ken Hastings (sp?) represents Alpine along with one other Alpine city councilman.
Budget Issue - The board is split. Tom and Ken want to cut the police budget more and the other two are holding the line. Lorie said a split board has never happened before. The respective City Councils will have to direct the board members as to how to vote.
Manpower Issue -
1. The current force has 18 police which is the MINIMUM required for double coverage (responder has a backup) and to have Officer Thurston stationed at Lone Peak H. S. One officer retired a few weeks ago so the current staff is 17.
2. According to Jess, the City determined in about 2005 that the Highland/Alpine area needed 20 officers to adequately patrol the area. This was based on the crime rate in 2004. This provided .873 officers per 1000 residents. The national average is 1.7. Lehi and American Fork run around 1.25. NOTE - Two things have changed since 2005. The populations of both cities have grown AND we are currently in a down economy which historically boosts the crime rate. Our current coverage is about .65/1000 or about half of our neighboring towns.
3. The consequence of NOT replacing the retired officer (bring the force back to the 18 minimum) is, according to Chief Botkin, Officer Thurston will have to leave LPHS and go back out on patrol. There are two problems with this scenario. First, LPHS has historically had a serious drug problem and Officer Thurston's presence is seen as a significant deterrent. He may be indirectly lowering the crime rate in the two cities by curtailing the drug traffic. Second, the Alpine School District gives the Highland police department $34K per year (according to Chief Botkin) to have Officer Thurston on campus full time. If we put Officer Thurston back on the street, we loose $34K. In essence, Officer Thurston is a low cost officer doing crime prevention and he is available to respond to an emergency anywhere in the city.
Rumor - There is some talk about reducing the force to 13 officers.
Conclusion - Based on the information i've been given, it appears to me that 18 officers is the minimum force we should have which means we need to hire an officer, pronto.
Citizen Action Item - Go to both the Alpine and Highland City Council public hearings and tell them what you want them to do. Alpine hearing - Tuesday 25 May at 7:00 PM. Highland hearing - Tuesday, 1 June at 7:00 PM.
EMS & FIRE PROTECTION - Three cities served - Alpine, Highland, Cedar Hills. I think the board has five or six members - not sure.
I have conflicting information. I believe Lorie said the EMS budget was alright. Jess however believes the funding for EMS is in big trouble. I have not had time to verify any of what follows.
HISTORY - Highland was the first city to have 24 hours EMS coverage in all of North County. I saw a presentation by the Fire Chief and we have a very impressive operation. If you have an emergency, as a Highland resident you will be attended by highly qualified personnel and they are less than five minutes away.
Budget Issue
1. Highland got a five year grant for 4 paramedics. The grant runs out this year.
2. EMS has to budget $150K per year for the new fire station. This is only the second year, I think.
3. The EMS department ran a "transfer service" for most of North County - taking people to American Fork hospital - but since AF set up their own EMS department last year, they have taken over much of that service. This WAS a major revenue source.
Obvious Conclusion - It appears EMS has lost much of its funding and will see significant cuts IF some creative alternatives are not found soon. The aging population will probably want 24 hour EMS coverage.
Action Item - Again, attend the public hearings and voice an opinion.
BUDGET MEETING LAST SATURDAY
The new City Administrator, John Park?, was at the meeting. He lives near the Highland boarder in American Fork. He takes office on 6 July 2010. I don't know anything more about him.
Budget - Highland appears to be solvent. That's the good news. The bad news is the City Fathers are looking for ways to establish an operating cushion. This means raising fees on sewer, water, etc. Jess and I talked about this after the meeting and applaud their fiscal responsibility but believe there is a better approach. I'm running some numbers and gathering data. More later.
Budgeting and Accountability - Good news. This council is adjusting some of the fees so the money that is collected is used for that service. Today, for example, the sewer charges generate an overage that historically has been moved to other uses. That is how the $700K the developer paid for the Beacon Hill park got used on ... who knows what. Councilman Braithwaight confided in me that he was on the council a year before he realized how the money was being handled. He is adamant about using the money for what it is collected.
