Recap: City Council 9.24.2019

I think if you can plan on one thing these days, it's to expect a city meeting to last at least 2 hours.  This one was about 4.5 hours!  I know it's long, and some may have been dying - but I loved it!  I learned so much!

It hard to recap such a long meeting into such a short post.  Public comment lasted about an hour.  Some people were calm, some people were angry.  The meeting was held at the Family Activity Center to accommodate the 125+ people that came.  I appreciate the mayor, the city council and the staff for holding out for us and for being there.  The more involved I get, the more appreciation I have for the way our government was set up and for our country.

Some important notes first.  Our city is making changes guys, and I for one am thrilled about it!  It was awesome to me to see that 3 agenda items were things we, the citizens, asked them about.  They didn't have to put it on their agenda.  But they did, and I'm grateful for it.   A few other things to note; changes are taking place to get the community more involved.  Here's a recap of a few of them:

•The city's facebook page has been more active than ever.  They are posting preliminary plans that are coming to the Planning Commission (something they have never done before!).  They are also adding more updates about other things like water and traffic and updates on the landfill.  You can find the city's facebook page here.

•Another thing introduced was a new email/text messaging system to help keep the public informed.  No more will we need to rely on the newsletter alone.  Sign up for it now.  Go here for more details.

•Additionally, the city's website continues to be updated regularly.  You can see the newest development proposal, The Knolls at Valley View under 'Happenings' on the city website.  We have a great city manager who is working very hard.

•Council Member Angie Petty has been very active on both the South Weber United Page as well as her personal page to help bring more awareness to the people.  Councilmember Wayne Windsor also recently joined.  Planning Commissioner Wes Johnson and Taylor Walton are also on the South Weber Citizens United page to chime in and offer insight.  I am so happy to see this!  

Here is the agenda for this meeting:

Unfortunately, the audio didn't take.  It was quite hard to hear everyone though I know they were trying hard to get it.  

•The commercial overlay was removed from our city code/plan.  Wahoo!

•The sweeping T on 475:  After some discussion, moving forward as currently planned was voted on and passed 3 to 1, with Wayne Windsor being the only who voted against.   The overall feeling I got from this is that in order to change this sweeping T at this point in time would cost the city a great deal of money and could be a potential problem for developers who paid for a portion of this road to accommodate this median.  

•Mixed use definition/delaying of the General Plan.  Things got a little hazy here.  There was a lot of discussion.  I double checked with David Larsen at the end to make sure I understood the decision (for tonight) better.  The plan will be for public comment to continue until the 11th.  The open houses are still planned for October 2nd and 3rd.  On October 22, the council and planning commission will meet to discuss mixed use as well as public comment.  A first draft will be made with mixed use definition/use of the general plan and public comment will be reopened for further discussion.  The timeline/date of final general plan approval has been placed on hold for now.

I for one, am very pleased with this new format for the general plan.  I feel this would be a huge help to citizens to help change some of the things the council already knows they will be doing.  It will also give us the first draft of the definition of mixed use.  It allows public comment to delve into specific items rather than eating the general plan in a whole bite.   Well, I hope so anyways!! We have been told by numerous council members the general plan will be changed quite a bit from what it is right now.    

One comment asked each of the council members to state how they felt about South Bench Drive.  I kept notes of all of their remarks but do not have them with me at this time.  I believe each council member was against South Bench Drive as currently proposed.  More consideration needs to take place of the specifics of this road before they can approve it.   I will update soon with their remarks as well as a link to the minutes for everyone to read.  

This is an exciting time guys.  We have more public involvement than ever before and as I know that it can be a little hairy at times, we all love this city!  Having the community involved is so important so that we can better see and understand each other and our unique visions and goals for our city, and come to a place where we can find solutions together to the problems we have.  It's awesome guys...its just awesome!

#SWmorethan20