City Council Meeting - March 17, 2015

Work Session

2015 Legislative Update from Rep. Mike Kennedy

Gas tax was a complex and difficult fight, but did pass in the end so gas tax will go up. Property taxes will go up. Anti-discrimination bill passed, though it was also a heated debate. He found it interesting that some parties were exempted and are allowed to discriminate, such as small duplex owners. Increase in funding for public education was also approved.

Discussion on Roberts Rules of Order

Postponed for future meeting.

Council Meeting

Public Comment

Keith Hansen - Has been running and riding in foothills and notices a trend of increased trash, fires, and constant barrage of gunfire. Has been told there is nothing the city can do about it if on BLM lands. Last fall a bullet went right passed his head when he was riding his bike and that was the breaking point for him. Has talked with others and people are expressing their fear of being in the foothills because of the gunfire. No other city has informal shooting range and most of those shooting there are not Cedar Hills residents. He states that the bulk of the shooting is within city limits based upon his research. He wants city to enforce the laws that are already in place. Feels this will alleviate the noise, trash, and danger. 

Mayor Gygi stated he is working with Forest Service to figure out a better way to indicate the boundary between the city limits and BLM land. 

Russ Holindrake - If boundary line is made clear, it still doesn't alleviate the danger and litter that is up there.  

Consent Agenda

Minutes from the February 17, 2015 and March 3, 2015 City Council meetings were approved.

City Reports

CM Rees – No updates today.

David Bunker - Starting in April we will have some community classes regarding gardening, irrigation, and fertilization. More info is available on the city's website. In August we will have a canning class. In October the classes will be on winterizing yards. Additionally, another community class will be held to discuss soil management, which starts April 15th. Annual Easter Egg Hunt starts April 3rd at 8:30pm for the teens, then the kid egg hunt on Saturday at Heritage Park at 9:00am. YCC held first Superhero Day last week. Teen soccer registration just ended and this is in conjunction with AF City. Golf course is now open after Questar was doing work. Questar continues to work on Bayhill, Cedar Hills Drive, and Canyon Road. Spring clean-up will be in April and dumpsters will be available. Horrocks is doing their annual blood drive on April 7th. TSSD meets this Thursday. 

CM Zappala - No updates today.

Mayor Gygi - Wants to clear the air on a few issues that have been brought up on social media sites. First, MAG money that was allocated for Canyon Road is still available and can't be used for other items the County may want, even though County now owns Canyon Road. For example, this money can't be reallocated to BRT. The other item is the American Fork Vision Project, which is looking at long term solutions for the recreation and access to American Fork Canyon. Major stakeholders are part of the steering committee, including local, state, and federal officials, UDOT, UTA, Save Our Canyons, etc. They are looking at issues that may arise with population growth that is expected to occur in Utah County through 2050. 

CM Crawley - No updates today.

CM Geddes - Attended Utah Valley Dispatch meeting. Biggest thing they need is more employees. Having a hard time finding qualified individuals. CM Geddes volunteered to be on the building committee for the new dispatch center that is being built. 

CM Augustus - No updates today.

Discussion on FY2016 Golf Fund and Golf Debt Service Fund

Charl gave us a spreadsheet showing how we compare with regards to green fees with other courses. This included Fox Hollow, East Bay, Thanksgiving Point, Sleepy Ridge, Talons Cove, Spanish Oaks, Hobble Creek, and Ranches, and we are very competitively priced. Also showed revenues and expenses for each course, with their associated subsidies or profits. Most are subsidized.

Highlights for this fund:

• Overall revenue is increasing $57,337, with approximately $50,000 of that being an increase in the expected subsidy from other funds. Expected subsidy is $160,000, where the subsidy for last year was $110,363. Part of this comes from new equipment that will be purchased.
• Utilities show an increase of $31,000 based on State Auditor's requirement of showing what is used for water and sewer. The same thing is being done for parks and other open space. This isn't an actual increase in usage but a different way to show how much of the city utilities are being used by the golf course. 
• Increase of $13,020 as a transfer to the Motor Pool Fund shows expenses needed for new equipment that was previously approved. 

