I apologize in advance if I have misspelled any names.
Brandon Dyer - Mr. Dyer is with Perry Homes. He has been working with the Planning Commission on the Bridgestone subdivision development, which is by Deerfield Elementary. He submitted plans for 8-plex homes and was approved by the Planning Commission. He was then asked to provide engineered drawings, which he did and was again approved by the Planning Commission. He was also asked to provide a soil test, which he did. He was contacted by Greg Robinson on Thursday and told that the area was not zoned for an 8-plex and he could not proceed. Mr. Dyer is very upset that things got this far and his company has spent a considerable amount of money only to now be told that he cannot build. He is also upset that he was removed from the Council agenda at the last minute. He is asking for a variance so he can continue with plans to build. Mayor Richardson said he will meet with staff to find out what happened and will also meet with Mr. Dyer.
Jerry Dearinger - Does not want the city to build a civic center (city hall). Wants the funds that have been saved up for this building to instead be used to pay down debt. He mentioned that a petition was filed last year that asks for residents to have the opportunity to vote on any construction costing more than $400,000.
Monte Hickenlooper - Mr. Hickenlooper is with an HOA in Cedar Hills and wished to express his support for Perry Homes to build the 8-plex units.
Robert Chesworth - Also with an HOA. Said Perry Homes came in and bought that land and made it safe after the previous developer left half finished foundations in that area. He wants Perry Homes to be able to build the 8-plex units. Says property values are affected by having the empty field next to homes.
Ken Cromar - Mr. Cromar agrees with Mr. Dearinger that the money saved up for the building of a civic center should be used to pay down the debt. Says the city is headed in the wrong direction. More building space means more employees which means more cost. Residents have fallen on hard times. City needs to maximize current space available. He mentioned the press conference, which was held earlier in the evening regarding the allegations made against the Mayor and City Manager. Mr. Cromar states that Senator Valentine asked him to testify of behalf of Senate Bill 180, which establishes a state ethics commission. He says Cedar Hills is the poster child for why this legislation is needed. He reminded the Council that they have sworn to uphold the laws and that they need to verify if the allegations are true.
Marisa Wright - Mrs. Wright wished to speak regarding the exoneration of the Mayor and City Manager. She is upset that the papers continue to write nonsense about Cedar Hills. All cities have problems. Enough is enough. It is embarrassing to see the city portrayed this way by the media. Same residents are crying wolf. She is pleased that the Utah County attorney has dismissed the lawsuit. Mrs. Wright believes that residents can speak through voting and that anyone can call the Council or Mayor at any time with questions or concerns and they will respond.
Angela Johnson - Mrs. Johnson supports Perry Homes and hopes they are given the variance to build the 8-plex units. Regarding the recreation center basement, it should only be finished if we have the funds. We should not pull funds from other accounts. Does not feel the city should build a civic center. She feels the city can meet in the Public Safety Building and that the basement is enough space for offices needed. She wants to keep things the same for now or let it go to a vote. She recommends that the Council randomly call 100 residents to get feedback. She does not want a civic center to be built on commercial land.
Consent Agenda
The minutes from the February 7, 2012 City Council meeting were approved.
Review/Action on Annexation of Jacobs Property
In January the City Council adopted a resolution of intent to annex the property located on 4800 West, just south of WalMart, known as the Jacobs property. This will be the future location of the Harts gas station. The city recorder published the notice of intent in the Daily Herald, on the Utah Public Notice website, and on the city's website. The public hearing was held tonight (Feb 21st). The Council approved the ordinance approving the annexation of this property into Cedar Hills subject to the execution of a development agreement.
Discussion of the Civic Center Preliminary Study and Analysis
Mr. Brad Kearl (Building and Zoning Administrator) presented an analysis on the need for a Civic Center. The main points from his analysis are:
- The Public Safety Building was built with public safety impact fees and the intention has always been to let that entire building belong to the fire department and possible use by the police department. The fire department is now fully staffed and needs more of the space.
- Administrative employees now work at both the Public Safety Building and the Public Works building, which means that residents have to go to different buildings for different needs.
- At build out the City will need an additional 4-5 administrative employees and will need additional space for these employees.
