Council Meeting - May 7, 2013

May 7, 2013

Work Session

Rich Welch with Garbett Homes presented regarding Bridgestone Plat F & G. He has worked with staff and CM Augustus to make some changes. All space behind buildings is common area and will be maintained by HOA. Added more brick and siding to buildings. Background fencing can go on sides of yard but not fully enclosed (back) as those areas are common areas.

Council Meeting

Public Comment

Joel Wright - Thinks Cedar Hills is great and is proud of the city. Happy with general direction. May 18th Murdock Canal opening and encourages Council and others to attend. Cedar Hills used to be a leader with recycling but it has fallen by the way. Would like the City to move it up on priority list.

City Reports

David Bunker - On Murdock Trail Grand Opening each participant will get a passport and can get a stamp from each City. Cedar Hills stamp is also a coupon that is buy one get one free golf. Will also be giving out Sammy's pie shake coupons.

CM Augustus - Planning Commission has talked about nuisances such as weeds. Will be recommending changes in ordinance regarding care facilities and the distance from each other.

CM Jackman - Finance Committee met last week and talked about budget. LPPSD board met last week about their budget. Fire department is looking for a 5% salary increase and social security money to be moved to a 401k at same percentage. Board is not thrilled with increase in costs so will meet again to finalize the budget with ideas of 2%-5% salary increase. One option is to reduce part time staff but that would also affect service. CM Jackman feels that is an unacceptable option. Need to approve budget soon as it affects each city's budget. Our increase would go up about $30,000 if the 5% is approved.

CM Rees - One press release issued and a few more being worked on. Starting to gather data for State of the City.

CM Martinez - Construction on CoRec basement will start in about a week. Youth and Women's golf clinics will be starting soon. Starting our own soccer league for grades K-2. North Utah County Soccer will no longer be using our fields as we will have all of our games in the city. Every year we will plan on adding another age group. Each participant gets a uniform and soccer ball. Lego League registration is open again. There are 40 open spots for four total teams. There are 2-3 weddings scheduled each week through June and two per week through August. Thirteen golf tournaments have been secured. Radio ads have been effective. Sammy's had a great first month. Family Festival is coming up June 3rd-8th.

Review/Action on Preliminary Plat for Bridgestone Plat F&G

See notes from work session. Garbett has been great to make changes that were requested by staff and Council. Item unanimously approved.

Review/Action on Policy for Alcohol Being Served at Events at CoRec

Last meeting a supplemental agreement was approved allowing consumption of alcohol in CoRec at private events. Updating agreement to state the alcohol can only be consumed in the Vista Room and with a drawing showing where the alcohol will be served.

Public Comment

Rob Crawley - Agrees with Joel Wright that this is a great city to live in. He believes this is because of the great people. We serve our neighbors and have high standards and expectations for ourselves and our kids. This includes avoiding vices such as alcohol, drugs, pornography, etc. Last week was first time in our city that alcohol was approved to be consumed in a public building. Believes in Libertarian principles but feels this affects his kids.  City leaders are allowed to limit things in city buildings. Feels this policy goes against what most residents want and wants city to do a poll to find out what residents think.

Ken Cromar - Wants to know why last meeting audio is inaudible. Alcohol was discussed and passed at last Council meeting but he feels it wasn't noticed properly so feels city did something against the law. People voted for golf course because they thought it would be closed on Sunday and not allow alcohol. He resents that tax dollars are used against an individual’s morals. Did not come to vote of the citizens like he thought it should have.

Joel Wright - We are a republic and Council has to make hard decisions. We are referendum happy in this city. Majority of residents are tired of the fights. Appreciates that there might be 5-10% portion of population that is against this. LDS church does not keep others from purchasing alcohol on the properties they own. We have standards in LDS religion but don't force those on others.

Angela Johnson – Does not want us to allow alcohol to be served in a public building. Understands it can bring in more revenue but does not want us to lower our standards. Would like the city to do a survey with pros and cons so residents can give feedback. This issue is frustrating people and stirring up a hornet’s nest.

Michael Stuy - Feels this is a safety issue. Lives in Forest Creek area and there are many kids in that area. Had a teacher whose family was destroyed by a drunk driver. There are two streets to get to CoRec and are heavily traveled by kids. Feels that it is a safety hazard if people who are drinking may hit a kid while leaving the center.

Jerry Dearinger - Was surprised that the ordinance was passed at last meeting. Very opposed to it. Fine with people doing what they want on their property but not in public buildings. Has same concerns as Mr. Stuy and Mr. Crawley. If city would do a survey on updated logo then they should also do one on alcohol at CoRec.

Jared Bradley - Is a businessman and looks at everything from cost benefit analysis. This new policy may bring in more revenue but additional risk of human loss or property loss would be overwhelming and surpass any revenue benefit. He assumes we would need an increase in law enforcement or city personnel.

Discussion

Mayor Gygi stated this is not a simple issue. A lot of thought has gone into this. He grew up in SLC and doesn't look differently on those who drink. Feels we need to be a welcoming type of city. Our personal freedoms and liberties are important and doesn't like when government intrudes on these freedoms. It is important how our city is portrayed. If it is favorable then businesses want to come here. Some businesses he has met with have expressed concerns that they would be boycotted if open on Sundays. Feels this policy is trying to do the right thing. Recent survey comments showed that many felt we are a closed minded city and that if you aren't LDS you don't have a voice. Strength lies in our diversity and differences.