Review/Action on Bid for Harvey Well Rehabilitation Project

The City has advertised plans and specifications for the Harvey Well Rehabilitation Project. There has been a drop in production and there are some concerns with this well. Bids were received in a public bid opening on Monday March 16, 2015, in anticipation of awarding the project during City Council meeting on Tuesday, March 17, 2015. The scope of the project will include the redevelopment and testing of the Harvey well, including well cleaning, observation, pumping, and possible treatment program. The project shall be awarded to the lowest responsive bidder. Qualifications and requirements of bidders, including bonding, will be reviewed and presented by Bowen & Collins, Associates. This project is time sensitive due to the need to provide consistent, clean drinking water to water customers in the system. 

There were four bids received. Water Well Services was the lowest bid at $83,780. Staff recommended we go with Water Well Services. This was approved.

I recused myself from voting as my husband's employer was one of the companies that submitted a bid, though they were not the recommended vendor.

Discussion on RFQ for Professional Services

As directed by the City Council, staff has prepared, advertised, and received Requests for Qualifications from qualified firms in four areas of professional services. Five firms submitted proposals for building inspection and plan review. Eight firms submitted proposals for general engineering services. Seven firms submitted proposals for financial auditing services. Seven firms submitted proposals for legal services. 

Staff will work on a comparison spreadsheet for each one so that we can better review each submitter and better compare each response. This will also include staff recommendations. CM Zappala gave several recommendations on what this comparison spreadsheet should include and what questions are still outstanding. 

City Council - March 3, 2015

Work Session

Discussion on FY2016 General Fund and Water & Sewer Fund

See notes below for discussion on these items.

Discussion on Roberts Rules of Order

This has been tabled for next meeting.

Historical City Records on Display

Several records showing history of the city are available for display. We received a grant to better capture and store the history of the city.

Council Meeting

Public Comment

Nobody signed up.

Consent Agenda

The minutes from the February 3, 2015 City Council meeting were approved.

City Reports

David Bunker – Jr Jazz play-offs have begun. T-ball and tot soccer registration is happening now. Starting a coed soccer group for teens. Working with PG Rec department to create more programs for teens, including ultimate Frisbee. Golf course closed due to Questar installing new gas line. Hoping it will be complete within the next 10 days. YCC leaders had a great discussion about suicide prevention and would like to have quarterly trainings for parents. Horrocks Engineers sponsoring the annual blood drive in April. Spring cleanup occurring in April. Arbor Day is April 24^th and the city has received tickets from Thanksgiving Point gardens to give to the first 25 residents who send the city a picture of themselves planting a tree. ULCT is having their spring conference in April in St. George.

CM Zappala – There were two articles in the Daily Herald, one regarding vandalism and one regarding the grill. Getting familiar with Mailchimp so we can discuss moving some of our city communications in that direction. Continues to work on app for city. LPPSD board met and there is a small increase for upcoming year.

CM Rees – The Planning Commission met. A public hearing for the preliminary plans for Rosegate was held and one resident gave feedback. While the agenda stated that the Planning Commission would discuss the preliminary plans for Rosegate, the developer did not have preliminary plans ready. We will hold another public hearing once the preliminary plans are submitted. The Planning Commission discussed xeriscaping in the city and directed Chandler Goodwin to draft a sample ordinance for this. The discussion on the Design Guidelines was postponed. It was recommended that the Planning Commission hold a work session dedicated to this topic in order to move forward.

The Family Festival Committee met and continue to plan for all the events, which take place the first week of June. Greg Gordon worked with Highland on a joint advertising plan where Highland is going to send their Highland Fling magazine to our residents and we will send our magazine to theirs, so this should provide more awareness to our event and increase turnout. New things are being added this year, including a car show and a teen night.

CM Zappala and I will be working on a communications plan for water conservation education for the summer.

