Wednesday, March 19, 2014

March 19, 2014 Council Meeting

Council Meeting

Public Comment
Nobody signed up.

Consent Agenda
Appointment of members to the Arts Committee. Chairs will be Curt and Missy Peterson. Other members will be Steve & Johanne Perry, David Osmond, Jared Osmond, Tom & Rebecca Gleason.

City Reports
David Bunker – Family Festival committee has met with Macey’s for dinner night and will show “The Love Bug” as the movie. Tball registration opens soon. Financial seminars and nutrition classes will be happening at the rec center this year. Looking for people to do photography and gardening classes. Working with PG to offer a pickle-ball class. ULCT mid-year conference is mid-April.

CM Zappala – Met regarding avalanche that happened in AF Canyon. Meeting was with board members of Utah Valley Dispatch as well as fire chief. He will get us his notes. Primary issue was that call was entered into dispatch at police and search & rescue call, but not as medical call. This is why Lone Peak wasn't notified.

CM Rees – Family Festival committee is meeting and has added a service night to the week. More info to come.

CM Augustus - North Pointe board meeting will be coming up.

CM Crawley – Beautification service day on May 3rd where residents can help clean up the area and help five families in the city who are in financial need. Need additional committee members for Parks & Trails committee. All residents received a golf certificate for a free round of golf.

Review/Action of Preliminary Plan by Blu Line Design
The proposed Rosegate facility, located at approximately 4600 W Cedar Hills Dr, has met with the Planning Commission, and received a recommendation to present their preliminary plans to the City Council. Staff has sent the proposed plans through engineering, zoning, and public safety reviews. Those recommendations were presented to the Planning Commission, as well as Doug Young. Those recommendations are not reflected on the submitted plat; however, they are being implemented. See the city council packet for notes and drawings. Changes include moving sewer lines to 4600 West, all frontage improvements needed for entire project.

Estimated value of Rosegate is $24-$30 million. It would be evaluated as a commercial facility so would be taxed at 100% of the value of the building. This would bring in an estimated $68-$86k annually to the city in property taxes. Next closest is Walmart, which brings in $23,264 in property taxes. While any development will require some infrastructure needs, the developer will be responsible for the improvements not already in place. Roads, sewer, and water lines are already in place. Upon final approval, the developer would be required to purchase water rights. Demand on pressurized irrigation would not be high. Below is an analysis put together by staff.




Cory Shupe with Blu Line presented. Gave some background information on the project, which can be found in my previous notes. Expressed his opinion on why this project is essential to commercial development in Cedar Hills. This is a congregate care facility that is privately funded. There are many restrictions on who can live in the facility. Has been working with the city to create a main street that works in conjunction with the exit from Walmart. That main street would go through the entire commercial zone. What is significant about this facility is that it is bringing more people and a demographic of people that have more disposable income that will bring in more business to Walmart and more interest to other commercial businesses. Their conversations with those who represent retailers have shown that Cedar Hills doesn’t yet have the number of rooftops needed to generate interest at this point. It will be difficult for small shops or boutiques that compete with Walmart to start a business here as they cannot financially compete with what Walmart offers. This facility will help that. Taxes to Alpine School district would be about $260,000 each year without any negative impact on schools as no school age children can live there. Studies done show impact to roads and traffic will be minimal due to walkability and that not all unit renters will have a car. Pulled stats on other similar facilities with regards to impact on public safety. Average number of 911 dispatch calls was 6 per year. There are several areas in the facility that provide amenities for those residents, including large gathering spaces for family get togethers, exercise rooms, computer rooms, theater rooms, etc.

Doug Young clarified that this is a 55+ community. They are restricted by both federal and city guidelines that keep any young families from living in the facility. Also clarified this is not a subsidized housing, so no low-income individuals. They do a background check on every potential resident and turn away anyone convicted of a felony. As the developer maintains ownership of the building, they want it to maintain a certain level. Has contacted UTA who has agreed to provide additional buses to get to mass transit stops, such as TRAX or Frontrunner.

He would like to hear from residents in attendance and have the decision tabled until they've had a chance to make some changes recommended by residents.

