Friday, March 23, 2012

Council Meeting - March 20, 2012

Work Session

Our work session was devoted to the Community Covenant Program signing ceremony. We ended up having almost 20 local businesses offer a variety of discounted and/or free services for Cedar Hills service members who are deployed. Karissa Neely with the Daily Herald wrote an article on the event and it can be viewed at http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/north/cedar-hills/cedar-hills-makes-commitment-to-military-families/article_6327fff9-77dd-5ac8-9439-83ff47a57bce.html.

Council Meeting

Public Comment
Ken Kirk - Mr. Kirk is concerned about the amount being billed to the City on the Provo River Canal project. He stated the original estimate provided to the Council was $59,030, then in 2009 it was $217,000, now it is $198,000. Why has the amount jumped so high from the original bid? Mr. Kirk also mentioned that the agreement states that the City is responsible for the "repair & maintenance" and that this enclosure project does not fall into either category. Reading through the report provided by Provo River Water Users Association says that input given by American Fork and TSSD affected the alignment and length of the line, but that American Fork and TSSD aren't responsible for the payment so why should their input change our bid? Mr. Kirk feels AMES (construction company) had an obligation to tell us about any increase in price before expecting us to pay a larger bill.

Marisa Wright - Mrs. Wright said that during this last election many promises were made and residents had high expectations. She wanted to say she is impressed with the Council and wanted to thank each one individually. Mrs. Wright thanked me for identifying a need for more communication and for creating write-ups of the meetings for residents. She thanked Councilmember Augustus for his input and help with construction questions and feedback on the Community Recreation Center. She thanked Councilmember Gygi for looking for and interviewing potential businesses for our commercial area. She thanked Councilmember Jackman for dealing with the financial aspects and for keeping things straight. She thanked Councilmember Martinez for her hard work on the Family Festival and the great ideas she has for this event as well as the recreation programs. Mrs. Wright says she sees many good things coming.

Consent Agenda
  • The minutes from the March 6, 2012 City Council Meeting were approved.
  • A resolution adopting the amended City Council procedure policies was approved. This changed the order of items for discussion during Council meetings and removed the requirement to adjourn by 11:00pm.
  • Amendments to the City Code regarding business licensing was approved. These amendments require a background check for specific businesses, require a business license for any business with a sales tax number, and add criteria for commercial and temporary use businesses.
City Manager & Council Reports
Representative Craig Frank was in attendance and spoke during this time. He provided the Council with a State budget overview. The State is required to have a balanced budget every year. Rep Frank mentioned that many significant issues were addressed during this legislative session, including SB180 which allows municipalities to create an ethics commission to handle ethics complaints. He said the first draft of this bill was horrible but by the third amendment the bill was workable and equitable. He did not want to see SB180 used as a bully pulpit against elected officials. There is good growth in Utah and the State has maintained a Triple A bond rating despite national economic troubles. Even with growth the government hasn't grown much. Federal stimulus that was offered to Utah came with strings attached so the State didn't take it all but did use some for public education. He feels we need to pull away from federal programs or States will go bankrupt. Federal programs are failing and the money will stop coming so we need to stop relying upon it. He mentioned that the fireworks bill changed the rules for fireworks to be how they were prior to last year.

Konrad (City Manager) said the Community Recreation Center is still on target for an April 11th completion. The ULCT conference will be in April. Fiscal year 2013 budget discussions will start again in April and we may need to call a special meeting in April to discuss the budget as we currently only have one scheduled Council meeting in April.

Council member Rees - We now only have two residents serving on the Beautification Committee so we will be putting a notice in the newsletter and on the website looking for additional volunteers. We need a total of five. I contacted the County bookmobile to get information on a potential stop in Cedar Hills but right now they only have availability to make one stop every other week for one hour in the mornings so this doesn't make sense for our residents. I am looking into social media options for the City but am waiting until after the ULCT conference as this will be a topic discussed.

Council member Augustus - Planning Commission has met to discuss Hart's Gas Station and may need a second meeting in April for additional discussions. They have also discussed flag pole restrictions and the potential of having flag poles at the Community Recreation Center. Council member Augustus brought a drawing of the CoRec with three options for flag poles (three flags total: U.S., State, and City). Most agreed that option 1 would be best, which is on the northeast side of the building. Marisa Wright recommended the roundabout at Bayhill as the flags could be seen by the whole city from that location.

