Council Meeting - April 21, 2015

Public Comment

Ken Cromar – Has great interest in legal services. Congratulates the Council on seeking new legal services. Has concerns with Stirba & Associates. They represented Eric Richardson and Konrad Hildebrandt in 2012 in a series of allegations made by Cedar Hills Citizens for Responsible Government. Mr. Cromar alleges that Peter Stirba did not properly file a conflict of interest and filed a complaint against Mr. Stirba. Feels city attorney has been working for a few people instead of the Council and citizens of the community.

City Reports

CM Rees – Planning Commission met last week. The Lakeview Trails Subdivision final plans were approved and will next go to Council. The Blu Line development was tabled as there were several concerns with the new renderings; however, the Planning Commission agreed to hold a special meeting to review updated plans.

Family Festival plans are going well and the details are going into the newsletter and on the city website. We are adding a teen night and a car show.

Cultural Arts Committee met to discuss plans for the summer. They would like the city to consider purchasing a stage for plays and other events, as well as for rental for weddings. Current bids for renting a stage range from $1201.73 to $2706.25. One bid has been received for the purchase of the stage for $4760.59 but are waiting on more. Natalie has indicated that they have had about 5 events where stages were brought in and another who has asked about a stage, so she feels we could recoup some money on renting it out.

David Bunker – TSSD met last week. They are looking at refinancing another set of bonds to reduce debt amount. Coed soccer team started last night. Tot soccer starting now. T-ball registration going on now. Junior Jazz recognized Cedar Hills for having the largest number of participants for a city of our size. Golf resident appreciation day occurred and seven residents participated. Our first play through the recreation department was successful. First IFA class was last week and another one is scheduled for next month.

CM Zappala – LPPSD board met. Discussed sustainability of the budget in the future. Budget was approved for the fire department and does not have an increase for this year. Lone Peak Police is discussing wearing body cameras.

Mayor Gygi – At MAG meeting they discussed new gas tax. Money will start being collected in January 2016. This will be about $150,000 each year in increased B&C road funds. County is discussing the local option and when it get it on the ballot.

CM Augustus – North Pointe met and approved a budget and the annual audit.

CM Geddes – Utah County Dispatch continuing with new building in Spanish Fork. Preliminary plan was approved and will go out to bid. Parks & Trails met and has scheduled Beautification Day for May 2^nd. More info is available on the city website. Lunch will be provided to residents who participate.

CM Crawley – Received an email from an attorney he worked with last year who is interested in submitting an application if we don’t select an attorney tonight.

RFQ’s for Legal Services

Douglass Ahlstrom

Lives in Lehi. Has been the Draper city attorney, also worked as the Tooele city attorney. His entire career has been in municipal government. Has also worked with state and local officials. He is a one-man shop. He works out of his home with no other attorneys or paralegals. Would always advice based on state and city code. His goal is to keep city off the front page of the newspaper. Doesn’t know the city politics. He would guide us through trouble spots. He doesn’t have any other clients right now.

Highlights to questions asked:

·         No conflict of interest with Local Government Trust.

·         Has dealt with sovereign citizens. He says judges know who they are. Understands their tactics. Treats them as courteously as you can.

·         He served as the city attorney on his own for Draper, which is much larger than we are.

·         Considerable experience with GRAMA, has not appeared before State Records Committee. He feels cities lose most of the time when they appear before the Records Committee.

·         Approve developments that comply with the law. Feels many developers are right in their arguments.

·         He is looking for a job with benefits so if another city offers him a full-time job, he doesn’t know what he would do.

·         Feels he is offering a good price.

Stirba & Associates

Was city attorney for Gunnison for 10 years and also for Centerfield. Has dealt with many issues with regards to municipal issues. Has represented many cities on legal issues. Interacts with Council, Mayor, and staff. Has been asked many times to provide an opinion or legal counsel on specific issues that cities deal with. Has had experience with Cedar Hills in a Board of Adjustment hearing and when allegations were filed against former Mayor Richardson and former city manager Konrad Hildebrant.

Highlights to questions asked:

·         Addressed Mr. Cromar’s allegations. Has done work for Utah County for 25 years. There was no conflict of interest because there was nothing wrong in representing Mr. Richardson. The County Attorney was responsible for the investigation. Mr. Stirba contacted Mr. Buhman (county attorney) to let him know he had been hired, but there was nothing adverse between Mr. Richardson and the County as the County wasn’t the one filing complaints so there was no conflict of interest.

·         Does not represent the Utah Local Government Trust. He does have a couple of cases where a few cities he represents have coverage through the Trust.