BOTTOM LINE -
Government is as good as the citizens make it.
You may want to understand why your fees are going to go up.
Your services are going to go down in the name of cost cutting if you let it.
The City Council wants your input/support.
These are difficult times.
Hard decisions are being made.
You may want to participate.
IDEA -
Would you be interested in a citizen opinion poll?
I could build an email list of "interested citizens" and when an issue comes up I would be willing to gather the background information and then ask your opinion.
For example: Given the discussion on the police force above, would you vote to decrease the force some more, increase the force to 20 or keep it at the current level (18) even if it meant a small ($2/month) increase in your taxes?
"I attended the meeting this morning (Public Safety Board Meeting? - Thursday morning at 7:00 AM), for the public input at the Highland City offices on EMS/Police budgets. (It was at 7:00am, which is darn near impossible for people to attend for public input!!!!)
For right now, they adopted a temporary budget. But these 2 cities are still not in the clear, which will greatly affect our school! If they go with the proposed budget, it will mean we will NOT have a full-time officer on campus next year, and we will NOT be offering the Law Enforcement class. (because Officer Thurston will have to go out on patrol to replace the positions lost)
There are still 2 more times you can give a show of support and request that they DO NOT cut the bduget.
Alpine City Council meeting May 25th 7:00pm
Highland City Council meeting June 1st 7:00pm
PLEASE get the word out, get your neighbors to attend 1 or both of these meetings if you live up here. I don't live in this area, but I am going to both meetings because I work in this area, and so do all of you. If any of you happen to need an ambulance, or police service, you may or may not get it if there aren't enough officers or paramedics able to respond (they cannot leave a call until they are finished, so you would have to WAIT YOUR TURN).
Channel 4 News at 5:00pm tonight will be commenting on this. "
--------------------------------------------
This is what I (EDB) found out.
I talked to Lorie Adams first. She has been the secretary for the Safety Board for 13 years.
I talked to Police Chief Botkin for a few minutes at Lorie's desk.
I talked to Jess Adamson (past mayor) this afternoon.
Jess and I attended the CC budget working meeting Saturday morning.
BACKGROUND - Emergency Medical Services (EMS) -the paramedics and fire fighters - and the Police have separate budgets and different jurisdictions.
POLICE - Two cities served - Alpine and Highland - The board meets at least monthly and each town is represented by two city councilmen. Larry Mendenhall is the chairman this year and Tom Butler is the second representative from Highland. Ken Hastings (sp?) represents Alpine along with one other Alpine city councilman.
Budget Issue - The board is split. Tom and Ken want to cut the police budget more and the other two are holding the line. Lorie said a split board has never happened before. The respective City Councils will have to direct the board members as to how to vote.
Manpower Issue -
1. The current force has 18 police which is the MINIMUM required for double coverage (responder has a backup) and to have Officer Thurston stationed at Lone Peak H. S. One officer retired a few weeks ago so the current staff is 17.
2. According to Jess, the City determined in about 2005 that the Highland/Alpine area needed 20 officers to adequately patrol the area. This was based on the crime rate in 2004. This provided .873 officers per 1000 residents. The national average is 1.7. Lehi and American Fork run around 1.25. NOTE - Two things have changed since 2005. The populations of both cities have grown AND we are currently in a down economy which historically boosts the crime rate. Our current coverage is about .65/1000 or about half of our neighboring towns.
3. The consequence of NOT replacing the retired officer (bring the force back to the 18 minimum) is, according to Chief Botkin, Officer Thurston will have to leave LPHS and go back out on patrol. There are two problems with this scenario. First, LPHS has historically had a serious drug problem and Officer Thurston's presence is seen as a significant deterrent. He may be indirectly lowering the crime rate in the two cities by curtailing the drug traffic. Second, the Alpine School District gives the Highland police department $34K per year (according to Chief Botkin) to have Officer Thurston on campus full time. If we put Officer Thurston back on the street, we loose $34K. In essence, Officer Thurston is a low cost officer doing crime prevention and he is available to respond to an emergency anywhere in the city.
