Tuesday, May 19, 2015

City Council Meeting - May 19, 2015

Work Session
Pleasant Grove Strawberry Days Royalty presented. The queen and each attendant introduced themselves, as well as the rodeo royalty. Invited Cedar Hills residents to Strawberry Days, which is in June.

Council Meeting

Public Comment
Robert Silva – Received a notice regarding a speed bump sign being covered by his tree. His tree was in before the sign was placed. In order to comply, he would have to remove the entire tree. Would like to know if city could move the sign back approximately three feet so that the tree doesn’t need to be cut down. Many other city signs in the area are also obstructed by trees.

David Cox – Addressed the Rosegate development. Has lived in Cedar Hills for less than a year. He was initially opposed to the development for selfish reasons. Has general impression that the city feels they are in a helpless position with this development. The mixed-use office/retail zone is supposed to be less intense. In commercial guidelines it says city shall impose any and all conditions to protect surrounding areas. His belief is that the conditions requested have not been met, specifically the height of the building. He will email the Council the rest of his thoughts as he ran out of time during public comment.

Ken Cromar – Last City Council meeting his group spoke regarding Kim Holindrake and her retirement. Hasn’t received a response and wants to know when he will receive one. Wants former attorney Eric Johnson to sign an affidavit stating that all city documents were returned to the city and that he never engaged in anything illegal.

Public Hearing
Final Plans for Lakeview Trails Subdivision, located at approximately 10100 Canyon Road in the H-
1 Hillside Zone

Wayne Windor – Manager for Metropolitan Water District. Believes there is one area that has not yet been resolved and it is the storm water runoff on the corridor. Wants any action to be contingent on addressing storm water runoff concerns.

Decision to allow the proposed congregate care facility, Rosegate at Cedar Hills, located at 4600 W Cedar Hills Drive, to traverse the Neighborhood Retail subzone

David Cox – Purpose of the neighborhood retail subzone is to promote/meet day to day needs of current residents. Doesn’t feel this development does this. Plans he has seen are not ideal. Is in favor of allowing it to traverse in order to make building nicer looking, but only if the building is moving forward.

Corey Shupe – Corey is with Blu Line, the developer for Rosegate. He feels they have met requirements, but there was a desire from the Planning Commission to look at how things would look if an overlap in the neighborhood retail subzone was allowed. Came to hear feedback from residents.

Amendments to City Code Regarding Landscaping and Xeriscaping

Nobody signed up for public comment.

Water and Sewer Funds transfers out to Governmental Funds to cover related Water & Sewer charges for FY2015 and 2016 - see notes from that agenda item below.

Ken Hazelbaker – New to Cedar Hills. He is a Civil Engineer. Surprised to see a golf course in a desert community. Doesn’t understand why we are transferring funds, wants to know if it’s a normal fiscal thing or an emergency issue.

City Reports
David Bunker – Teen soccer finished up this week and was very successful. Working on an agreement with Lone Peak Volleyball for some clinics. Meeting with Principal Bromley to discuss additional partnerships. Golf course has struggled this month with rain.

CM Zappala – Working on technology to improve customer service. Coordinating with city staff. We currently use a program called iWork but isn’t clear whether or not it meets our needs, so he is going to setup a meeting with them to find out if we should be using it differently.

Mayor Gygi – Finance Committee met and moving closer to final budget. Hoping to have one more additional meeting before final approval.

CM Rees – Planning Commission met. They had a great discussion on whether or not to allow the proposed congregate care facility to traverse the neighborhood retail portion of the SC-1 zone. The goals discussed were to create a park-like setting that can be accessed and enjoyed by the entire community, to move the development further from the homes to the south, and to allow for more commercial development in the southwest portion of that property. The final motion incorporated these goals and included conditions that the area must maximize open space to be visible and accessible to the community, and to require a 1 to 1 swap for commercial. It was approved with one dissenting. The one dissenting preferred to have a visual of what was being suggested before making a decision and also would have liked the requirement that the 1 to 1 swap be specifically for commercial that generates sales tax. The recommendation was made to Blu Line to come to the Council with some visuals of the 1 to 1 swap.

The Planning Commission also discussed rezoning some lots from the R-1 20,000 zone to R-1 15,000. This would allow some of those lots to be subdivided and developed; however, it is anticipated this would only create an additional 8-10 usable lots. Large animal rights would need to be allowed as these lots already have those rights. It would also make the current non-conforming lots into conforming lots.

