Recap! City Council 1.28.2020

Tonight's meeting was packed full of lots of discussion!  Thank you all to who were able to come out!  We had 13 public comments most of which centered on concerns with Riverside RV Park.   

•UDOT Presentation: He discussed future possible plans for the 89/84 corridor.  This was just a study only.  Currently there are not funds available for this project.  However, the mayor reported that she has been in contact with legislators to try and get funding for this project within this year.  This interchange has a lot of challenges.  This {pretty cool} website will show you a rendering of some plans, both long term and short term.  The most popular/viable/easiest to fund method for the long term is the Center Bypass and the SPUI for short term.  A SPUI is similar to the I84 on ramp in Riverdale.  

•Riverside RV Park CUP and Development Agreement:  There was much discussion on this. A lot of questions asked by the public were posed and answered.  The boundary concerns are enough that the CUP was tabled until Feb 11th, where it is hoped an official decision from the proper entity will be made.  The development agreement will also be reviewed on the 11th pending the boundary concern has been properly addressed.  

•Parks Priority Projects:  The parks committee has been reviewing and gathering information based on results from a 2018 survey sent out to the citizens about potential parks projects.  After reviewing many different projects, the committee has determined what they feel are the top priority projects.  These funds - minus the wetlands restoration - will be used with impact fees that the city has acquired for the specific use of upgrades to parks.  You can see a list of the priority projects, as well as other possible future projects below.

•Snow Plow Policy:  Public Works Department Head Mark Larsen was present to go over the new snow plow policy.  He said the policy is more a set of guidelines for the fact that every storm is different.  Depending on how long the storm will last and how heavy it will be may alter the policy slightly.  For example, it wouldn't be worth it to plow a small storm on non-priority roads if it will melt the next day because of the hardship on the plow blades.  Similarly, if a storm continues throughout the day, they may spend priority time on the main roads only to save on resources of drivers and spread out to other roads once the storm quits.   Keeping items off the roads (garbage cans, vehicles) really helps out the drivers a lot.  Of course, as a reminder, no one should be parking on the street per city code from November to March. 

•New Business: There was an inquiry on how to better get information out to the public concerning public notices and expanding from the current 300' of neighbors surrounding it.  Also there was a reminder to bring the red striping policy that was discussed in the public safety meeting to come before the council.  City Reporter Lisa Smith said every public notice must be posted on the Utah Public Notice website.  She recommended can sign up and get an email notification anytime a public notice is submitted for our city.    

Reports

•Mayor Jo: Met with Senator Stuart Adams and Brian Bean and neighbors about HB0253 and short term rentals.  They are looking into amending the bill to better protect surrounding residents.  She also reported there was a lot of committee meetings this past week and that a committee meeting to discuss the shared water line with Uintah will be on the 11th next month.

•Councilmember Halverson: The Public Safety Committee met with the fire department and discussed goals and an emergency preparedness plan, hazard mitigation and paramedic changes for the city. 

•Council Member Alberts (Can I just say me? Weird to speak in 3rd person right?):  We have a new committee - the public relations committee which will include myself and Council Member Petty.  We met last week and discussed goals and ideas to better involved and inform the public.  Staff was directed to look into options for live streaming meetings.  Also, the Mixed Use Committee met which Taylor Walton was chosen as chair but I will report on it at council meetings.  We discussed our mixed use overlay and what the goals and ideals for this specific use of a zone.

•Council Member Petty: Parks and Rec met with the train club this last week and had a great and positive meeting.  An amended agreement will the train club will be forth coming soon. 

•City Manager Dave Larsen:  The street lights on Old Fort Road are up and running.  Since the city owns and operates these lights (rather than Rocky Mountain Power) we can turn them on and off as needed to save money, so if you see some lights are out it is for that reason. 

Thank you for tuning in! If you have any questions I am happy to answer them.  

#getinvolved #stayinvolved

Priority Parks Project List

Recap! Joint City Council & Planning Commission Meeting (General Plan discussion)

Once again, a huge thanks to Jeff Judkins for coming and doing a live stream of this meeting.  I know that being away for hours at a time every week is a sacrifice to your family - make sure to send out a thank you to him for doing so!

Tonight's meeting was a long one with lots to discuss.  You can hear the audio of it here and here and see the packet here.  The packet will include the maps we were looking at during the discussion as well and an updated section of the commentary of the general plan about the parks and rec that was also discussed can be found here.  

Lots of discussion happened at this meeting.  The minutes will be up probably next week and I would encourage all to look at it or check out the audio to get the full details of everything.

Up first was digging right into our new mixed use overlay.  There was a question about why do an overlay over a zone.  The answer to that was that an overlay allows for denial, a zone does not.  The developer will be bound to anything within the overlay which is mostly based on form-based code.  (Form-based code is more of using specific and determined styles, exteriors, heights etc. for a developer to design around to create the desired look of a development -- think Park City)).  

The overlay can only be applied to Commercial Highway zones that are over 5 acres of land -- and will only be applied through a rezone request to the PC and CC.  This limits the amount of this overlay to really take place in two parcels in our community - the property off South Weber Drive near Highmark and the property at the corner of 475 E and Old Fort Road.   Included in the code are specific setbacks and heights of buildings, outdoor signage, percentage of open space, landscaping requirements among other things.  Also included in the code was the requirement of a development agreement. 

Most of the concerns the discussion surrounded was the "no limit on the number of dwelling units' in a single building" and the height restrictions on buildings.   The restrictions on height depend on how far the unit sits from a public right of way (street or sidewalk).  The further away from the ROW, the higher the building could be, with a max of 50'.  Since these two properties are very different, there was a discussion on what could work on one property would not work as well on another. 