Public Hearing
Nathan Gibbons – Appreciates time that has been put into the design. Doesn't feel a four-story building is low impact and doesn't feel it fits in Cedar Hills. Went to facility in Sandy and it fits well there, but not here. It would make sense if it was closer to 100 units and less parking. Feels this will be a problem. Would like Council to reject it and have it go back to see if it can be smaller to make more sense for the community.

Deborah Gibbons – Drove by a four-story complex in Orem that dwarfs everything else. The Sandy building is smaller than this one being proposed, yet they have a bigger population than Cedar Hills. 10% of Cedar Hills’ population would be on that corner. Lives down the street from this and doesn't see that there is much for these residents to walk to. Commercial areas develop due to other commercial attractions. Doesn't see how an apartment complex will help. Concerned about size of building.

Devin Baldwin – Excited for a place like this to come to Cedar Hills, but not quite this. His parents both have cars and need more than just Walmart. Feels others living here would be in the same position. Concerned won’t be able to fill all units. Doesn't trust the bank like he does the developer and if developer pulls out, then bank could turn it over to a different entity with different views.

Cory Olson – Loves Cedar Hills. Loves the family values. Doesn't believe a structure of this size represents community values of Cedar Hills. Wants to see something within the city guidelines of two stories. Let Highland bring in the wrong businesses and we can do it right. He runs by the empty commercial zone often and loves it, is fine with it empty. Asks Council to vote based on city guidelines.

Marilyn Groneman – Concerned about the size of the building. Could maybe like it if it was 1/3 of the size. Moved to Cedar Hills because of the quality, which was better than where she lived in American Fork. Feels high density will hurt that quality. Doesn't feel we need high density housing. Would prefer it be an empty lot. Most people who live there would need two cars per unit.

Martin Johnson – He is in the 55+ age group. Looks at traffic and children walking home from Lone Peak. Knows he probably doesn't have the reaction time that he did when he was younger than 55. Worried about impact on the kids walking home from school. Also worried about impact on local churches with that many new residents. Roundabout in that area will be busier, which impacts the elementary school kids walking to school. Agrees that building is too high. Would like to have something built that benefits all of the community, not just 55+.

Tana Johnson – Is 70 years old. At 55 years of age still had children at home. Children come back home, especially in this economy. Feels it is too tall and too many people in one area. There isn't enough parking as each unit will need two cars. That is 600 extra cars. Concerned about schools and the kids walking. Lived in an area with similar bylaws, but they weren't followed. More cars and more traffic is her concern.

Lance Allen – Lived in Cedar Hills for 14 years and loves it. He and his wife are part of the 55+ generation with kids in the basement. Worked at Charleston for a time and that facility is fairly large. Residential development does not bring in revenues that commercial development does. Not against development, sees his taxes going up, but wants to see development being done responsibly. Concerned about fire aspect as we don’t have ladder truck tall enough to get to the top of the building. More inclined to go with more commercial for the city.

Jared Bradley – What he wanted to say has been said. Went to the Sandy location and saw it is a huge building. It has 159 units, of which 65 are doubles. Would not fit in well with what Cedar Hills is about. Looks like a beautiful building but worried about long-term fit for the community. Doesn't feel the people that will come to live in this facility will make or break our commercial area. Feels we need commercial that will attract people from other cities in our area, not just those living in Cedar Hills.

Julie Sessions – Asks for Council to listen to residents and concerns. Feel there are many reasons why risks outweigh the benefits. The size does not fit in our community. Everything else there fits nicely. Moved to Cedar Hills for the small feel. This building would block views. Likes the idea of the facility if it is 2-stories or less. Would prefer to see empty field than 4-story building. Can’t imagine being able to fill 300 units.

Angela Johnson – Wants to know if developer would build a 2-story complex. Knows they want to make money but would like smaller complex. Residents want to be able to see skyline, not something so tall. Questions she has is do most residents want 300 units? Would residents be fine with 2-story 150 unit building? Would this help with traffic issues? Thinks 2-stories is reasonable. The Sandy facility is large and is only 2 stories. Losing small town feel. If developer can’t do 2-stories then wants us to wait.