The Planning Commission agreed that the next meeting on May 26th would be dedicated to reviewing the design guidelines.

Finally, because Lakeview Trails is on the agenda today, I figured I would read the motion made by the Planning Commission. It states “To recommend the approval of the Lakeview Trails Subdivision final plan to the City Council contingent on following: showing the storm water drainage between Lots 3 and 4 and parcel A and Lot 1; fixing the Pressurized Irrigation line between Lots 19 and 20 per David Bunker’s direction; showing the location of the sidewalk at the end of the cul de sac off Bayhill Drive; adding building area on each lot; assigning addresses; correcting the geotech study report; engineering and geotech review by the city engineer; and a letter of water rights conveyance.”

The Finance Committee met and further discussed the upcoming FY2016 budget. No significant changes were made from the last Council meeting.

The Family Festival is a few weeks away and that committee is busy preparing. All details are available on the city’s website.

CM Crawley – Spent time looking at options for the golf course.

Review/Action on installation of sewer laterals to properties on 4000 West
Recently a Pleasant Grove resident on 4000 West approached the City to connect to the Cedar Hills sanitary sewer mainline due to a failure of the septic system at their address. Currently the city policy is that connection to city lines are for current residents unless provisions are made otherwise. Due to the time sensitive nature of the sewer failure, this resident has been in discussions with the City regarding possible boundary adjustment or agreement to connect to the sewer main. Other properties may also be affected. Staff recommends each PG resident who wants to connect sign an agreement to boundary adjust into Cedar Hills. There are about six homes on this street who are also on septic systems and may eventually be in the same position. City would cover cost of lateral to property line. Ms. Day (the PG resident) spoke to those residents and all but one agreed to annex into Cedar Hills when their homes sold.

The concerns that I brought up were 1) an annexation period needs to be defined; 2) what happens if PG rejects the request for disconnect; 3) what happens if she doesn’t pay her sewer bill as we cannot turn off her water; 4) we need to implement any changes recommended by legal counsel.

This was approved with the four items above included as conditions.

Review/Action on final plans for Lakeview Trails in the H-1 Hillside zone
The “Lakeview Trails” subdivision is located on Canyon Road at approximately 10150 N. The proposed subdivision is located within the H-1 zone, but qualifies as a Planned Residential Development (see code 10-6B). These plans have been submitted to an outside engineering firm to review submissions. The submittals include plats showing the infrastructure improvements, a geotechnical study as well as the required storm water management plan.  Planning Commission approved a recommendation to the City Council for final approval during their April meeting.
Staff would like to see storm drain pipes to be 15” to meet city standards. PI line between lots 19 & 20 was corrected. Buildable area is being met. Engineering report on new plans is from Earthtek Engineering. Concern with storm drain system that goes across aqueduct and needs to be subject to an engineer’s review of final storm drain plan. Water conveyance letter was received but needs to be verified. Added streetlight at end of Bayhill cul-de-sac. Additional concern with lots 3-8 is that property encroaches upon easement for Metropolitan aqueduct. This has been an issue for residents in other parts of the city where residents weren’t able to install fences, structures, pools, etc. because of easements. Developer will disclose to residents that fence cannot be built on easement and that privacy fence not allowed on trail.

CM Zappala received a copy of the new geotech report, which was critical of the original geotech report. Asked who has reviewed these concerns. Staff met with Earthtek to review each of the concerns. This was approved with the following conditions: Subject to review of storm drain plans that meets requirements for massive event; drainage between lots 3 & 4 need to be piped; SL/Metropolitan Water as signer on plat; 15” pipe for storm drain; verification of water conveyance; verify addresses listed on plat; identify on plat where fencing is not allowed; final review and approval by engineering.