After much deliberation, it was decided that a committee of 2 Planning Commission officials as well as 2 city council members would meet with staff to reword the code to better satisfy our concerns.  Rob Osborne and Taylor Walton from the PC and myself and Wayne Winsor from the council were chosen to work with staff.  

The next item was to discuss the General Plan which started with reviewing all the maps included with the general plan.  Included in the packet are the new ideas for the roads north of SWD that was formally South Bench Drive as well as the 1900 connection to Layton.  Other maps that had some discussion was the sensitive lands map which formally included the OU's from contamination from HAFB.   After a discussion of why it was a removed and the question of if it was needed, staff was directed to include the OU's on the sensitive lands map.  

The last item of business was concerning the new section of our Parks and Rec on the text of the general plan.  It removed the requirement that was a suggestion from the Nat'l Parks & Rec Association that for every 1,000 people 25 acres of recreational lands was set aside, 10 of which would be developed parks.  The new text focuses on not creating more and new parks, but on maintaining current parks.  The concern that we aren't financially able to update and add to current parks was discussed.  The cons to this would be that we would not set aside another large developable park in our general plan (although retentions basins will continue to be required and could be used for park space) but the pros would be that it allows us to update and add to our current parks and will overall cost the city less to maintain.

Just a reminder that this draft of the general plan will go back out to the public for further review and most likely another survey.  After that feedback is given, the council and planning commission will again review it and make changes if necessary.

Phew!  As I said, there was so much to this meeting and a lot of deliberation.  Being a recap, it contains just the bare minimum of information and if you would like to better understand the situation I would suggest listening to the audio.  I hope that this is helpful for everyone!

Thanks again for all you staying involved and informed!!

#getinvolved #stayinvolved

Recap! City Council 1.4.2020

We had our first city council meeting this evening for the year in 2020.  Thank you all who were able to come out and of course to Jeff Judkins for streaming via Facebook live!  

•We did not have any public comment for this meeting.  There was an audit presentation done by Keddington & Christensen of our budget.   You can find more information about that in the packet.  They reported a clean report.  There were some recommendations/findings but they did not affect the numbers of the budget.  You can see those on page 54 of the audit report.  It had to due with making sure meeting minutes are posted within the correct timeframe and deposits not matching up.  On page 54 you will also find the city's response to those findings.  

•There was a presentation schedule for a development of the property next to Highmark Charter school, however the presenter was not in attendance.  City Manager David Larsen will be reaching out to them.  

•City Councilor Halverson was chosen as the mayor pro tem.  He will stand in for the mayor if she is unable to attend meetings.   There was also a new appointment to our Planning Commission.  After serving for 5 years, Debbi Pitts time on the commission came to an end.  A public announcement was made and 6 applicants applied for the position to the Planning Commission.  Mayor Jo, City Planner Barry Burton and Planning Commission Chair Rob Osborne interviewed each applicant and relayed all the applicants were very impressive and did great in their interviews.  The mayor made a  recommendation that Gary Boatright Jr. be appointed to the position.  The mayor related that Gary is very level headed and has land use experience while serving on the Riverdale City Planning Commission.  The council asked some further questions about Gary and what he hopes to bring to the table and other information about him.  You can hear that on the audio if you would like to learn more about him.  I look forward to seeing him in action and thank Debbi Pitts for her service these past five years.  

•The West Side Reservoir is up and running! There was a leak that was discovered and due to quick actions of staff with Jones & Associates they were able to find it and fix it in a timely manner.   That added expense, as well as another expense for a needed upgrade to the city's server were approved.  

•Our snow plow policy has been revised and updated.  A new map will be available online soon, but you can also see it in the packet as well (last page).  The biggest change here will be to cul-de-sacs, where a pass through with one in and one out will be done instead of clearing the entire "bulb" area.  This is to save on time and resources as cul-de-sacs require the most amount of time and usually have the most problems.

•New Business:  Councilman Winsor was added as a voting member, along with Dave Larsen and Mayor Jo for the ULCT.   Concerns about parking and traffic on the east side of South Weber Elementary was brought up as well and the best course to address that.  It was also discussed how to best bring up any new legislation that will affect our city directly and to be involved in that.  

•Reports:  There has been some vandalism around the fisherman's access and the city is keeping it's eye out on it.  A meeting with Staker Parson's took place and they look forward to meeting quarterly.  They have showed interest in possibly making some type of donation of some sort for a possible pickle ball court in Canyon Meadows park.  If you would *not* like to have your property sprayed for misquitos, you can contact mosquito abatement for an exception on your property that will stay in place for 3 years.  Also the mosquito abatement has job openings which could extend to teenagers if anyone is interested.  There are some grants specific for outdoor children's activities that the parks and rec committee will be discussing soon.  There was some questions on the flag that was for an Eagle Scout project that we are still waiting on more info for as well as an update on the civic building (next to the fire department) and what the future for it holds.  More information should be coming forth soon.  

•The US census is coming up and it is imperative that all in the city participate.  Each person counted brings in thousands of dollars for the city! There will be more info coming soon and it is quite a process that we hope all will participate in.  

And that's a wrap for this meeting.  As always, please contact your city officials if you have any questions or concerns.  I am so excited about this upcoming year and working with the great people of South Weber!

#getinvolved #stayinvolved

Tuesday January 14th Agenda and Packet

Tuesday's agenda and packet are up! The development presentation is for the property between the charter school and the storage sheds. You can find the new snowplow policy in the last 3 pages of the packet. The packet also includes the audit report and more info on the server update and reservoir repairs as well as anything else on the agenda. Lots to discuss and talk about at our first meeting of the year. I am excited to get started! 

Link to packet: http://southwebercity.com/file/2016/11/0-CC-2020-01-14-Packet.pdf