Bobby Siegmiller – Pro development. Likes the look of the proposed development, but not in this location. Role of city government is to protect the taxpayer and doesn't feel this development does so. Parking is inadequate. Pleasant Grove has a mixed zone areas and both have 2 or more parking per unit. PG and AF have several units and would like to see feasibility study to show if Cedar Hills can accommodate this many units. Idea of design guidelines was that no building was more than 50% residential. Won’t generate sales tax. If Smart family would lower price of land then more developers would be interested in purchasing.

Ken Severn – MidTown village has had lawsuits and bank write-offs, is concerned about similar happening here. Doesn't trust federal guidelines. Harts and McDonald’s seem to be doing fine. No traffic generated by empty field.

Steve Proffit – Loves lifestyle of Cedar Hills. Likes the empty field and knows we will have to concede some. Appreciates Blu Line being willing to work with residents and changes that have been made. Has shown team work and class in working through this. Likes the idea of 55+ community, likes the trail around the facility. Feels this is a win and has taken hard work and will continue to do so. His parents have expressed an interest in a facility like this. Doesn't want to bring in businesses just to generate revenue, but something that fits in community.

Mike McGee – Wants to see feasibility study on strain on first responders. Wants to know if sewer line in 4800 West was ever expanded. Property tax consumption by commercial property is 80-90% and residential is 120%. Feels it would be a net loss to the city. Water rights is not the same as water availability. Doesn’t feel it meets green space requirements or height restrictions. Feels a library in a city of our size is not viable. This will add 2 wards, which means another church building will be needed and would need to go into commercial space. Walmart draws other big box stores. Doesn't trust banks or management companies. Mass transit here isn't same as in Sandy. Would like to see studies supporting any claims made by developers.

Michael Stuy – Can’t add anything to what has been said. Appreciates the time that Blu Line has put into designs and presentations. Feels building is way too high. Moved from Tooele to Cedar Hills to get away from that type of development. Doesn't trust banks if developers walk away. Would like to see 2-story building with fewer units. Too big, too high, doesn't fit in with the rest of the city. Extra traffic will be concern with school children walking to and from school.

Jason Randall – Loves Cedar Hills. UTA has already said they are not coming to Cedar Hills with Frontrunner in American Fork as the pressure is to make that successful. This building is high density residential, not commercial. He’s a law enforcement officer and would like to see studies on impact on public safety as claims made tonight have not been his experience. This is not the loud minority, but the silent majority that is rising up against this project. This is what Cedar Hills would be known for instead of family atmosphere.

Council Discussion
Mayor Gygi thinks it’s a beautiful building and likes the amenities. Blu Line has been great to work with. Has concerns with number of units, and that if it doesn't get leased out then the rest of the commercial doesn't get built out. We have one shot to do this right.

CM Rees - I want to start by stating that I personally like the proposed facility. It is a beautiful building with amenities that would be wonderful for our community. I would much prefer this building than a strip mall or more offices as the office building we have across the street struggles to keep tenants and doesn't offer community amenities. That being said, I recognize my role at this table is to represent residents of Cedar Hills. I have spoken with many residents in person, on the phone, and via email and the overwhelming feedback I have received is that this facility as currently shown is not desired by the community. The concerns I've heard are valid and fair. The height of the building would by far exceed any others in the area and the density is a lot for that corner spot. The biggest concern for me is the offer of high density with no guarantee that we will get any commercial businesses built any time soon. Our residents have been very clear that what is desired is retail shops and sit down restaurants. It may be many more years before we have these types of commercial businesses interested in coming to Cedar Hills, but the feedback I've received is that our residents are fine with waiting for that time to come, even if it is several years out. So while I appreciate all that Blu Line has done over the past 10 months in listening to resident input and making some changes, as well as the Planning Commission who have put a lot of time and effort into this, my vote as a representative is no to this preliminary plan. If it does not pass tonight I would encourage Blu Line to look into the possibility of coming back to the Planning Commission with a 2-story, 100 unit facility as I feel this would be much better received by our residents.