- The proposed Civic Center will allow for all administrative employees to be in one central location, will have a Council Chamber that will allow for up to 80 residents to attend Council meetings, and can serve as a gathering space for the community.
1. Do nothing and leave everything as is
2. Add another floor to the Public Safety Building to serve as City Hall
3. Add additional space to the new Community Recreation Center to serve as City Hall
4. Add another floor to the Public Works Building to serve as City Hall
5. Build a new facility in the buffer zone of our commercial property
6. Lease space out of the Lexington Heights building (where the dentists are located)
7. Do a land swap with the owner of the property directly East of WalMart and build a new facility on that land
Presentation of a Lego League
Councilmember Martinez presented information on a Lego League, which is a program for our new Community Recreation Center. This league focuses on helping children learn teamwork and cooperation. Each team has 3 to 10 kids and is for children ages 9-14. These leagues are given a specific theme and must build lego robots to perform certain tasks. There were two girls from a current lego league (The Gadget Girls) who demonstrated a lego robot they built for the last competition. Councilmember Martinez is excited to offer this program to Cedar Hills and thinks it will be a great program for the kids.
Review/Action on Completing the Basement of the Community Recreation Center
Currently, the new Community Recreation Center has an unfinished basement which, if finished, could be used for additional recreation activites. While the main floor cannot accommodate things such as treadmills, weights, and other cardio equipment the basement could. The square footage available is 3,774. The current bid to finish the basement is $60.00 per square foot so the total cost, with the addition of a lift for ADA requirements is approximately $246,440. Councilmember Augustus says this price is very high and we could get it done for much cheaper than this. The funds for this would come from Recreation impact fees. The Council asked Greg Robinson (Assistant City Manager) and Councilmember Martinez to bring an analysis of what this space could be used for and the cost of the equipment that would need to be purchased. We also discussed having an online survey for residents to share with us what types of exercise equipment they would like to have at the recreation center. The online poll will be available in March. We will continue to discuss as using the Recreation impact fees for the completion of the basement does mean that other recreation plans may not be feasible (possibilites include a splash pad).
My opinion is that this is a wonderful idea. I would like to see the recreation center have as many recreation opportunities as possible to meet the needs and wants of most of our residents. During the campaign most of the residents I spoke with did not want to build a second facility as we would need to bond for the funds since we don't have enough money to build without going into debt. Many residents were hoping this recreation center would have more traditional items like a gym. I hope that residents will utilize the online poll on the City website (available in March) to give feedback on this.
City Manager Report
The new City website is almost complete. The Community Recreation Center is still planned for completion on April 11, 2012. We are refinancing the bond for PI2 from 5.9% to approximately 2.9%, which will save the City thousands of dollars. The balance on this bond is $900,000 and the refinance does not add additional years to the payoff. Due to the recycling efforts of residents, the mid-year recycling revenue is $8,700, which will be taken off of the amount we owe.
Board and Committee Reports
Councilmember Rees - As Konrad mentioned the new website is almost complete. We have received positive feedback on the Community Covenant Program and many local businesses are excited to participate. The signing ceremony for this will be March 20th at 6pm. We will be creating a city Facebook and Twitter account. Konrad has sent an RFP for the landscaping of the Community Recreation Center based on feedback given by the Beautification Committee.
Councilmember Augustus - Planning Commission is meeting Thursday, February 23rd to discuss plans for Harts gas station.
Councilmember Gygi - Utah Valley Dispatch is talking to neighboring cities that are not part of the dispatch to see if they are interested in joining. He will be working with the Mayor to determine if we need to shut down the old golf committee and create an ad hoc commitee (Golf Finance Advisory Committee) or keep the existing committee.
Councilmember Martinez - We have a title sponsor for the Family Festival (Harts). She is working with staff on a variety of fun activites for the festival, which include 13 carnival rides, bingo and carnival games, bounce houses, fire hose, a grill-off, battle of the bands, movie and dinner night, swim night, parade, and fireworks. Staff continue to work on obtaining additional sponsorships.
There was no need for executive session so the meeting was adjourned.
If you have any comments, questions, or concerns feel free to reach me via email at jrees@cedarhills.org or on my cell 801-358-8730.
