Utah Lake Commission Presentation
Eric Ellis presented. Commission was put together to promote the lake as a resource to Utah County residents. A lot has been done to rejuvenation the image and water quality of the lake. They are working on trail development. Murdock Trail connects to the lake, and they are working to connect to Jordan River Trail. Will go through Saratoga Springs trail system as well. Would like to have a trail going around the lake, which is a 75-mile loop. Working to expand and improve marinas around the lake. Utah State gave them $500,000 last year for improvements. American Fork Marina is popular and was approved for a grant to reconfigure some of the loading areas. Will also add a recreation area and beach area. They do field trips at the lake to raise public awareness. They have fourth grade field trips twice a year. They get more applicants than they have space for. They want to put together a nature resource center. They are moving ahead with a site analysis to get an idea of what it would cost. Shoreline has been treated to remove plants that clog up the pumps and area. Also improving beaches and access, as well as adding amenities. Continue to do clean-up projects around the lake. Would like each city to have a representative on the committees so that cities are represented as regulations are discussed and made. There will be a governing board and a technical committee. Technical committee would be a representative from the public works department. Governing board representative would be an elected official. Looking for a contribution of $1500/year from Cedar Hills in order to participate on these committees.
Discussion on Swimming Pool Feasibility Study
Main engineering company that does city pools in Utah is Water Design Inc. Staff reached out to them for information. Debt is about 20-30 years. Here is an idea of the costs associated with a basic pool:
- Pleasant Grove - $175,542
- Lindon - $217,735
- Lehi - $111,102
- Payson - $85,097
- Orem - $81,084
Average cost to each household to cover debt would be $167-$250/year per. Resident admission cost would range fro $2.50-$4.00. A pool like Lindon would be closer to $10-$11 million, which would increase the annual per household cost even more. Indoor pools are twice as expensive as outdoor only pools. Existing city property available for a pool would include St. Andrews estates (though we would need to install golf nets to protect pool users), Mesquite Park, and the city's 9 acres in the commercial area.
Alternative to building a pool include offering a swimming pool reimbursement for residents who purchase passes to pools in other cities. CM Zappala asked that we discuss with the mayors from Alpine and Highland with a specific proposal to see if they may be interested in again discussing a joint venture between the three cities. Mayor Gygi will arrange this.
Discussion on Library Feasibility Study
Same issues as pool with regards to available locations. There has been some discussions of using basement of the Community Center for a library. Some of the associated costs for nearby libraries:
- PG has three FT employees (estimated $70,000 per FTE), 27 PT employees (estimated $12,000 per PTE) and many community volunteers.
- Facility maintenance - janitorial services based on square footage and types of rooms; repairs and replacement of equipment
- Utilities (currently community services portion of Vista Room is $24,000/year)
- Purchasing new items and initial collection (PG has approximately 85,000 items including books, audio, and DVD's)
- Collection maintenance (repair damaged books, supplies, staffing)
- Programming (various online and onsite programming, children's events, etc)
Highland has levied a specific library tax for their residents that just goes towards the library. Their space is about three times the size of the basement of our Community Center. This will need further discussion.
Council Meeting
Public Comments
Nobody signed up.
City Reports
David Bunker - TSSD board is meeting this month and will review the budget.
CM Rees - State of the City was sent to residents last week.
CM Crawley - Received a bill from Eric Johnson for work done with Golf Course Committee. He is opposed to paying that bill. He said he was told that Eric was there as a favor to Mayor Gygi. When he asked an attorney to come present to the Council over a year ago we didn't pay that attorney and wouldn't let him present. Feels Eric should have corrected the committee about liabilities that he knew were inaccurate. Said if Eric was representing the city he would have course corrected the committee. Feels this invoice should not be paid.
Review/Action Setting Meeting Dates for 2016
The dates for 2016 were approved. These will be posted to the city's website. For the most part, they will continue to be the first and third Tuesdays of every month.
Review/Action on Resolution Supporting Local Law Enforcement
A similar resolution was passed by Lone Peak Public Safety and other cities and organizations are also considering. The resolution recognizes the role public safety agencies and officers play in keeping communities safe, recognizes that some officers have been targeted simply because of their profession, and resolves that the City Council stands with the officers serving our community. This resolution was approved.
Discussion on Temporary Zoning Ordinance and Completion of General Plan & Design Guidelines
When the City Council enacted a temporary zoning ordinance in November, a six month time period began where the city has to update the General Plan, Design Guidelines, and City Code before the moratorium on development applications ends. These changes are to address the concerns that effect the "countervailing public interest". Because of the enormity of the task and limited time to complete, staff is requesting that the Council issue an RFP to hire a qualified firm to assist with this process. Kirton McConkie will also be involved. The proposed timeline is as follows:
CM Zappala asked if we could just focus on land use in the General Plan in order to eliminate the need for outside help or at least keep costs low. I asked if Kirton McConkie could handle this as part of our monthly retainer with them. Chandler assumes it will cost $10k-$15k per item above to hire an outside firm. David Shaw (our attorney) said Kirton McConkie can help with the writing of code to comply with state law. CM Zappala stated the Council needs to spend a considerable amount of time in January coming up with specifics in order to save the cost of the consultant. He volunteered to be a part of this effort and I offered to help as well. We need to schedule a few special meetings in January as public hearings to get feedback on the updates needed.