Council member Martinez - Tot soccer registration is happening now and summer t-ball will start soon. Lego League registration will also start soon. For the Family Festival, they have met with Midway West who will be providing 12 carnival rides and 8 games. The YCC will also have games. The Easter Egg hunt for kids ages 0-10 will be on April 7th at 11:00am at Heritage Park and the egg hunt for kids ages 11-14 will be on April 6th at 8:30pm at the golf course. On the Saturday event the Fire Dept will bring the Easter Bunny. She is currently looking for additional YCC members (9th grade and up). The ribbon cutting ceremony for the Community Recreation Center will be on May 5th and events will take place from 10am-2pm for residents.

Council member Gygi - He asked to discuss his items during Executive Session as they related to negotiations.

Council member Jackman - Looking for ways to reduce the cost of debt and will present some options at a later time. He is working on this with Rebecca Tehero and a financial advisor.

Presentation of Transparency Award
The Sutherland Institute, which is a conservative public policy think tank committed to shaping Utah law and policy based on a core set of governing principles, rates city websites on the level of transparency for residents. Cedar Hills was given a B- last year. With our new website we worked to make sure that we are providing more information to residents in order to be more transparent. Due to these improvements the Sutherland Institute gave us an A+ score and presented us with a transparency award. The presenter, Derek Monson, mentioned that he was impressed to see a tax breakdown showing a resident their cost to live in Cedar Hills, and was very impressed at our putting all GRAMA requests online as he has never seen another city do this.

Discussion on Recreation Center Classes and Programs
Danny Lambourne has been interviewing potential instructors for recreation center classes at our new facility. So far he has identified 9 instructors and 6 substitute instructors who are interested in teaching a variety of courses such as zumba, bootcamp, yoga, spin, cardio classes, circuit, muscle mix, kickboxing, cycling, dance party, and karate. Danny presented the Council with a potential fitness class schedule and descriptions of each class. He also provided a list of other potential non-exercise classes that could be offered such as photography, jewelry making, CPR, etc. Danny handed out preliminary designs for the completion of the CoRec basement that would include a cardio room with a variety of equipment and a multi-purpose room for additional classes.

There were a lot of questions and concerns brought up by the Mayor and Council. We realize that this center will be opening soon and we want to offer recreation activities from the beginning, but there is still a lot of discussion that needs to occur on how instructors will be compensated, what residents will pay for and how much, and how the basement will be finished. City staff have presented a plan to make all instructors 1099 contracted employees who will be paid $15 per class for up to 10 people with the option to make more money if more people take the class. Council member Gygi would prefer that the instructors are paid a percentage of whatever the class brings in instead of receiving a flat amount per class as he feels instructors will be more motivated to get people signed up if their compensation depends on attendance. Mayor Richardson would like residents to have the ability to use the basement cardio room for free but staff feels that there needs to be a cost for this as there is for all other recreation programs. Ultimately everyone on the Council agrees that the recreation programs need to sustain themselves and cannot be subsidized by taxes. The paying of instructors, fees for residents, and plans for the basement will continue to be discussed.

Review/Action on Amendment Regarding Flagpoles
Flagpoles are currently allowed on residental lots and had been grouped with chimneys and antennas. The Planning Commission met to discuss having an ordiance just for flagpoles that would pertain to both residental and commercial properties. The recommendation was to allow flagpoles on all lots in all zones with the following conditions:
  • Maximum height is 35' from finished grade
  • May be no closer than 10 linear feet from the sidewalk, curb, or street (whichever is furthest), 10 linear feet from the edge of the lot, and 10 linear feet from a neighboring lot
  • Parks, public buildings and commercial buildings may increase height by approval of site plan through City Council
This ordinance was approved.

Review/Action on Amendment Regarding Signs
The Planning Commission recommended amending the current sign ordinance to allow for A-frame signs that are 3 feet or under in height as these types of signs are commonly used for neighborhood functions and meetings. The ordinance was approved.

Review/Action on Fee Schedule
Brad Kearl presented the Council with proposed fees for temporary use businesses, temporary use application fee and inspection fees, and plan check deposits for residential and commercial. There were some questions as to where the dollar amounts proposed for the plan checks came from. Mr. Kearl was asked to bring an estimate of actual costs as we do not want to charge more than what it costs us to do these plan checks. This items was postponed.