Rumor - There is some talk about reducing the force to 13 officers.
Conclusion - Based on the information i've been given, it appears to me that 18 officers is the minimum force we should have which means we need to hire an officer, pronto.
Citizen Action Item - Go to both the Alpine and Highland City Council public hearings and tell them what you want them to do. Alpine hearing - Tuesday 25 May at 7:00 PM. Highland hearing - Tuesday, 1 June at 7:00 PM.
EMS & FIRE PROTECTION - Three cities served - Alpine, Highland, Cedar Hills. I think the board has five or six members - not sure.
I have conflicting information. I believe Lorie said the EMS budget was alright. Jess however believes the funding for EMS is in big trouble. I have not had time to verify any of what follows.
HISTORY - Highland was the first city to have 24 hours EMS coverage in all of North County. I saw a presentation by the Fire Chief and we have a very impressive operation. If you have an emergency, as a Highland resident you will be attended by highly qualified personnel and they are less than five minutes away.
Budget Issue
1. Highland got a five year grant for 4 paramedics. The grant runs out this year.
2. EMS has to budget $150K per year for the new fire station. This is only the second year, I think.
3. The EMS department ran a "transfer service" for most of North County - taking people to American Fork hospital - but since AF set up their own EMS department last year, they have taken over much of that service. This WAS a major revenue source.
Obvious Conclusion - It appears EMS has lost much of its funding and will see significant cuts IF some creative alternatives are not found soon. The aging population will probably want 24 hour EMS coverage.
Action Item - Again, attend the public hearings and voice an opinion.
BUDGET MEETING LAST SATURDAY
The new City Administrator, John Park?, was at the meeting. He lives near the Highland boarder in American Fork. He takes office on 6 July 2010. I don't know anything more about him.
Budget - Highland appears to be solvent. That's the good news. The bad news is the City Fathers are looking for ways to establish an operating cushion. This means raising fees on sewer, water, etc. Jess and I talked about this after the meeting and applaud their fiscal responsibility but believe there is a better approach. I'm running some numbers and gathering data. More later.
Budgeting and Accountability - Good news. This council is adjusting some of the fees so the money that is collected is used for that service. Today, for example, the sewer charges generate an overage that historically has been moved to other uses. That is how the $700K the developer paid for the Beacon Hill park got used on ... who knows what. Councilman Braithwaight confided in me that he was on the council a year before he realized how the money was being handled. He is adamant about using the money for what it is collected.
BOTTOM LINE -
Government is as good as the citizens make it.
You may want to understand why your fees are going to go up.
Your services are going to go down in the name of cost cutting if you let it.
The City Council wants your input/support.
These are difficult times.
Hard decisions are being made.
You may want to participate.
IDEA -
Would you be interested in a citizen opinion poll?
I could build an email list of "interested citizens" and when an issue comes up I would be willing to gather the background information and then ask your opinion.
For example: Given the discussion on the police force above, would you vote to decrease the force some more, increase the force to 20 or keep it at the current level (18) even if it meant a small ($2/month) increase in your taxes?
Friday, April 23, 2010
April 20, 2010 City Council Meeting
Highland City Council
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Appearances:
• Beacon Hill representative expressed the responsibility of city to build a park in their subdivision citing a contractual obligation the city has to put the park in. Beacon Hill has collected money from lots sold specifically for the building of park. Law shows that impact fees must be accounted for. The citizens are getting angry.
Response: Lynn Ritchie expressed that the money has been spent on parks, but not on the Beacon Hill Park yet. He said we intend to do that, we just need the money. The code specifies that it needs to be spent on parks in six years, but not a specific park. They are looking to start a multi-year project to work towards putting one in.
