Discussion on water issues for the upcoming year. Questions staff looks at is if we will have enough water, flooding, mudslides, etc. Snow pack as of today is 63%, which is less than average. Timpanogos divide is at 85%. Staff doesn't feel there will be significant runoff this year. Feels runoff will all be consumed. Water will decrease as summer goes on. Flooding and landslide potential is low. Things may change if we get a lot of rain in April, but aren't anticipating this will be the case. PI containers will need to be augmented with culinary water, like every year. Both wells are up and running. Cottonwood Well was energized last week. Water conservation measures are in place, including restrictions. City will be working with Wilkinson's (our park maintenance company) to make sure that the city is also conserving water. Jeff Maag and David Bunker are working to put together a cost analysis of gradually converting some of the city park strips to xeriscaping with drip systems in order to better conserve water.
There was a water leak on Cedar Hills Drive after a pipe broke. AFPD noticed water coming up and contacted public works. Public works began working on the line at 3AM. One section of pipe had a lateral crack from end to end, so it needed to be replaced. The pipe in that area of the city is C200 pipe, and we use C900 pipe now, which handles more pressure. The C200 isn't made any more so staff used what was currently available but will need to make some additional fixes soon to make sure that C900 connection to the existing C200 doesn't have any issues.
Jeff Maag has updated the Storm Water Fact Sheet Statement of Basis as required by the EPA. EPA is now requiring that any new developments no longer build large retention basins; instead they will require smaller retention basins. This won't impact us too much as Cedar Hills is mostly built out. Identified our major pollutant is sediment (salt from snow, and dust) and we now have to implement in our plan how to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus pollutants. This will include resident education, public involvement, illicit discharge detection, and control of construction site run-off. City is now required to insure that contractors comply with regulations, not just monitor. EPA has hired a large number of inspectors. All Utah jurisdictions are being audited and fines are being applied. SL County just had a million dollar penalty, which they negotiated down to $250,000 and agreed to hire 6 storm maintenance employees for monitoring. Public Works Director has been told that we should expect to be audited as well. Our liability includes the golf course maintenance building, but Jeff feels we are in fairly good shape compared to other jurisdictions.
Council Meeting
Public Comment
Jason Harr - Thanks the Council for attention and time spent on researching driving range fence. Feels that raising the nets is a good thing for the community to keep the public safe.
Resolution Recognizing Officer Diego Garcia as a Cedar Hills Champion
As part of the Cedar Hills Champions Program, the city is recognizing American Fork Police Officer Diego O. Garcia for his service to the communities of Cedar Hills and American Fork. Officer Garcia is also being recognized for his heroic efforts in saving the life of a woman who had been reported missing and suicidal. Officer Garcia has been awarded, “Officer of the Year,” (medium-sized agency) at the recent Utah Chiefs of Police Association’s annual conference in St. George. The Utah Chiefs of Police Association only selects six officers each year to receive this prestigious award.
Here is the press release issued by the city:
CEDAR
HILLS – For the past several years, Cedar Hills has been pleased to have a
partnership with the American Fork Police Department. At their next meeting, the
City Council will recognize Officer Diego Garcia for his service to the
communities of Cedar Hills and American Fork, and for his heroic efforts in
saving the life of a woman who had been reported missing and suicidal.
Officer
Garcia was dispatched to the home of a family who reported the woman missing.
The woman had left a suicide note on the bathroom mirror but no indication of
where she had gone. Officer Garcia began driving through the city searching for
her with nothing more than a description of her car and her license plate
number. He found her car at a hotel and was able to get in the room where he
found her on the bed, unconscious and with cut wrists. He was able to call for
an ambulance and assist in getting her to a hospital. The woman survived and is
receiving the help she needs.
“We appreciate
the service and commitment of Officer Garcia,” stated Mayor Gary Gygi. “He went
above and beyond in doing his best to find this woman and help her family. We
are honored to have an outstanding relationship with the American Fork Police
Department and consider them one of the best in the state.”
The
recognition ceremony will take place during the April 19, 2016 City Council
meeting at 7:00pm at the Cedar Hills Community Recreation Center located at
10640 N. Clubhouse Drive. At that meeting the Council will declare April 20,
2016 as Officer Diego Garcia day in Cedar Hills.
Consent Agenda
Minutes from the March 1, 2016 and March 15, 2016 City Council meetings were approved.
City Reports
David Bunker - Spring clean-up is happening now. There are large dumpsters throughout the city for residents to use. Sewer laterals will be stubbed in for three lots on 4000 West for PG homes boundary adjusting into Cedar Hills.
