Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Recap! City Council Meeting 4.14.2020

This meeting was once again done remotely through zoom and live streamed to YouTube.  Click here to go to the city's YouTube channel or see below.  

Alright friends - here we go!

Procurement Policy: The newly revised Procurement Policy was approved by the council.  The procurement policy sets limits and other definitions/restrictions on spending amounts for department heads and the city manager.   To read the full report, you can find it in the packet. 

SCADA bid:  The city has been working on implementing a cloud based SCADA system to monitor  our water systems.  5 bids were received.  The committee came back to the council with 2 bids with a recommendation for one company over the other.   The recommended bid was 50% higher than the other bid.  The council deliberated at length between the two bids/companies, seeking to understand why staff chose the higher bid.  A motion was made to choose the bid recommended by staff and passed 3-2.  

Kennywood & Old Maple Farms Final Acceptance:  Staff presented the final inspections and work completed on these subdivisions and released the escrow money set aside for each of these. 

Public Works New Truck Purchase:  Money for this year's budget was allocated for a new truck for the public works team.  This will allow everyone to have their own vehicle, currently 2 people are sharing one.  It was questioned why making a brand new purchase is better than a used one.  It was explained the state contracts are only applicable to new vehicles only.  State contracts are significant discounts and and come with warranties.  It also allows you to sell the vehicle for roughly what you pay for it.  It was also asked why only 1 bid was sought out.   The item was tabled until either more bids were sought or more information about the bids arose.  It will appear on next week's agenda. 

Budget Workshop:  Staff has been working to prepare for the upcoming decrease in sales tax due to Covid-19 measures.  An overall budget summary was presented for next year's budget.  Staff reported that we as a city are actually doing quite well and should be able to get through what may come fairly well (other municipalities are having to let people go).   The council discussed future expenditures and capital projects.

TUF Discussion:  Recently there was some confusion at the state level if a Transportation Utility Fee (TUF) implemented by cities was considered a tax or a fee.  Since South Weber has a TUF (the $15/month on your utility bill) we have been following this closely.  It has been determined the TUF *is* considered a fee and therefore requires no changes for us.  The TUF will continue on as planned.  

New Business

Mayor Jo relayed that she had gotten a call from a resident about all NHS graduates.  In light of the Governor's expansion of keeping a soft closures on schools and the elimination of graduations.  It was discussed about the possibility of offering these seniors an ability for a drive-by parade of sorts.  Details will need to be worked out but the city was open to the idea and I am hoping we are able to do something amazing like that for them!

•Councilwoman Petty recently had a meeting with the Parks and Rec Committee to go over a contract with UDOT pertaining to the culvert that they will be placing underneath 89 to connect Bonneville Shorleline Trail to the Weber Weber Pathway trail.  While UDOT is going to pay for the culvert, it will fall on the city for numerous other costs including the wing walls on both sides, electricity, a parking lot as well as taking on all liability and future inspections.  This will come at a great cost to the city and she was seeking further direction.  It was decided that all entities who have a desire to connect these trails needs to come to the table and help participate in costs as well. 

•The Public Relations Committee met and had a few ideas we are hoping to implement and needed council's thoughts:
1. Allowing for citizens to join the zoom calls to speak public comment rather than email only: It was decided to wait until the end of April to see how much longer we will have to do this for.  If we must continue for the long run this option can be looked into.  
2. Town Hall Style Meetings: These meetings would tentatively happen quarterly and would include two council members and the mayor, most likely on the first Tuesday of the month.  More details will be forthcoming but it will allow for a question and answer format with the citizens.
3.  Councilman Corner in the newsletter:  Council Members will now offer a little bit about what they are working on in their individual committees in the newsletter about every other month. 

Reports

•Mayor Jo:  The landfill is back open to the public.

•Councilman Halverson:  He attended the latest PC meeting which only had one agenda item and that was a presentation from the developers for the property on the corner of 475 E and Old Fort Road  (the same developers that came before the council a few weeks ago).  The PC is needed more direction from the Council on Mixed Use. 

•Councilwoman Alberts:  The PR committee is hoping to get live streaming going so that when we return to city hall we can transition from the current live streaming to council chambers streaming.

•Councilman Winsor:  Covid or not, the misquitos are still out and about.  The misquoto abatement is out working to help diminish them.

Alrighty folks! That's a rap!  I hope you find these helpful and keeps you informed.  Please know the your elected officials are working hard to do their part to make South Weber a wonderful place to be. I am so hopeful we can start meeting in public again soon!

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