·         Difficult to deal with sovereign citizens. Judges are somewhat reticent to preventing people from going to court. You have to go through the process. It’s difficult and wasteful. City attorney should work to avoid problems and there may be times you can communicate to avoid too much conflict.

·         Has not appeared before the State Records Committee. Responds to GRAMA requests quite often. Works with staff to identify what should and should not be provided on requests.

·         Without understanding what issues we are dealing with, it’s difficult to determine how many hours will be needed each month. Is willing to review fees after 6 months to a year to determine if it needs to be adjusted.

·         Currently not representing another city as city attorney.

·         City action is through the Council and sometimes through the executive officer of the city. Has no issue with council members going directly to him with questions, but ultimately the power resides with the collective body of the Council.

Smith Hartvigson

Won’t find another firm with the depth of expertise they have. They represent cities as general counsel, but also in land use, development, elections, water rights, eminent domain, planning, impact fees, etc. Work to keep clients out of trouble. Takes a team approach so that the best person is handling the issues in which they excel. Broad base of experience. Has litigation and transactional experience as well. Firm has been around since 2002.

Highlights to questions asked:

·         Represent about 5 cities as city attorney.

·         No conflict of interest with Local Government Trust but has dealt with them on behalf of their clients. Do not represent insurance companies.

·         Has dealt with sovereign citizens. You can’t talk them out of their conduct, just go to court and show the court what they are doing. Courts will handle those issues.

·         Has about 12 attorneys working for their firm. For communication we’d have a key contact, but behind the scenes each issue is assigned to those who have that area of expertise. Would need further information on issues we are dealing with before knowing who to assign.

·         Has dealt with GRAMA. Never appeared before the State Records Committee.

·         Has a good relationship with Eric Johnson. Eric does a lot of bond work and they’ve worked with him for their cities who are refinancing bonds. Feels the difference is that they take a team approach where Eric wanted to focus on his clients.

·         Does not have a relationship with anyone within the city.

·         Understand tight budgets and work with cities on those issues.

·         Estimating 15-20 hours per month, but needs to know our issues better.

·         Appearing before the State Records Committee would be viewed as administrative.

·         Has dealt with developers who sue if they don’t get approval. This law firm has a reputation of not being easily pushed around. Don’t govern themselves by fear of litigation.

Heideman & Associates

Local firm with members who live in Utah County.

Highlights for questions asked:

·         Don’t represent any cities. Have been involved in litigation involving cities as both plaintiff and defendant.

·         No conflict of interest with Local Government Trust, has sued them many times.

·         Has dealt with sovereign citizens. Be direct, honest, and blunt. Tend to be litigious and not very reasonable. They want to be heard but sometimes don’t want to listen.

·         Would like to be on the side of a city because of governmental immunity act.

·         Because we would be their only city client, we would be a focus.

·         Sue cities quite often.

·         No relationship with anyone within the city.

·         Has a flexible billing schedule. Don’t charge for quick phone calls.

·         Never appeared before State Records Committee. Has filed many requests for records.

·         Will dedicate as many hours as it takes each month, but anticipates about 25-32 hours per month for administrative matters.

·         Will work to compromise when client wants less hours than what is quoted for a project.

Callister, Nebeker & McCullough

Located in downtown Salt Lake. Has spent a considerable amount of time representing cities during his 20 year career. Worked in land use, development, GRAMA, municipal bonds, utilities, policies, etc. Has worked on many interlocal agreements and employee issues. Has formulated codes and ordinances for cities. Always remembers he is about the public’s business. Local government practice within the firm is substantial. Have experts in employee benefit matters. Expert litigation support is available.

Highlights to questions asked:

·         No conflict of interest with Local Governments Trust.

·         Never has dealt with a sovereign citizen.

·         Has appeared before the State Records Committee and has extensive experience with GRAMA.

·         City attorney for Cottonwood Heights for past 10 years and still acting in that capacity. Also served as city attorney for Holladay.

·         Anticipate 50-60 hours a month for administrative legal services.

·         Works with city recorder on GRAMA requests. Appearing before Records Committee would be viewed as administrative.

Kirton McConkie

Provide many key benefits including the fact that many members of the team live within 10 minutes of Cedar Hills. Has experience of three former in-house city attorneys. Sensitive to budget issues. Mr. Wright has served as a former council member in Cedar Hills. Has attorneys who have served as bond attorneys, worked with special service districts, defended local political subdivisions. Has no conflicts of interest with regards to our issues. Understand development issues and feels they can protect the interests of the city.