Chandler Goodwin – Attended Parks and Trails Committee meeting. They are planning for annual service project and looking for city property to cleanup and beautify.

CM Augustus – General Plan Committee met and discussed ways to get better direction on where to focus efforts. Discussed using Survey Monkey to get feedback from the community.

Review/Action on Final Landscaping Plan For Bridgestone Plat C

Perry Homes submitted Bridgestone Plat C revised landscape plans and is requesting approval for changes. Significant changes include the redesign of the storm water retention basin. The basin as originally designed did not meet the required capacity for water storage. The new design includes dividing the pond into two sections and raising the rim elevation of the north pond to meet required capacity. This change makes the use of the original, grass/sod, landscaping impractical. The proposal includes the use of juniper and ground cover plants for the landscaping on slopes too steep to mow. The designed slopes of the pond walls exceeds the maximum permitted slope of 2:1 (run:rise) as per City Design Standard Section 4.9, Slopes; “ The slopes of excavation and/or fills shall be shaped to meet safety requirements dependent on soil types, but in no case shall the finished slope be in excess of 2:1 for cut areas or 3:1 for fill areas except as approved otherwise by all governing agencies.” Other areas of landscaping will continue to meet or exceed the original design. Staff recommends that council approve the requested change with condition: (1) all slopes/grades greater than (2:1, run/rise) be structurally retained with a method providing required percolation. This was approved with that condition.

Discussion on FY2016 General Fund and Water & Sewer Fund

Significant changes for the General Fund include:

·         Certified property tax new growth $10,000-$15,000 or 1.58%-2.33% growth in taxable properties – based on small amount of development within the city

·         Sales tax general revenues $50,000 or 4.35% increase

·         Telecom general revenues decrease $5,000 or 5.56%

·         Class C Roads restricted revenue flat or down, without legislative changes

·         Garbage and recycling $6,000 or 1.36%

·         Processing, printing & postage fees placeholder for monthly newsletter $20,000, which will be reduced as residents opt out of paper copies – we will move towards electronic utility billing and newsletter to reduce costs. Residents who still want to receive paper utility bills and newsletters will be assessed a fee to cover the cost of printing and mailing.

·         Event center rentals increase $40,000 or 28.57%

·         Transfer in for parks water & sewer usage $8,500

·         Overall General fund revenues and transfer in increase $125,060 or 3.28%

·         $32,000 use of fund balance for 2nd capital contribution to Utah Valley Dispatch

Wages and Benefits:

·         Permanent employees 3% merit wage average

·         Elected Officials’ alternative for life insurance for those who choose to opt out

·         Health insurance premiums blended rate 5.46% increase in July, or an approximate 10% increase in December with SelectHealth’s community rated plan

·         PEHP dental insurance premium estimated 5% increase

·         No change in rates proposed by the Utah Retirement System

General Fund Expenses:

·         Wages and benefits changes approximately $57,000

o   Moved admin & community services cleaning service with part-time employee instead of outsourcing, which resulted in cost savings. -  $10,874 for part time person.

o   Event coordinator benefit changes approximately $15,000

o   Changes to community services staffing overall $37,966

o   Approximately $19,000 increase for other general fund departments combined

·         Legal Services $10,000 increase

·         Recorder’s election placeholder $15,000 needed every other year

·         Public Safety budgeted increases $53,102

o   Fire 1.0% increase to Cedar Hills due to limited population growth, and 2% budget increase Lone Peak Public Safety budget overall

o   Police 3.5%, which is very competitive

o   Utah Valley Dispatch $32,000 contribution for building

·         Building inspector contract $3,000

·         Street light operation & maintenance $3,100

·         Park expenditures increase $14,500

o   Allocating sewer, water, and custodial services provided

·         Community services increases

o   Event wages, benefits, materials & supplies approximately $47,900

o   Building HVAC and basement floor maintenance $5,500

o   Cultural events & Easter egg hunt $4,400

·         Golf subsidy increases

o   $13,020 Maintenance equipment

o   $4,600 Golf cart lease property taxes

General Fund Cuts:

