Mayor Gygi brought up the Oak Road parcel. He is getting several emails from residents. The landowner purchased this land knowing that it was open space. Has regularly tried to get the city to rezone the land to residential. Mayor says he's not unsympathetic to the landowner but he knew what he was buying. Says the residents surrounding that area have benefited from others owning that land and want to continue to benefit from it. He proposed to those residents that the best solution is for the existing residents to pool resources together, purchase the land, and make it a permanent conservation easement. In order to do this, two parties are required - someone to own the land and someone to maintain it. The residents can purchase it and encumber it to the city to maintain. Denise suggested that we could make it a walking park so as not to spend a lot of money on converting it to open space usable by the entire community. Daniel said open space benefits us all, allows space for wildlife. Gary said if the city as a whole wants to use the land as a park, then we should make it something that can benefit everyone as opposed to just those adjacent to the land. My understanding was that it was always intended to include a trail of some sort and be usable open space, not just native plants, so I supported Denise's idea. Chandler said it could be part of the trail system, could be a dog park. Daniel wants the city to keep it as part of the park system and likes the idea of using it to expand our trails system. There is a trail that dead ends right across the street so this would add to the continuity of our trail system. Would like a trail, maybe a gazebo to sit and enjoy the views. Would prefer not putting a dog park as that has the potential to cause issues in an existing neighborhood. Chandler said one thing to consider is that with the acquisition of the Harvey land, priority of funds for park development will go to Harvey Park. That means this parcel will be on the back burner for awhile. Daniel said he'd also like to see St. Andrews moved in the Public Facilities zone to discuss as open space. Denise said she lived near this parcel of land for many years. Having a connector from Oak Road East to Oak Road West is great. Could also have some outdoor exercise equipment there, like other parks do. Mike said we don't need to rezone this to residential.
Public Comment
Nobody signed up.
Consent Agenda
Three new members were appointed to the Parks & Trails Committee.
City Reports
Chandler Goodwin - Ski bus registration is now open. Last LP baseball tournament was held today. Golf course was recently spike aerated. Soccer and football are finishing up. Voter information pamphlet is on the city website and paper copies will be mailed. Mike Carson won the Service is Beautiful Award through Seamless.gov.
CM Rees - It is time for the annual State of the City and I will work with staff on getting this out. The goal is to have this out in November. Some suggested topics include the 2017 budget, a brief discussion on property tax, the mayor and city manager messages, and beginning discussions on the concept plans for Harvey Park.
Mayor Gygi - At LPPSD meeting there was a draft report from the State Auditor and some inaccuracies need to be cleaned up.
CM Zappala - Had a request from a resident to look at banning open burn permits. DEQ said it is up to each individual city on whether or not to issue permits. This resident had a neighbor doing an open burn and it was blowing smoke into their yard and their house. They had to keep their house locked up and not use their yard for three days because of air quality. Feels in an urban area such as ours we shouldn't allow open burn permits. Mayor Gygi said Ben as the Fire Marshal should make a recommendation to the Council. Daniel would an agenda item to discuss whether St. Andrews should be rezoned as public facilities as part of a long-term plan.
Review/Action on Amendment to Ordinance Regarding Solicitation
Based on Council feedback from the August meeting, staff is proposing to amend the Cedar Hills Municipal Code as follows: 3-1D-9: NO SOLICITATION NOTICE: B. The display of such sign or placard shall be deemed to constitute notice to any solicitor that the inhabitant of the residence does not desire to receive and/or does not invite solicitors, nor shall solicitors leave any advertisements, door hangers, material, or any form of literature at any residence displaying a “No Solicitation” sign. 3-1D-10: DUTIES OF SOLICITORS: D. It is a violation of this article for any person soliciting or advocating to knock on the door, ring the doorbell, leave any advertisements, door hangers, material, or literature at the residence, or in any other manner attempt to attract the attention of an occupant of a residence that bears a “No Solicitation” sign for the purpose of engaging in or attempting to engage in advocating, home solicitation sale, door to door soliciting, or soliciting.
Everything above in red is the proposed addition to the existing ordinance. This request to add flyers to the no soliciting ordinance was requested by a resident. He stated that there are several retired residents who travel out of town for several weeks, or even months at a time and having flyers left on the door sends the message that nobody is home. He worries about these homes being a target for thefts. I support adding this line to our existing ordinance as it makes sense for us to help protect the property of our residents.
Another item I raised is that our existing ordinance doesn't have any teeth. There is no penalty assessed to a person who violates the non-solicitation ordinance, so many residents feel that their no-soliciting sign is ignored as there are no repercussions. I asked how other cities enforce their ordinance and if we can do anything like assessing a fine. David Shaw (our attorney) said a violation is a Class B misdemeanor. Resident would need to contact AFPD (non-emergency line) as they can issue a citation, and the resident should notify the city so that the city can reach out to the business of the solicitor and make them aware of the updated ordinance.
This was unanimously approved.
Review/Action on Adoption of No-Fault Insurance PolicyBased on the recent pressurized irrigation line break that occurred in May that resulted in four homes being flooded, the City has worked with Olympus insurance to begin to establish a no-fault utility claims program. The program establishes criteria and owners responsibilities that must be met in order to receive assistance; additionally, the assistance from the city is limited as the policy establishes a maximum payout. There is a need for this type of policy to be established in Cedar Hills as we experience a utility line failure periodically. In the past the City Council has not had a policy to guide decision making, and as a result has looked to past actions to determine how to respond to various incidents. This program not only establishes a policy in the case of a utility failure event, but also provides informational brochures for the public on sewer backups, insurance, and prevention. This policy allows staff to deal with these claims without needing to come to the City Council. This policy will be published, but I'm happy to send it to anyone who would like a copy.
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