Work Session
Presentation of Pressurized Irrigation Summary Report
Jeff Maag presented. There were some PI meters installed
throughout the city to help collect data on usage. In 2014 we used a total of
737,370,569 gallons of PI water. This is a reduction from 854,339,885 gallons
in 2013. This does not include culinary water that is fed into the PI system
when needed. This is about a 13% reduction in PI water usage. We are still well
above the State recommended use rate, but are getting better. Usage in August
dropped significantly due to an unusually wet August. We also had more
precipitation in September than average for Utah. Reasons for reductions are
above average precipitation, rain delays installed in major city parks, and user
education. Data from PI meters that were installed showed a conscientious
reduction in water usage for those users. Staff recommends that we install PI
water meters to reduce usage and retain the services of a professional public
education group.
Discussion on Traffic Report for Harvey Blvd &
4600 West
Ryan Hales with Hales Engineering presented and
specializes in traffic studies. There are some concerns expressed by residents
with this intersection. Peak flow is in the morning with approximately 300
vehicles going through the intersection. There is a sight distance issue and
most traffic is going about 30-35mph through this intersection though the speed
limit is 25mph. Average delay for southbound traffic is 4.2 seconds per
vehicle. If intersection were reconfigured to be a roundabout the average delay
reduces to 2.3 seconds per vehicle. Advantage to roundabout is that driver
yields to traffic from the left but flow of traffic continues. One concern that
has been expressed by some parents with kids at Cedar Ridge is that the
roundabout is more dangerous for pedestrian traffic based on how traffic flows.
Mr. Hales said there are ways to mitigate that danger, but agreed that is a
consideration. Another option is to purchase a portion of the land at that
corner and remove sight barriers. Lastly, a 4-way stop can be added, but as
there is not much traffic going north/south, these types of stops tend to be
areas where most people don’t stop if going east/west because they are used to
no traffic from north/south. Hales does not recommend this option as the
majority of the traffic is east/west and Harvey is a collector road. This will
come back for further discussion with associated costs.
Amendments to FY 2015 Budget
See notes made below under the section for budget
adjustments.
Council Meeting
Public Comment
Nobody signed up.
Public Hearing
Nobody signed up for the public hearing.
City Reports
Charl Lowe was presented with the GFOA’s Distinguished
Budget Presentation Award. This is the 13th year that the finance
department has received this award.
David Bunker – TSSD meeting for December was cancelled.
ULCT is having a local officials day in January at the State Legislature.
CM Rees – Family Festival for 2015 will be June 1st
through June 6th. We have a new carnival company and are excited for
an even better carnival this year. The committee is also exploring new items
for this year, such as a teen night and a car show. Working on a press release
for the budget award.
CM Crawley – Enjoyed serving on the Parks & Trails
Committee. Santa event was a success.
CM Augustus – Missed the North Pointe Solid Waste meeting
but budget was approved.
Consent Agenda
The minutes from the December 11, 2014 City Council
meeting were approved. The following
individuals were appointed to the Planning Commission: Glenn Dodge and Donald
Steele for three year terms; Bradley Weber to serve a one year term; David
Driggs will remain on the Planning Commission; Jeff Dodge, John Dredge, and
LoriAnne Spear to serve as alternate members.
Review/Action on Resolution Adopting FY2015 Budget
Amendments
·
10-35-112 - Event center rental’s higher
revenues were $26,100 at the Vista room for event rentals, and lower
advertising expenses $3,000 will be used to offset higher costs for 10-65-150
Employee benefits $7,500, 10-65-200 Materials and supplies $14,000 for linens
and chairs, 10-55-600 Animal control contract $750, 10-65-601 Other
Events--summer concerts $350, and 10-69-913 $6,500 Transfer to Golf Fund for Maintenance
Equipment.
o Supplies
would include outdoor chairs and items needed due to an increase in Vista room
rentals.
o For
summer concert series we will rent audio equipment for $350.
o Animal
Control expenses have gone up $750.
o Transfer
to golf fund is for new equipment needed. Some of the equipment is old so new
parts aren’t available and some of it breaks down. Certain mowers are used to
make patterns on the greens so staff feels that they need duplicates of those
mowers in case one breaks down. Golf maintenance staff has come up with a 10
year plan of maintenance equipment that is needed for replacement. This would
be funded through the Motor Pool Fund for the cash outlay, then Golf Fund would
pay back the Motor Pool Fund. However, because the Golf Fund receives a subsidy
from the General Fund each year, this would really be an increase in the
subsidy to the Golf Fund from the General Fund. Equipment for this year would
include 2 greens mowers and a pump sprayer.
o I
asked why this isn’t going through the normal budgeting process instead of
doing an amendment in the middle of the year. Charl stated that this was
expedited because staff just purchased blades that can be returned if new
equipment is purchased and he didn’t want to use those blades for only half a
year if new equipment was to be purchased. All other equipment purchases in the
future will go through the normal budget process.