Highlights to questions asked:

·         Has functioned as a city attorney. Represent about a dozen cities on various matters.

·         Not aware of any conflicts of interest with regards to Local Governments Trust.

·         Has dealt with sovereign citizens and has defended a city against them. Have to be firm, blunt, and defend against them.

·         Lead attorney would be Mr. Shaw, Mr. Wright, and Mr. Bramhall.

·         Treats every client like they are the only client.

·         Willing to negotiate on fee structure. Doesn’t have to be retainer, can be hourly.

·         Defending GRAMA issues for 16 years. Has not appeared before the State Records Committee.

·         Approach is to negotiate and find compromise before litigation.

My two choices were Smith Hartvigson and Callister Nebeker. I liked Smith because they have an extensive background in municipal law and currently serve in the role as city attorney. I like Callister because they also had extensive municipal law experience but have also appeared before the State Records Committee and prevailed in the cases. Because we have been forced to appear before the State Records Committee multiple times and have prevailed, I wanted someone who could continue with those issues.

CM Zappala made a motion to award the legal services contract to Kirton McConkie. This was seconded by CM Augustus. Voted 3-2 in favor of Kirton McConkie with myself and CM Crawley voting nay. CM Crawley indicated he would have voted for them if Mr. Wright had agreed to not serve as legal representation as he would prefer to not have a Cedar Hills resident serving in that capacity; however, CM Zappala did not share that concern and did not make it part of the motion.

Review/Action to Amend the Current Fee Schedule

Recently the City of Cedar Hills authorized the Mayor to negotiate a professional services contract with Sunrise Engineering for building inspection and plan review services. The City has reviewed the New Construction Fee rates for residential plan review, Gas line, and General City Inspection Fee rates. These fees are not in line with the actual cost for the services provided or the proposed fee rates of the new contract.  Staff also recommends that a Temporary power and Permanent Electrical Connection inspection fee be added. The following modifications/changes are recommended to the City Fee Schedule:

Gas Line Inspection:           

Current - $35.00

Proposed - $53.00

Residential Plan Check:

Current - 53% of Building Permit Fee

Proposed - 65% of Building Permit Fee

General City Inspection Fee (1hour/minimum 1hour):

Current - $47.00

Proposed - $ 53.00

Temporary Power and Permanent Power Inspection / each:  

Current - $ 0.00

Proposed - $ 53.00

This was approved.

Review/Action on Municipal Wastewater Annual Report

The  Utah  State  Department  of  Environmental  Quality  requires  that  Cedar  Hills  submit  an  annual report for our “Municipal Wastewater Planning Program” collection system and financial evaluation. We have prepared the report for review. The State Water Quality Board requests the following action be completed by City Council: 1) City Council acknowledges that they have reviewed the 2014 report and  2)  If  applicable;  City  Council  has  taken  all  appropriate  actions  necessary  to  maintain  effluent requirements contained in the UPDES Permit. This was approved.

Review/Action on Lease Agreement with Vivint

See notes from the last meeting for more detail. Staff met with Vivint on concerns mentioned last time. Some of those items include:

·         Has limited space to 100 square feet on rooftop

·         Vivint agrees to get required permits

·         Changed term to being renewable every four years

·         Provided expectation of service for city buildings

·         Termination with cause added

·         Added agreement on coverage for damage

·         Access to the building after hours will be paid for by Vivint and will notify staff before accessing

This was approved.

Review/Action on Service Agreement with American Fork Police

The City of Cedar Hills currently has a Police Services Agreement with American Fork City. Police matters including animal control activities are provided within the framework of the contract.  American Fork Police Department has proposed that an updated Police Services Agreement be executed with changes as follows: 

1) Contract length will be 24 months with an automatic renewal unless written notice is given by either party no later than 180 days prior to renewal date. 

2)  An increase in contract rate shall include a 3.5% adjustment once per contract period.

The modification to the Police Services contract gives additional stability to the Police department through a multi-year contract. The contract also reduces the overall contract rate charged to Cedar

Hills by allowing for one increase of 3.5% during the contract period, rather than annually as is stipulated in the current contract. This was approved.

Discussion on Water Restrictions

Governor Herbert indicated he wouldn’t be surprised if cities implemented water restrictions because of low snow pack levels. We have done odd/even restrictions in the past but saw an increase in usage. Whatever is implemented has to be enforceable. Numerous ideas were discussed, whether it is odd/even or a two day per week schedule and how it would be enforced. This will be an ongoing discussion.