Discussion on Agreement with the Provo River Water Users Association for Sewer Relocation on 4500 West
The Association has provided a very detailed summary of the history of this project and the costs associated and this can be found on the City website at http://www.cedarhills.org/sites/default/files/agendas/city-council-agenda-2012-03-20.pdf. The very short version is that in 1996 Cedar Hills signed an agreement with the Bureau of Reclamation to be able to run utilities across the canal property. This canal (Provo Reservoir Canal, but sometimes known as the Murdock Canal) is owned by the United States Government and is under the direction of the Bureau of Reclamation. At some point it was determined that this canal would be enclosed and as part of that the sewer line owned by Cedar Hills needed to be relocated to accommodate the canal enclosure pipe. The Association contracted with AMES to work on this enclosure and the relocation of the sewer line. The original bid provided to Cedar Hills for this project was a little over $60,000 and was based on a 30% design. According to the Association (Mr. Cane represented the Association at our meeting), the contractor was expected to do further investigation and produce a final design for approval once digging had started and they could get a better understanding as to the scope of the project, and it was also expected that as the sewer line was fully excavated and new information was obtained, additional charges would be required. Mr. Cane said the original bid also assumed that the existing metering manhole could be reused in the new sewer line alignment.

One of the biggest issues that came up was that TSSD would not allow for the existing metering manhole or vault to be used. They stated that the existing items no longer met their current standards. Both Mr. Cane and our Public Works Director, David Bunker, state that none of the input provided by American Fork affected our pricing at all. Mr. Cane states that because the scope of the project was greater once digging started and more information was obtained, and because TSSD required a new metering station be used, the bid jumped from the original quote of ~$60,000 to $217,000. This new bid was presented to the City (I believe in 2009) and immediately raised questions as to why the amount changed so drastically. The most recent amount we are now being provided with is $198,963 but this may change as the project is not yet complete. David Bunker has reviewed the documenation and project and feels the amount should be closer to $110,000.

There is a lot of frustration on this project. The main reason for this is that TSSD required new materials that drastically changed the price of this project for Cedar Hills, yet the City was not included in these discussions and is now expected to pay. Mayor Richardson felt that TSSD should be responsible for the extra amount if this was their requirement, and that at a minimum these requirements and fees should have been discussed with us before proceeding as we have to pay the bill. He is upset that it appears the Association has a blank check policy and can do anything to our utility lines without our input and then expect us to pay whatever figure they come up with. Mr. Cane asserts that the agreement the U.S. government has is with Cedar Hills, not TSSD, so payment must come from Cedar Hills and that whatever TSSD requires is between Cedar Hills and TSSD.

Mr. Cane presented the Council with three options:
  1. We can agree to the $198,963 price and sign the agreement. If so, Provo River Water Users Association will forgive 25% of the total price leaving us with a new balance of $149,222 which can be paid over a period of 3 years with the first payment being due this year;
  2. We can reject this offer, in which case they will present us with an invoice for the entire amount of $198,963 which is due in 30 days;
  3. We can refuse to pay at all and the Bureau of Reclamation, through the U.S. Federal Government, will take whatever steps they must to get this money.
Not much of an option but we will be discussing this further. Konrad was asked to provide the Council with a copy of our agreement with TSSD to see what recourse we may have with them.

The meeting was adjourned and moved to Executive Session.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Council Meeting - March 6, 2012

Work Session

Discussion Regarding City Council Policies
Changes were discussed with regards to the Order of Business (section 5) of the policies. The order of meetings will change so that "City Reports" will immediately follow the Consent Items instead of occurring at the end of the meeting. These reports will consists of presentations, Council reports, announcements, community events, and the City Manager report. This change was made mainly because these reports provide much of the information pertaining to residents and  having them earlier on in the meeting would allow for more residents to hear this part of the meeting as many attendees leave around 8:00pm.

We will also change the Public Hearings portion so that public comments can be made during the discussion of an agenda item instead of at the beginning. We will still have Public Comment period at the beginning, which provides an opportunity for residents to bring any feedback or concerns. The Public Hearing portion allows residents to provide feedback or concerns on specific agenda items while that item is up for discussion. Therefore, section 10 of the policies will be removed and become part of section five.