• Paul Reynolds wants the city to revisit the fence ordinance in Beacon Hill.
Response: The city is in the process of putting together an Open Space Committee. They will be sending letters out to participants for that in the next day or two and will work with each of the subdivisions.
• Richard Miller from Highland Heights wants deck problem addressed.
Response: The Open Space Committee will address that too.
Presentation/Public Hearings:
• UDOT SR-92 – Widening Project Update
The overall corridor theme is to mimic what you would find in American Fork Canyon. The entrance city monument sign will be made of cultured stone, and “Highland City” will light up on the sign. There will be walls on the sides of Dry Creek, with a pedestrian pathway underneath highway. A box covert will carry the stream flow. The corridor will accommodate bikes. UDOT asked for acceptance of landscaping concept, concurrence of entry feature, agreement of city participation and maintenance agreement.
Response: Mr. Braithwaite expressed concern regarding the entrance logo, that it is too busy. UDOT will make adjustments in a week, and then the City will get back to UDOT in two weeks at the next meeting.
• Public Hearing on the Surplus of Property located along 4800 West to include the home at 10945 North 4800 West. Home was bought by city. It will be either sold and moved or demolished.
Action Items:
• 9.1 Gary Cooper owns the burned out house on 6800 West and appealed to the City Council to stay the condemnation of the structure until 31 July 2010. The City first contacted Mr. Cooper in September 2009 but for various reasons (some legitimate) he ignored the City. The City has been receiving as many as five phone calls a week about the structure and they finally sent Mr. Cooper a notice he couldn’t ignore. After about twenty minutes of discussion the Council agreed to give Mr. Cooper until 31 July to clear the property. The Council was rational in their deliberation, insistent and fair.
• 9.2 UDOT is widening SR-92 and will landscape both sides. UDOT is asking the city to sign an agreement to maintain the landscaping. “It the gateway to the city.” The Council did not give the Mayor permission to sign the agreement until certain clarifications were made. The Council anticipates approval on 4 May 2010.
It was interesting and pleasing to see care with which the Council debated the issue.
Councilman Brian Braithwaite questioned the wording of the agreement pointing out many inconsistencies and ambiguities in the process. “I want to make sure we understand what we are committing to.”
Councilman Scott Smith objected to the grass and tree plan because it is going to be expensive maintain AND we do NOT have the money to finish the parks in the city. Scott suggested we look at low maintenance, low water landscaping for at least part of the project. He wants a maintenance estimate before he approves it.
Councilman Tom Butler had estimated it would cost $5,500 a season to mow the mile lone landscape based on the number of square feet of grass involved. Water and sprinkler maintenance was not included.
Councilman Larry Mendenhall reminded the Council that SR-92 is the gateway to the city and it should not be landscaped and maintained “on the cheap”.
Councilman Scott Smith pointed out that we need to recognize that we live in a desert and need to conserve our resources. Someone supported this notion by pointing out the median on Alpine Highway is low maintenance and quite attractive.
• 9.3 Similar to 9.2 and continued to 4 May for the same reasons.
Minutes:
• 11.1 The PC and CC had a joint working session concerning the new ordinance for rehab facilities. The PC will discuss their final draft on 27 April and the CC anticipates reviewing in the following Tuesday, 4 May. Note: Mr. Barfuss submitted a one-page critique to the Planning Commission and City Staff on the current draft on 18 April. The ordinance, as written, looks quite good.
Council/Staff Reports
• 12.2 Open Space landscape maintenance cost $636,000 last year. The Parks Department estimates they can do the job in house at a substantial savings. Councilman Braithwaite was complementary BUT skeptical. There was considerable discussion. Councilperson Kathryn Schramm pointed out the MD Properties came back two different times asking for more money; an additional $111,000 for sprinkler repair, for example, in addition to a gas price increase and a cost of living increase.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Appearances:
• Beacon Hill representative expressed the responsibility of city to build a park in their subdivision citing a contractual obligation the city has to put the park in. Beacon Hill has collected money from lots sold specifically for the building of park. Law shows that impact fees must be accounted for. The citizens are getting angry.