CM Geddes – Thanked everyone for participating. Has been working on this project for 10 months, first as a member of the Planning Commission. Has a tremendous amount of respect for the developers and for the Smart family, who owns this property. Also respects those residents who have given feedback. Has been a proponent of the project. This portion of the commercial property is not the most desirable part of our commercial area. Feels we need more density in order to get the commercial we want. Would like to see some restaurants and boutique shopping, which he feels will come with this development. There would be over $3million in impact fees paid by this developer. We don’t have financial issues in our city, but this money helps infrastructure. In favor of tabling the proposal for now and letting developers come back with changes after what they've heard tonight.

CM Zappala – Has pushed resident engagement and thanks everyone who attended. Loves the building but not the high density. Keeps going back to design guidelines and city code. Looked at commercial zone and what it intended for our community. Intent is that it would be compatible with nearby residential homes. Design guidelines say that what is developed is to primarily benefit the residents of Cedar Hills. Most here tonight stated they don’t feel it benefits the community. Part of the parcel is in what is considered the neighborhood/retail district. In design guidelines it says that Cedar Hills Drive should not be for residential development.

CM Augustus – Thanks everyone for coming to meeting. It’s not often to see so many residents come to these meetings. Has received many emails, some hateful and some supportive. Has seen that when people are happy with the status quo then they tend not to get involved. Looks forward to the long-term prospects that this could bring. Most of the feedback we've received from commercial real estate agents are that they don’t like our property. There isn't enough traffic or rooftops. We need to find balance between what works for the city and what can actually be done. Encouraged residents to know that we research these items extensively and are looking at the community has a whole, so even if we don’t always agree, we are trying to do what is right.

Item was tabled so that Blu Line can go back and make changes after hearing comments.

Review/Action on Awarding Bid for Roadway Repair
Due to the need for maintenance on Sugarloaf, Ironwood, Ferguson, 3900 W, 4000 W, seven cul-de-sacs and Bayhill Drive, request for bids for the 2014 Spring Street Improvements Project have been announced and received. The apparent low bidder is Staker Parson Companies at $193,900. Approved with CM Crawley and Geddes abstaining.

Review/Action on Bid for Mesquite Park Restroom
As per council direction, plans and specifications for the Mesquite Park restroom and storage building were prepared for public bid. Bids were received on Friday February 28, 2014. The bids received include the new construction of a women’s and men’s restrooms and a storage area for park and recreation supplies. Bids received range from a low of $66,860 to a high of $128,205. Low bidder is England Construction at $66,860. We budgeted about $77,000 for this project. Some money has been expended but with this quote we will come in just under budget. Approved.

Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Presentation for Golf Fund

Removed as it was discussed during work session. I was unable to attend work session today so will get my questions answered at a later time.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

March 4, 2014 City Council Meeting

Work Session
Discussed FY 2015 budget. Current economic forecast done by Department of Workforce Services for Utah County shows 3.9% unemployment, significantly below national level. Economy in Utah County is better than last year. For the city, sales tax and franchise fees revenues have continued to grow. Motor vehicle tax is decreasing. Distribution is based upon population of cities and as Cedar Hills population is flat while other cities are growing means we will get less of the distribution. Telecom fees are also going down as it based on voice usage and more people are using less voice and more data, so telecom taxes are lower. Considering creating a Class C Road fund where road funds would be held so as to better manage those funds. Expected increase of sales tax revenues is $50,000 or 4.55%. This is a conservative number as we received more in FY 2014 than expected.

Public Safety expenses are increasing $52,827. Fire going up 4.2% and police going up 3.5%. Park maintenance going up $22,300. This includes $4,800 requested from the Parks, Trails, Beautification and Recreation Committee for community projects, more Christmas lights at roundabout, and landscaping rock on Canyon Road. Street expenditures going up $10,000. Public Works increasing $29,917 to add an additional full-time person. Legal services are expected to go up $20,000 based on large GRAMA requests and appeal. This may go down but trying to be conservative. Community Services to increase $17,072 for building maintenance, advertising, new table linens, and community events. The increase in building maintenance and linens is due to higher usage of building with more events.