Section 12 covers how items are put on the agenda and when the Council receives the agenda. The current policy hasn't always been followed but we agreed it is good policy and will stay the same and we will make sure that these policies are being followed from this point forward.

Section 13 states that the meetings will adjourn at 11:00pm. We will remove this item completely.

Discussion on Civic Center
Brad Kearl (Building and Zoning Administrator) brought an analysis showing what space is currently available, what space is needed at a new facility, and what space is wanted. He is going to update this analysis as there was some confusion on how he worded it, mainly that what is listed as a "need" is only what he feels is needed in the new building, not what is needed overall. The Council asked Mr. Kearl to provide an analysis showing what space we currently have in all buildings, what is being utilized, and how much space is needed for each department in each building. Mr. Kearl also provided a pros and cons analysis to the several options we provided at the last meeting. For this first analysis, Mr. Kearl has stated that a new Civic Center is needed, that we need it to be at least 2,955 square feet, but is wanting 6,461 square feet. His breakdown by job responsibility is part of the documentation provided at work session and can be found at http://www.cedarhills.org/sites/default/files/agendas/city-council-ws-agenda-2012-03-06_0.pdf.

As I mentioned on my last Council post, this is a topic that will continue to be on the agenda for each meeting. I am glad we are doing this analysis and look forward to the discussions. Here are my initial thoughts:
  1. If we move all of our administrative staff out of the Public Safety Bldg (PSB) and Public Works Bldg (PWB), what happens to this empty space? The fire department does not need the basement of the PSB - Alpine has the same size building we do but without the basement. There has been some talk of using it for a police station or substation, but as far as I know American Fork has never requested this. We might as well use the space we currently have available to us.
  2. If we only need 2,955 square feet then why build a 6,461 square foot building? The statement was made that we have been fiscally responsible in saving money over the years in order to pay for this building and that being fiscally responsible means we can save up for our wants, we don't have to deprive ourselves of wanted items. I agree that it is a responsible principle to accrue money for future projects, such as a Civic Center, and I commend past Councils for doing so. However, my thought is that we do need to always remember that the money we have accrued is taxpayer money. If we decide that we have money to build a want then we should first be certain that this is something wanted by the taxpayers. Maybe taxpayers want something else. We do have an obligation to provide services to residents and we should have the things we need to provide great services. But when we start talking about wants we need to be careful that we understand the wants of the residents of the city, not just the wants of the Council or city staff.
  3. One of the reasons provided for building this new Civic Center is to provide better cohesiveness amongst employees, which will then allow the City to provide better or improved service to residents. I asked why we are struggling with cohesiveness and if this is a location problem or a procedures problem. We live in a global economy and many companies have locations and employees all over the world and are able to provide excellent services to their clients, so how can we not do the same in a City our size without requiring that all administrative staff be in the same building? Are there things we should look at changing in our communication methods and procedures that will solve the cohesiveness issue?
I am glad this will continue to be discussed in each meeting and know that through this process we will be able to determine the best course of action.

Council Meeting

Public Comment
Jeanne Mather - Ms. Mather was representing the Girl Scouts of America and provided some information on their 100 year anniversary. In our district there are 161 girl scouts and 84 adult volunteers. Four girls in Cedar Hills have received the bronze award. They have donated items to Primary Childrens Medical Center and American Fork Hospital. This year they sold 32,100 boxes of girl scout cookies and she thanked all the residents who purchased cookies.

Robert Chesworth - Mr. Chesworth is the President of the Bridgestone HOA. He discussed the issues that Perry Homes is having with the 8-plex units they want to build and hopes the City will work with Perry Homes to fix this so they can be built. He is happy the Mayor is willing to work through this. He says this development will be beneficial to Cedar Hills.
     **This is on the Planning Commission agenda in March and will be on the City Council agenda for the April 3rd meeting.

Marisa Wright - Mrs. Wright is working on the CoRec decorations. She hopes residents are excited for this new facility. There will be many programs including a childrens reading hour, exercise classes, and other classes. She feels this building will bring the community together and says the main room is majestic.