·         State of the City paper version $4,700

·         Newsletter paperless $2,000-$20,000

·         Professional services—Caselle financial software, bank fees $1,000

·         Legal advertising $500

·         Financial audit & legal retainer costs may be reduced depending on new contracts

·         Public works staff changes approximately $9,000

·         Fitness class expenses $17,500 due to reduced scope

·         Recreation program supplies $4,500

·         Event advertising $1,500 reduced costs maintaining events website

·         Transfer in Capital Projects fund approximately $15,000

o   Earmarking $6,000 for cultural events from CARE taxes

o   Decrease in sign projects

·         Motor Pool $1,516

Summary of Bowen & Collins Utility Study

·         In 2012 study, gradual rate increases were proposed from 2013-2018 to cover estimated operations, capital projects, & debt service

o   Culinary water rates increase 6.4% a year

o   Pressurized irrigation (PI) rates remain flat

o   Sewer rates increase 5.5% a year

o   Storm drain rates increase 6.5% a year

·         Debt service utility revenue bond changes

o   Incorporate interest savings from partial refunding of the 2006 utility revenue bonds

o   2009 Utility revenue bonds rate restructure interest savings allocated to extra principal payments

·         Short-term projects scheduled for fiscal year 2015-2016

o   Increased PI improvements $25,000

o   Increased migratory meter maintenance $17,000

·         Long-term planned projects recommend delay for two years

o   Old Town Storm Drain Retention Project $400,000

o   4000 West Sewer Improvements $400,000

Water & Sewer Fund Highlights

·         $39,500 increase in revenues from city departments and in transfers out to reimburse city departments for the fees (this accounting is required by law)

·         $34,281 increase in water usage fees

·         $16,928 increase in storm drain fees

·         $54,065 increase in sewer fees

·         $25,000 estimated increase from Rocky Mountain Power

·         $49,000 estimated increase from Timpanogos Special Service District (TSSD)

·         $42,000 estimated increase in meter and pressurized irrigation operating repairs

·         $7,000 approximate savings in benefit expenses from staffing changes

·         Debt service coverage ratio is budgeted at approximately 1.50, and our bond covenants require a ratio of 1.25

Future Water & Sewer Expenses

WATER

2015       Manila Water Upgrades (estimate)          $ 300,000             Completed

2017       Migratory Meter Reading System             $ 100,000             In process

2019       Irrigation Pump Pond 12                               $ 100,000             Projections

2019       Irrigation Pump Pond 10                               $ 200,000             Projections

2020       Harvey Well Chlorination Station               $ 80,000                Projections

2020       Cottonwood Well Chlorination Station   $ 60,000                Projections

SEWER

2014       Canyon Road Sewer Improvements        $ 400,000             This spring or delayed five years

2016       4000 West Sewer Improvements              $ 250,000             Delayed two years

2018       4600 West Sewer Upgrade                          $ 400,000             Capacity issues depending on growth

2020       Cedar Hills Drive Sewer Upgrade               $ 400,000             Capacity issues depending on growth

2021       Sewer Outfall Line Extension                      $ 500,000             Capacity issues depending on growth 

STORM DRAIN

2016       Old Towne Storm Drain Retention Project $ 400,000        Delayed two years

Discussion on Alternates for Boards and Committees

City officials and staff that are assigned to various boards and committees will also be assigned a designated alternate in the event the assignment cannot be met. It will be the duty of the city official or staff member to contact the designated alternate if a meeting cannot be attended by the assigned member. The list of assignments and alternates are as follows:

The list will be updated so that CM Augustus is the alternate to Planning Commission.

Discussion on Suicide Prevention

See the last notes on my blog from the meeting that was held at Lone Peak High School. I would like to see the three cities coordinate on ways to utilize Hope4Life to get out the needed education to our residents. I love that our YCC wants to get involved and encourage them to work with this group. Mayor Gygi will start having discussions with the mayors of Alpine and Highland to see what we as cities can do to help with these programs.