Anticipated subsidies:
·         Family Festival expected is $24,500 (though we generally get about $20,000 in donations)
·         YCC is $2,500
·         Library reimbursement is $10,200
·         Community events $3,000
·         Recreation programs $54,321.34
·         Events center will have a profit of $12,394.09
·         Parks is $157,700
·         Golf Operations is $114,716
·         Golf Debt is $358,670

Public Works need addition of one full-time employee as they have taken on many new projects over the past few years in order to save the city money from utilizing other companies. This includes things like street light maintenance, recreation center maintenance, additional storm water duties required by federal law, GIS data collection and management, and additional park areas.

Staff looking at a telehealth option for employees to supplement health insurance. It is $15 per month per person or $29 per month per family. It can be started and stopped at any time, not locked into a contract. Offers 24x7 telehealth coverage. Staff proposes to add to budget $15 per month per official and employee for this program.

The rest of the budget is discussed below during Council meeting.

Council Meeting

Public Comment
Nobody signed up.

Consent Agenda
The minutes from the February 4, 2014 and February 18, 2014 City Council meetings were approved. The appointments of Paul Blaine Clyde, Randy Gehring, and Jon Traveller to the Water Conservation Committee were also approved.

City Reports
CM Rees – Working on press release and issued a city statement in response to some incorrect information posted on a recent GRAMA request. Would like to move next Council meeting from March 18th to the 25th so that we do not have a conflict with the political caucus that night. YCC hosting a dodgeball tournament on March 15th for those ages 12-18 at Velocity Sports in American Fork. Teams of 6 will cost $12. More publicity coming soon.

David Bunker – Jr Jazz wrapping up this weekend. In Motion golf classes had about 50 participants. Karate classes going well with great participation. Mix and Mingle event went well. Sammy’s has limited hours in winter but opening up as golf season begins. Five new poles have been added to golf range, just waiting for new netting to come in.

CM Zappala – LPPSD meeting and working on budget. Need to charge County for areas that LPPSD is covering. Discussing if they should become a taxing district instead of special service district. Had emergency preparedness townhall, which went well.

CM Geddes – Planning Commission met last week. Discussed Blu Line proposal of senior living center. Voted to approve preliminary plans and will now move on to Council.

Mayor Gygi – Water Conservation Committee meeting again soon. Efforts on Capitol Hill have been fruitful. GRAMA bill that was potentially bad for cities appears to be dead.

CM Augustus – Will discuss finance items and North Pointe items during those scheduled agenda times.

CM Crawley – Parks & Trails committee having beautification day soon to help a few families who are in need of financial help with yards. Need additional volunteers for this committee.

Review/Action on Adopting Impact Fee Plans
This has been discussed in depth in previous meetings so please see my blog posts from earlier meetings for more details. Information has been sent to the UVHBA with a positive response. City is getting UVHBA some final information on how the Public Safety fee is calculated for multi-family units, but they were fine with us moving forward. The Impact fees being updated are for the Public Safety, Culinary Water, Sanitary Sewer, Parks and Transportation systems. Once approved, new impact fee rates don’t go into effect for 90 days.

Review/Action on North Pointe Solid Waste Interlocal Agreement
This has also been discussed in depth in prior meetings so more detailed notes are available on my previous blog posts. We did receive bids from Waste Management for hauling rates if we do a direct haul. We now have rates from North Pointe, DCD, and IRL.

·         North Pointe tipping rates are $31.50/ton. They do anticipate rate increases. Contract is an initial term of six years with 12 two-year terms that automatically renew. 13 month notice to withdraw.
·         IRL is $15/ton. Waste Management would direct haul to IRL and would charge $2.98 per household per month to direct haul to IRL. This total cost would exceed what we pay to North Pointe now.
·         DCD is $28/ton. There is no additional charge for Waste Management to haul to DCD as the distance to DCD is the same as North Pointe. This rate would be locked in for five years.
·         When including anticipated recycling tipping fees, we would save approximately $6,000-$10,000/year to go with DCD. Staff still needs to confirm this recycling rate.

DCD facility on Geneva Road has been around for about five years. They are planning to expand this summer to be on similar scale of North Pointe.

The savings of switching aren’t as high as we had hoped. The benefit to being with North Pointe is we are a member, therefore we have a voice on the board and we have an established relationship with them. The agreement with North Pointe passed 4-1 with CM Crawley voting nay.

Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Presentation
See notes above from work session for beginning of discussion.

Proposed 4% salary increase for employees. Health insurance costs increasing 6%. Utah Retirement System increase projected at 1.14-1.18%.

My questions:
·         Line 10-33-450, what will the Emergency Management Grant be used for? This is a new grant that pays for our staff member of emergency preparedness.
·         Line 10-35-110, why are recreation program revenues going down $15,000? Moved to another line item. I would like to begin charging rent to Tree Fitness, as we do for other entities who utilize our recreation center.
·         Line 10-35-130, is park reservations a new line item? It shows $0 in prior years. This is an new line item to better track revenues that come in for park reservations.
·         Line 10-40-305, what is the expected increase in legal fees for? Did we go over this year? Increase is to cover GRAMA requests and appeal.
·         Line 10-41-110 and 10-41-211 (increases for Mayor and Council) - I would rather see those increases go back into our library reimbursement than a raise and increase in training expenses for Mayor and Council. We cut $4,000 out of library reimbursement and I’d like to see us add it back in this year.
·         Employee benefit line items – why is each going up so much? To cover increase in fees as well as telehealth program.
·         Line 10-69-913, how close are we to being accurate on the anticipated golf subsidy? We are close this year and anticipate the same next year.

Discussion on Golf Course Maintenance Shed
Staff has prepared preliminary cost estimates for the golf course maintenance shed. The analysis identifies costs associated with construction of a new facility vs. the retro-fit and reconstruction of the existing facility. Retro-fit and reconstruction will take much more time and have higher costs because of how it would need to be done for safety and compliance, and includes much more labor. If we build a new building the estimated cost is $288,000. To do a rebuild of the existing building is estimated at $387,500. Efficiency on new construction leads to savings. Labor costs of rebuild are a huge cost.

Discussion on Development of SC-1 Commercial Zone Senior Living Facility
On Thursday, February 27, 2014, the Planning Commission recommended approval of the proposed
Senior Living facility located at 4600 W and Cedar Hills Drive (Smart property) to the City Council for preliminary approval. Doug (Blu Line) has met with the City regarding the City’s property along 4800 W. Doug has also met with other developers throughout Utah (i.e. The Boyer Group) regarding the development of the City’s property. Doug has requested to have a chance to update the City Council on the proposals for the commercial zone, as well as to give an update on the Smart property.

Traffic study was done by Hales Engineering. Based on similar facilities it was determined that 0.41 parking stalls per unit were needed, though this facility has over 1 stall per unit planned.

Met with Boyer Company and Mountain West, who either work with or represent retail companies and large restaurants, to get a better understanding of potential interest in our area. There are not any sit down restaurants or retailers who are interested in coming to Cedar Hills today. Quick serve restaurants are more actively looking for sites. These include things such as CafĂ© Rio, Rumbi’s, Dickey’s BBQ, etc. However, most of these are already located near Cedar Hills and didn’t indicate interest in looking at Cedar Hills. Feels right now there isn’t a lot of interest for commercial development for our area right now. After meeting with Boyer, Doug feels that building the senior living center will bring in interest to the area because of the increase in number of residents as well as walkability. Doug continues to feel confident he will have no problems filling this facility because of location to shopping, to a temple, and the quality of the neighborhood.

In order to make it economically viable they must have at least 275 units. They have widened the building to reduce it from five stories, but have needed to keep the number of units close to 300. Rent will range from $800-$1200 per unit. This will be similar to other units they own in other cities in Utah.

Like to establish relationships with local schools to provide charitable contributions for libraries and such, and also work with senior residents who are interested in volunteering at schools or mentoring students. Meeting with Alpine School District now.

Blu Line would keep ownership of the building and would engage in leases with those living in the facility. Nobody under the age of 19 would be allowed to live there at any time and it would always remain a 55+ facility based on development agreements entered into with the city.

Review/Action on Road Maintenance
Tabled until next meeting as it was added to the agenda on Monday.

Review/Action on Mesquite Park Restroom
Tabled until next meeting as it was added to the agenda on Monday.