Consent Agenda
  • The minutes for the February 21, 2012 public hearing and Council meeting were approved.
  • The dissolution of the Golf Course Advisory Committee, which has not met since 2006, was approved.
  • The deletion of the criteria for the Parks and Trails Committee, which was dissolved in 2010, was approved.
Resolution Proclaiming March 12, 2012 as Girl Scout Day
As March 12, 2012 is the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scouts of America the Mayor declared that this day be Girl Scouts Day in Cedar Hills. The full proclamation is part of the Council packet for the day and can be found at http://www.cedarhills.org/sites/default/files/agendas/city-council-agenda-2012-03-06.pdf

Review/Action on Amendments to the Fiscal Year 2012 Budget
Rebecca Teharo presented the Council with a list of budget amendments that needed to be made for the current budget. Those items are:

$40,000 increase in legal fees / $40,000 decrease in fire services
The increase in legal fees are mainly due to fees that will be paid to Stirba & Associates in regards to the recent court filing against the Mayor and City Manager. To date we have paid them $74,000 but have not yet received the final bill. I asked Mrs. Tehero to provide the Council with a breakdown at the end of the fiscal year that shows all legal fees, who they were paid to, and for what services. She will provide that information at the end of the fiscal year.

The $40,000 decrease in fire services represents an adjustment to the projected amount we would have to pay for these services.

$20,000 increase in recreation programs / $20,000 decrease from CARE tax balance
In 2011 the Council approved the use of $20,000 from the CARE tax fund to pay for recreation equipment for the CoRec.

$20,000 increase for Utility Rate Analysis / $20,000 increase in water fees from residents
It is recommended that the City have a Utility Rate Analysis performed every 5 years and the last one was done in 2007. This analysis is done after we have set the parameters of the analysis. This will show us what we should be charging (which matches our costs) and also helps us identify future needs and how we should be accruing for those needs. The $20,000 increase in water fees from residents does not represent a change in utility rates - it is revenue that is coming in from residents who were previously with Manila Water company and are now going through the City.

$35,000 increase in wages and benefits in Admin Dept / $35,000 decrease in wages and benefits in Finance Dept
An employee was moved from the Finance Dept to the Administrative Dept.

These budget amendments were approved.

Budget Presentation for Fiscal Year 2013
Mrs. Teharo presented the proposed revenues for the General Fund, and for proposed revenues for the Capital Projects Fund for FY 2013. A few of the main points:
  • Property Tax and Licenses and Permits revenues show an increase based upon the assumption of 20 new homes and 1 commercial entity. This assumption is based on FY 2012 actual new construction.
  • Family Festival revenue assumptions are decreasing based upon actual revenue numbers for the past two years.
  • Impact fees revenue show a projected increase based upon new construction assumptions.
  • Sidewalk project expenses show an increase based upon the new sidewalk project for Cedar Hills Drive and 4000 West.
  • Expenses for the payment of the Public Safety Building show a decrease as the bond for this building will be paid off this year.
Board & Committee Reports

C. Martinez
  • Tot soccer registration has started.
  • Lego league will be starting up and we have had many good responses.
  • Rec department is putting together a proposal for the completion of the basement of the CoRec center and will be sending out an RFP for bids. Cardio room will be restricted to a certain age.
  • Family Festival plans are still underway.
M. Richardson
  • The City received a bond rating upgrade from A+ to AA-
  • SB180 passed by the House and has moved on to the Senate
C. Gygi
  • Six names have been proved to the Mayor for the Golf Course Finance Advisory Committee
C. Augustus
  • Planning Commission is meeting on March 14th to discuss plans for Hart's Gas Station
  • Discussion of flag poles will be on the next Council agenda
C. Rees
  • New City website is up
  • Community Covenant Program signing will be on March 20th at 6pm. This will be at the Public Safety Building.
City Manager Report
Konrad has met with a financial advisor and will next meet with the Finance Committee to discuss ways to save the City money on bonded debt.

The Pleasant Grove City Manager will be submitting a proposal to Konrad on utilizing Cedar Hills sewer lines for PG residents located on 4000 West. Konrad will send this to the Council as soon as he receives it.

There was no need for an executive session so the meeting was adjourned.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

New City Website

Please visit http://www.cedarhills.org/ to check out the new City website. Easier navigation and new features such as a City calendar, Transparency page, and City Council Messages are just some of the ways we are working to improve communication with residents.