Response: Lynn Ritchie expressed that the money has been spent on parks, but not on the Beacon Hill Park yet. He said we intend to do that, we just need the money. The code specifies that it needs to be spent on parks in six years, but not a specific park. They are looking to start a multi-year project to work towards putting one in.
• Paul Reynolds wants the city to revisit the fence ordinance in Beacon Hill.
Response: The city is in the process of putting together an Open Space Committee. They will be sending letters out to participants for that in the next day or two and will work with each of the subdivisions.
• Richard Miller from Highland Heights wants deck problem addressed.
Response: The Open Space Committee will address that too.
Presentation/Public Hearings:
• UDOT SR-92 – Widening Project Update
The overall corridor theme is to mimic what you would find in American Fork Canyon. The entrance city monument sign will be made of cultured stone, and “Highland City” will light up on the sign. There will be walls on the sides of Dry Creek, with a pedestrian pathway underneath highway. A box covert will carry the stream flow. The corridor will accommodate bikes. UDOT asked for acceptance of landscaping concept, concurrence of entry feature, agreement of city participation and maintenance agreement.
Response: Mr. Braithwaite expressed concern regarding the entrance logo, that it is too busy. UDOT will make adjustments in a week, and then the City will get back to UDOT in two weeks at the next meeting.
• Public Hearing on the Surplus of Property located along 4800 West to include the home at 10945 North 4800 West. Home was bought by city. It will be either sold and moved or demolished.
Action Items:
• 9.1 Gary Cooper owns the burned out house on 6800 West and appealed to the City Council to stay the condemnation of the structure until 31 July 2010. The City first contacted Mr. Cooper in September 2009 but for various reasons (some legitimate) he ignored the City. The City has been receiving as many as five phone calls a week about the structure and they finally sent Mr. Cooper a notice he couldn’t ignore. After about twenty minutes of discussion the Council agreed to give Mr. Cooper until 31 July to clear the property. The Council was rational in their deliberation, insistent and fair.
• 9.2 UDOT is widening SR-92 and will landscape both sides. UDOT is asking the city to sign an agreement to maintain the landscaping. “It the gateway to the city.” The Council did not give the Mayor permission to sign the agreement until certain clarifications were made. The Council anticipates approval on 4 May 2010.
It was interesting and pleasing to see care with which the Council debated the issue.
Councilman Brian Braithwaite questioned the wording of the agreement pointing out many inconsistencies and ambiguities in the process. “I want to make sure we understand what we are committing to.”
Councilman Scott Smith objected to the grass and tree plan because it is going to be expensive maintain AND we do NOT have the money to finish the parks in the city. Scott suggested we look at low maintenance, low water landscaping for at least part of the project. He wants a maintenance estimate before he approves it.
Councilman Tom Butler had estimated it would cost $5,500 a season to mow the mile lone landscape based on the number of square feet of grass involved. Water and sprinkler maintenance was not included.
Councilman Larry Mendenhall reminded the Council that SR-92 is the gateway to the city and it should not be landscaped and maintained “on the cheap”.
Councilman Scott Smith pointed out that we need to recognize that we live in a desert and need to conserve our resources. Someone supported this notion by pointing out the median on Alpine Highway is low maintenance and quite attractive.
• 9.3 Similar to 9.2 and continued to 4 May for the same reasons.
Minutes:
• 11.1 The PC and CC had a joint working session concerning the new ordinance for rehab facilities. The PC will discuss their final draft on 27 April and the CC anticipates reviewing in the following Tuesday, 4 May. Note: Mr. Barfuss submitted a one-page critique to the Planning Commission and City Staff on the current draft on 18 April. The ordinance, as written, looks quite good.