CM Jackman stated he agrees with what Mayor Gygi says. He thinks it's a bad idea to legislate on beliefs. Doesn't think risks are as high as some might feel. Has no problem with people serving alcohol in their private events. Concerned about surveys because they can become biased. Electronic surveys are biased towards those who are more technology inclined. Feels it would be expensive to survey all these items. This why we have elected officials. Doesn't think majority of residents would want us to legislate morality. While some may be offended if alcohol is served in the building, there may also be other residents who want to serve alcohol at their private event at the CoRec and are told they aren’t allowed to.

CM Martinez - City is not selling or serving alcohol, not getting license. This will be private party who uses third party vendor. Grill was told that alcohol could not be sold there. This is a policy for a room in the building, not an ordinance.

CM Augustus - Agreed with everything that has been said. We are elected to represent those in our community.

I stated my concerns. I do not come from an LDS family so I am around alcohol and it doesn’t bother me. However, this is a public facility so it is different than a private business or private home. It is first and foremost a Community Recreation Center and I am concerned about alienating even 10% of our residents who are going to be angry and opposed to this policy. We’ve only had one person in 12 months request that alcohol be allowed so I don’t see that it is going to benefit or hurt us financially, regardless of what is decided. I doubt we would have many residents who would be upset if we didn’t allow it but we know we are going to have several who are upset if we do. I would hate for anyone in the city to feel that they do not want to be at the CoRec because there is a chance that alcohol is being consumed. There are several shared areas, such as bathrooms, hallways, parking lot, and driveway so we can’t guarantee that alcohol will only remain in the Vista room. I’m also unclear why we would allow alcohol to be served in the Vista room but then tell Sammy’s they cannot serve alcohol in the Grill. There was some concern expressed that we shouldn’t be limiting personal freedoms, however, we do that all the time based upon standards wanted in our community. We have laws about what types of animals people can own and how many, what types of fencing they can have, what kinds of signs can be in yards, what kinds of trees can be planted, how many weeds there can be and how tall, what kind of businesses can be operated out of a home, where residents can park their cars and at what times, what types of materials can be used on the exterior of homes, etc. It is difficult to base this decision on personal freedoms when we restrict so many others on private property. If we are focusing on allowing more personal freedoms then we should be willing to look at eliminating some of these other restrictions that people have complained of. Also, for me this isn’t a morality issue. I don’t think many would be opposed to Starbucks opening up in our commercial district. The hard part for me is that this is a public building built and maintained with public funds so I think we have to give more credence to public opinion on this issue. I hate to see more contention in our city, especially when there has already been so much over this building, for the few weddings each year that want to serve alcohol.

The new agreement was approved 4-1 with me voting against.

Review/Action on Boundary Adjustment of Flinders Property

On April 2^nd the Council adopted a resolution indicating the intent to boundary adjust the Flinders property from Cedar Hills to Pleasant Grove. This makes the most sense for this property in order to get utilities. A public hearing was held an no protests were filed. This item was unanimously approved.

Review/Action on Polling Place for 2013 Election

The City Recorder has indicated that she would prefer to have all voting take place at the CoRec instead of using elementary schools. YCC will be involved in helping with this. Will do an aggressive campaign letting residents know that the polling place has changed. This will cut down on number of poll workers needed and reduces costs. It also allows the city recorder to be onsite at the entire voting location. There are some concerns with parking and space available at the CoRec for all five voting areas. The Council has asked the City Recorder to do some more research and come back to the Council.

Review/Action to Adopt Tentative FY 2014 Budget

Some of the highlights since the last meeting:

• Legal services are projected to decrease by $50,000,
• Administrative salaries is decreasing by $43,688 as we are no longer paying severance to former employees,
• This is an election year so those expenses are anticipated to be $13,500,
• There is an increase of $15,900 for fire services and $12,688 for police services,
• Employee health insurance premiums will increase 5.2% overall,
• There is an overall pay increase of 4%,
• Building and zoning contract labor is decreasing $35,000 as there are less building permits being requested,
• Curb maintenance of $25,000 is being moved from the General Fund to the Water & Sewer Fund,
• Golf Course subsidy is increasing from $65,000 to $117,000 in the budget based on more realistic revenue numbers,
• Events and recreation has been taken out of the Golf Fund and moved to the General Fund (this is so residents can better see how golf is doing),
• Line item 40-96-115 shows a transfer from the Capital Projects fund to the Golf Fund to pay off the loan, which now shows the actual fund balances in both funds,
• The increase in Water, Sewer, and Storm Drain revenue is due to an increase in utility rates as recommended by the BC&A audit done earlier in the year, and will be used for expenses in this fund.

The preliminary budget was unanimously approved.

Discussion on Family Festival

Greg Gordon gave an update on the Family Festival plans. He continues to work with the Family Festival committee on having everything ready.

Discussion on Harvey Blvd

This expansion is very important for Cedar Hills and surrounding cities. Mayor will put together a letter to encourage the state to allow this road to go through.