·
10-55-450 - Approximately 50% of the Utah Valley
Dispatch building contribution will be funded with unrestricted general fund
balance. See notes below and from previous Council meeting regarding this new
dispatch building.
·
10-40-330 - One-time set up fee for new
financial software will be funded with unrestricted fund balance. Current
financial software provider is doing an upgrade and are increasing the monthly
cost. That increase is over $7,000 per year. Charl reached out to other cities
to see what financial software is being used and determined it made more sense
to go with a different vendor that is being used by other cities as it has more
functionality and new products are automatically included in the monthly price.
Looking at switching in February. It is a one-time setup fee of $9000. Half
would come from the Water and Sewer Fund as half of the financial software is
used for utility billing.
·
10-33-500 - Emergency management grant’s
supplemental award of $10,000 to upgrade the current emergency management
equipment. This includes a new trailer to function as an emergency operations
center, new radios that are the same radios used by Lone Peak Public Safety for
communication, and funds some emergency management training.
·
10-33-475 - Forestry Grant’s award of $8,000 for
maintenance of the City’s trees.
·
10-40-280 - Utilities adjustment for water and
sewer used by City parks and various facilities. This is required by law.
·
20-30-600 - Season passes and punch passes
valued at $8,800 and 20-30-400 Pro shop merchandise valued at $400 were traded
for advertising, golf software and course maintenance.
·
20-35-300 - Transfer in of $6,500 for
maintenance equipment and $31,000 for utilities—water.
·
40-95-103 - Cottonwood Electric, Gas, Excavation
project needs $20,000 to be completed. A portion of it was started last fiscal
year and it was fully funded last fiscal year. Because work overlaps into
current fiscal year, a budget adjustment was necessary for last fiscal year and
this fiscal year.
·
51-73-330 - One-time set up fee for new
financial software will be funded with unrestricted fund balance. This is the second
half of the payment for new financial software.
·
51-37-116 and 51-38-111 Fees adjusted to the
General fund and Golf fund for water and sewer used. 51-75-910 and 51-75-815
transfers out to the General fund and Golf fund, which offset the related
utility fees.
·
51-73-360 - Meter Maintenance $25,000 for
culinary meters. 51-73-801 PI Expenses for increased maintenance needed on
pressurized irrigation. $129,000 for potential capital improvements required
for wells, motors, and pumps. There are several meter batteries going out that
need to be replaced. Also, some wells need additional maintenance and
exploratory work to determine what issues there are with the wells.
·
51-73-950 - Trustee fees of $3,950 for the
utility revenue refunding.
·
51-73-955 $54,000 in reduced interest expense.
51-73-965 deferred amortization expenses of $30,573. Bond principal payments increase
of $25,000.
·
60-70-200 - Increased depreciation of $6,500
related to golf maintenance equipment. 60-30-300 increased contribution of
$6,500 to the Motor pool fund from the Golf fund.
This was approved.
Review/Action on Approval of Dispatch Building
Agreement with Utah Valley Dispatch
On 12/2/2014, the City Council approved the Dispatch
Building Agreement with the Utah Valley Dispatch Special Service District for the
construction of a new dispatch center and appurtenances with an approximate
cost to the City of Cedar Hills of $62,279.00, pending legal review. The City
attorney, Eric Johnson, reviewed the agreement and suggested the City follow
State Code 10-8-2(3), and make a finding of fact that, in the judgment of the
legislative body, a determination is made that the expenditure of funds by the
City of Cedar Hills for a portion of the construction costs of the new dispatch
center provides for the safety, health, prosperity, well-being, peace, order,
comfort or convenience of the inhabitants of the municipality and funds
appropriated for this purpose are considered a corporate purpose. This was
approved.