Council/Staff Reports
• 12.2 Open Space landscape maintenance cost $636,000 last year. The Parks Department estimates they can do the job in house at a substantial savings. Councilman Braithwaite was complementary BUT skeptical. There was considerable discussion. Councilperson Kathryn Schramm pointed out the MD Properties came back two different times asking for more money; an additional $111,000 for sprinkler repair, for example, in addition to a gas price increase and a cost of living increase.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
April 6, 2010 City Council Meeting
Items presented at the Highland City Council meeting on April 6, 2010
1) Delinquent Business Licenses. There were 29 out of 365 business licenses delinquent. Authorization to revoke these delinquent business licenses passed council unanimously.
2) Consideration of Removal of Stice Acres Subdivision Plat Condition, 6900 West 10300 North. Consideration about removing the restriction for Large Animals. After lengthy discussion, it was decided that the City does not have the authority to enforce the subdivision plat requirements.
3) Discussion about a proposal from UDOT to transfer the jurisdiction of SR-74 from UDOT to Highland City. Questions arose about the cost to Highland City to assume this jurisdiction. Discussion about exchanging 4800 West for SR-74 occurred. Motion to study the cost of each, 4800 West and SR-74, was passed. Also goal set to have UDOT present at a city council meeting to present more information passed unanimously.
4) IM Flash/Lehi Annexation Proposal discussed. IM Flash has requested that Highland not protest Lehi's annexation of IM Flash. Discussion covered following:
a) annexation is proposal of property owner (IM Flash) not Lehi City.
b) Kathryn Schramm argued that annexation policy had already been agreed on earlier.
c) Larry Mendenhall suggested a "sales pitch" to IM Flash for Highland's land.
Plan decided on: Letter from City to Lehi notifying that HIghland will protest the annexation. This was agreed on unanimously by the Council.
5) Timpanogos Special Service District Information. There are plans to expand this adjacent to the existing site. Bids are in. Highland utilities have already had one increase to support the cost of this facility. There will be two more increases over the next three years, likely a 15-20% increase in our sewer costs.
6) There is a Special Council Meeting set to interview the final 3 candidates for City Administrator on May 6th.
Though this summary seems short, the meeting lasted 2 1/2 hours; this is the Readers Digest version. Thanks to all for supporting HOPE and being involved in our community.
1) Delinquent Business Licenses. There were 29 out of 365 business licenses delinquent. Authorization to revoke these delinquent business licenses passed council unanimously.
2) Consideration of Removal of Stice Acres Subdivision Plat Condition, 6900 West 10300 North. Consideration about removing the restriction for Large Animals. After lengthy discussion, it was decided that the City does not have the authority to enforce the subdivision plat requirements.
3) Discussion about a proposal from UDOT to transfer the jurisdiction of SR-74 from UDOT to Highland City. Questions arose about the cost to Highland City to assume this jurisdiction. Discussion about exchanging 4800 West for SR-74 occurred. Motion to study the cost of each, 4800 West and SR-74, was passed. Also goal set to have UDOT present at a city council meeting to present more information passed unanimously.
4) IM Flash/Lehi Annexation Proposal discussed. IM Flash has requested that Highland not protest Lehi's annexation of IM Flash. Discussion covered following:
a) annexation is proposal of property owner (IM Flash) not Lehi City.
b) Kathryn Schramm argued that annexation policy had already been agreed on earlier.
c) Larry Mendenhall suggested a "sales pitch" to IM Flash for Highland's land.
Plan decided on: Letter from City to Lehi notifying that HIghland will protest the annexation. This was agreed on unanimously by the Council.
5) Timpanogos Special Service District Information. There are plans to expand this adjacent to the existing site. Bids are in. Highland utilities have already had one increase to support the cost of this facility. There will be two more increases over the next three years, likely a 15-20% increase in our sewer costs.
6) There is a Special Council Meeting set to interview the final 3 candidates for City Administrator on May 6th.
Though this summary seems short, the meeting lasted 2 1/2 hours; this is the Readers Digest version. Thanks to all for supporting HOPE and being involved in our community.
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