Chandler Goodwin - Resident in Cedar Hills has installed a deck but a permit wasn't obtained and the deck is in a slope failure zone. Decks of this type are not allowed in the slope failure zone because of type of hazard that exists in the event of an earthquake. City has given the resident a number of options in order to comply, but have not heard back from the resident. If nothing is done the city will need to file a notice of intent on the home to make notification that the deck does not comply with code. Options include building a concrete haunch so the deck is supported by the homes foundation instead of its own foundation. Can also do a cement pad instead of a deck. CM Geddes feels the deck won't be any more dangerous than the patio and feels the city might be taking too hard of a stance in this case, but will defer to building official.
CM Zappala - Has been working on revising city code. Waiting for a second round of legal review and for CM Zappala to implement a few more lines regarding colonial structures and outdoor storage restrictions. Chandler is working on revision for conditional use permit process. Mr. Shaw is working on revision for Board of Adjustment and Appeals process. Some changes to the General Plan need to take place to harmonize with the new Design Guidelines.Public Hearings for these changes have been noticed. Any changes need to be given to CM Zappala soon.
CM Rees - Met with CM Zappala to discuss communications. We put together a list of things we'd like to accomplish, especially if the Council decides not to hire a part-time communications person. Handed out a list to the Council for consideration and feedback. Council expressed approval. Family Festival Committee is doing well. We are looking for many volunteers still.
CM Bailey - Expressed appreciation to city staff for hard work on Sunday repairing pipe.
CM Geddes - Utah Valley Dispatch met, new building is going well. Budget is slightly higher than last year and our portion will need to be added to our budget.
Review/Action on Driving Range Fence
See previous notes as we've discussed as a Council. Chandler Goodwin presented. First option to raise 5 poles and nets is approximately $28,000 and to raise all nets is $48,000. Some of this could be paid with trades of two corporate passes, which is valued at $15,000. Funds would come from unrestricted fund balance. Currently we are budgeted to use unrestricted funds for the golf maintenance facility and for Bayhill Park. We don't have bids for either as of yet. Architectural rendering for maintenance building has been sent to Highland for review as it is in their boundaries. Unrestricted fund balance is currently $613,501. Mayor Gygi feels we should try some of the other recommendations first, such as installing a camera or targets on the driving range. CM Zappala said that only resolves the issue if people are purposely trying to go over the fence, but most people aren't intentionally going over. Golfers also can't see where the ball is going so they don't realize it has gone over the fence. I agree with CM Zappala. Cameras only work if we have so many cameras installed that we could identify the golfer, the ball they hit, and the damage it caused. It makes sense to me to raise the nets to mitigate the risk of damage or injury as much as possible. The following comes from an email I sent to the Council to be read at the last meeting that I was unable to attend:
In
addition to the concerns Mr. Bottita and Mr. Harr have brought forward
regarding damage to their homes and vehicles, a greater concern is that we have heard of residents who are walking/driving on Cottonwood or playing at Mesquite Park. One resident
who is a photographer recently posted to Facebook that he was near the range
while taking pictures of the mountains and a golf ball was within a foot of
hitting him. A soccer club president has emailed indicating that their coaches have brought to their board concerns about the number of balls ending up in the field during soccer practice. I worry that one day someone will be seriously hurt from a golf
ball coming over the fence. While raising the nets will most likely not
eliminate all golf balls from coming over, I believe it will significantly
reduce the number, especially if we focus of the portions of the net where the
majority of balls are coming over.
As the
city owns and operates the golf course, I feel it is the proper role of the city
government to do what we can to protect the property and personal safety of
those who are impacted by the business we choose to run. Just as we have
required businesses in our community to install certain improvements as a
condition to be in our community, and as a way to protect the property and
atmosphere of those who live near those developments, we should also be willing
to install improvement that will protect the property, the people, and the
atmosphere of those who live near the golf course.
My recommendation for funding - we have allocated $20,000 for a part-time communications person. If CM Zappala and I are going to handle communications, we won't need to hire this new person. If we spent $35,000 to raise 7 sections, were given $15,000 in trades, we could use the $20,000 from communications to cover the remaining balance.
CM Geddes spent time at the driving range hitting some balls and hit one over the fence. He agreed that if the nets were higher his ball wouldn't have gone over. Agrees it makes sense to raise some of the sections.
CM Bailey said that fire department has never been called on an issue related to a golf ball and feels there are more pressing issues. Wants staff to make recommendation. He doesn't think raising the fence will do the trick. Says we need to hire someone to research options and tell us what the best option is.
CM Geddes moved that we approve up to $35,000 to add fencing up to the intersection of Mesquite and Cottonwood Drive with the trade and funding I suggested above. If trade is not available, then it needs to come back to the Council for further discussion. This was approved 5-0.
Discussion on Zoning Ordinance Changes
Council will read through updated documents and give any feedback to CM Zappala.