Review/Action on amendments to city code regarding landscaping and xeriscaping
Planning Commission has made a recommendation to the City Council to modify the current xeriscape code found in 10-5-27 to be as follows: 10-5-27 C. Defined: The term “landscaping” shall mean and include the installation of any combination of turf (including either sod or seeded area), planter beds, gardens, trees and shrubs, statuary, boulders, rock areas, xeriscape or other customary landscape features that occupy the entire unpaved portion of the front yard area. 1. Irrigation System: Where the landscaping includes turf and other plant materials that require the application of irrigation water in order to be sustained, an irrigation system shall be installed and designed to provide adequate quantities of water to those area requiring irrigation. Xeriscaped areas shall be watered only using drip/trickle irrigation systems, or other similar systems used to reduce water consumption. 2. Xeriscape: A landscaping method that employs the use of drought tolerant plants and techniques in order to conserve water. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the use of drought tolerant vegetation, and non-vegetative materials. Provided, however, failure of an owner to install and maintain landscaping within the front yard area under the guise that the vegetation and bare ground that occur naturally on the site constitutes xeriscaping shall not qualify as conforming with the provisions of this section.

CM Zappala brought up again having the city xeriscape roundabouts and street medians as nobody can play on that grass. Staff brought up this may increase our maintenance costs. I requested that we obtain information from our maintenance company on potential costs.

This was approved.

Discussion on Water and Sewer Funds transfers out to Governmental Funds to cover related Water & Sewer charges for FY2015 and 2016
The Utah State Auditor provided new guidance in an Auditor Alert May 8, 2014 for enterprise fund transfers, reimbursements, loans, and services relating to Utah Code 10-6-135. The new auditor alert requires governmental entities to charge governmental funds for any services provided by enterprise funds. The City is also required to hold a public notice because it reimburses the governmental funds for new water and sewer charges incurred. Estimated amounts for water and sewer are $8,500 for general fund and $31,000 for the golf course. Staff used information from what we charge American Fork and LPHS to come to the estimate. The budget impact is zero as there is a charge for the utilities with an associated transfer in from the water & sewer fund to pay for the utilities. The report from the Utah State Auditor is available online for any resident who would like to view.

Review/Action on resolution regarding fireworks and open fires
Chief Freeman has addressed the City Council regarding the upcoming fire conditions.  Although conditions are subject to change with weather patterns which are unpredictable, Chief Freeman feels that if dry weather persists, conditions could rapidly accelerate the potential for fires. The Chief anticipates that conditions will be similar to last year and has expressed concerns that restrictions for open fires and aerial fireworks should be in place in some locations. Utah law now puts the control of restrictions directly with Cities.  By resolution, the City can restrict open fires, fireworks, etc. dependent on criteria such as environmental issues (weather conditions, dry fuel loads, and escalating fire conditions), topographical considerations (mountainous terrain, brush covered areas and wildland interface) and public safety concerns (people, structures and property). In addition, last year the City identified one location for residents who live in restricted areas to gather to celebrate with legal fireworks. Last year the location selected was Mesquite Park. Other cities also use open parks for this activity. It is recommended that Mesquite Park again be designated as the location to have residents gather to light fireworks if they are restricted at their homes.  This way, the fire department can monitor one location vs. the entire east bench.

The restrictions for this year will be that no aerials or open fires are allowed east of Canyon Road. There are no restrictions for the rest of the city at this point, but that is subject to change as recommendations come from the Lone Peak fire chief. Residents are encouraged to light fireworks at Mesquite Park. This was approved.

Discussion on golf course options
Council Member Rob Crawley has asked to include a discussion on the various golf course options that may be available to the City. Options range from keeping the status quo to exploring and comparing other “financial and social’ impacts that other options may offer. The goal of this discussion is to provide feedback and direction to Council Member Crawley as he begins an analysis. CM Crawley read a letter and I’ve included images of that letter here.


The areas I felt needed to be addressed include:
  • Including the Golf Course Advisory Committee in the analysis (Mayor Gygi first suggested this). I feel that whatever is decided will hold more weight if it is a group of residents doing the research as opposed to one person.
  • The bond covenants need to be fully understood. I've been told that changing the golf course to something else could make the bond callable. We need to understand the repercussions.
  • A portion of the golf course is in Highland and we cannot assume they will agree to any changes.
  • The cost for reconfiguring the golf course needs to be fully analyzed. While Rob's letter indicates it could be a substitute for the Deerfield land, the reality is that it is currently not usable as soccer fields or park space. Much would need to be reconfigured.
  • The cost for moving the PI ponds needs to be considered.
  • Legal counsel needs to be involved in reviewing the development agreements with the Cedars as I've been told the open space of the golf course was included as part of the allowance for housing.





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