Review/Action on Questar Gas Easement Agreement
Questar Gas Company is currently upgrading the
high-pressure gas main along the current natural gas utility corridor. See my
notes from previous Council meetings for more information. Questar has proposed
purchasing an additional 6-foot easement immediately adjacent to the existing
16-foot easement they currently maintain. This allows them to install another
main near their existing facility. The additional easement area has an appraised
value of approximately $3.96 per S.F. Questar seeks an additional 14,914 S.F.
with a value estimated at $29,529.72. The agreement has been remitted to the
city attorney for review. Questar agreed that issues raised by Eric Johnson can
be incorporated into the agreement. This was approved.
Review/Action Amending Fees
The City has reviewed the culinary water rates for
residential lots where pressurized irrigation is not available, and culinary
water is used for outdoor watering. It was requested that fees be adjusted to
reduce the rate for those homes that don’t have the option to use pressurized
irrigation for their lawns. Prior to this change, the rate increased for each
block listed below. The following modifications/changes are recommended to the
City Fee Schedule:
Utility Fees (Per ERU) Water (No PI Available)
Base Rate (no usage) $ 6.80
1 – 8,000 gallons $ 1.49
8,001 – 12,000 gallons $ 1.49
12,001 – 18,000 gallons $ 1.49
18,000+ gallons $ 1.49
This was approved.
Review/Action on Appointment of Mayor Pro Tempore
Consistent with UCA 10-3b-302 and City Code 1-5-3, MAYOR
AS MEMBER OF CITY COUNCIL; the terms and scope of the duties of Mayor Pro
Tempore are defined. In summary, the mayor pro tempore shall have all of the
powers and duties of the mayor during his absence, disability or refusal to
act. The election of a mayor pro tempore shall be entered in the minutes of the
meeting. The next council member to serve would be Councilmember Zappala. The
term would begin January 6, 2015 and continue to January 5, 2016. This was
approved.
Review/Action on City Staff and Council Assignments
City Councilmembers, Staff and Residents act as
resources, liaisons, and on some boards and committees may be voting members.
The Mayor, with advice and consent of the City Council, makes assignments to
various boards, committees and entities. This item has been tabled as it was
brought to the Mayor’s attention that the bylaws for Lone Peak Public Safety
state that a council member assigned to that board must stay on the board until
the end of their term. Mayor Gygi wanted to get a legal opinion on this as it
would change the assignments made.
Review/Action on Contract with Wilkinson Outdoor
Maintenance
The City has contracted with Wilkinson Outdoor
Maintenance since 2004 for the maintenance of city parks, open spaces and city
facilities landscaping. In the opinion of staff, the areas maintained by Wilkinson
are kept in superb condition. Wilkinson is very attentive to detail, and is
very responsive to suggestions or additional maintenance items. The current
agreement allows for an additional 3-year contract extension. Wilkinson desires
to execute a 3 year contract extension (January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2017)
per the agreement with a 2% annual adjustment. Jeff feels there is very little
advantage to go with another contractor as we get great service already and
they have been willing to work with us on any issues that come up. Mr.
Wilkinson gave some information on water concerns with parks. Cedar Hills has a
unique issue with clay in the soil, which affects water absorption and runoff.
Rain sensor delays help with this and he’s still experimenting with settings
for this to figure out best solution. He’s also seen an increase in vandalism
of sprinkler heads, which can cause flooding of the parks and fields. This was
approved pending legal review and a request for staff to prepare a list of all professional services contracts for future RFP.
Review/Action on Agreement with ULCT for
Transportation Coalition
The Utah League of Cities and Towns and the Salt Lake
Chamber have formed the Utah Transportation Coalition on behalf of cities and
towns throughout Utah. The coalition is seeking to build support for major
investment in Utah’s transportation system, which will preserve Utah’s quality
of life, bolster economic growth, improve personal health and air quality, and
provide maximum value to all Utahns. The Utah Transportation Coalition is seeking financial
support to hire a consultant to provide transportation issues research, issue
advocacy and public awareness campaign, issue a local government tool kit, and provide
legislative and governmental relations. As part of the Agreement for
professional services, the City of Cedar Hills has been asked to pledge $250.
This has been sent to Eric Johnson for review and staff is waiting for is
feedback. This was approved pending legal review.
