City Council Recap! 9.13.2020
•Coronavirus update: Cases have increased 40% this last week, total of 762 cases, 14 cases have been hospitalized in Davis County. South Weber has 19 active cases. Governor Herbert has released new guidelines, though it is not an executive order.
•Ranked Choice Voting: A presentation was done by Kory Holdaway from Ranked Choice Voting. Ranked Choice voting is a 501c3 organization that can avoid having to do primaries. Candidates are ranked and whoever gets over the 50% of the votes is deemed the winner. The council had a few questions for Kory regarding how it would play out for South Weber and why we would choose to use Ranked Choice Voting. Ultimately, it would appear for the council using this method wasn’t in the best interests of our city, though no formal decisions was made at this time.
•Youth City Council charter: The YCC has amended it’s charter and is bringing it forward, as well as the advisors to the YCC (Angie Petty, Hayley Alberts & McKenna Winsor) to the council for approval. Each of the YCC members that were present for this meeting came forward and introduced themselves. The city council approved unanimously.
•Cares Act Funds – Hazard Pay for Fire Department: For many cities, hazard pay for firefighters utilizing CARES act funds. The council wanted to see an updated description where all the funds have been allocated thus far. This updated amount is as follows: SWC has received $445,186 of the $667,779 funds to date. We have allocated $40,000 to city hall audio/video upgrades, $30,000 for utility customer assistance, $50,000 for touchless features, including water fountains, sinks and toilets in city buildings and public bathrooms, $73,000 for two auto load/auto lift gurnerys for the fire department, $14,000 for chest compression system for ambulances, and $360,000 to go towards firefighters salary. The actual we have spent so far has been $8,846. If we receive the third traunch, we will have $91,933 to still allocate. The hazard pay was deliberated amongst the council and was decided to recommend the $2 per hour per employee, bringing the total funds allocated to $33,562. These funds will be in two lump sum payments. At this time, the hazard pay will cover from March 1st until November 30th of 2020. It is not expected for hazard pay to continue beyond the November 30th date, unless CARES funds are able to be utilized for it.
•Mosquito Abatement District CARES funds: Due to increased costs from Covid-19, Mosquito Abatement is requesting $1,739 from each city and the county. This item was approved unanimously.
•Harvest Park Development Agreement: This agreement has been amended to include that the dog park, being put in by the Harvest Park Development but completed by November 1st unless extenuating circumstances arise. The council approved this unanimously.
•City council meetings: City council meetings will now only meet 2 times a month (on the 2nd and 4thTuesday) due to smaller agenda items. It is expected that work meetings will take place on the third Tuesday of the month. The calendar from this date forward and for 2021 with these changes was approve unanimously.
•New Business: Councilwoman Petty brought up that the Posse Grounds had damage from the wind storm. The trees that fell pulled out the sprinkling system and grass near and around the fire pit area. It was suggested that instead of repairing those areas with new sprinkler lines and sod, to instead extend the parking lot. However, that area is used often by residents for camp outs and during Country Fair Days, and not fixing the area would get rid of the fire pit. Ultimately the council wanted to see the cost difference between fixing the area with new sprinkler lines and grass and extending the parking lot. It was also asked if we need to consider looking into hazard pay for other staff members who work directly with the public – the council was in favor of reviewing more information on that. Councilwoman Petty also requested that the municipal utility committee review Fiber options and revisit it. The committee agreed to review that. The council also discussed looking into other ways to slow down traffic near 475 W, 6650 W, Old Maples Farms and Canyon Meadows.
Reports:
• Mayor Jo: Pickleball clinics will be happening this Saturday at the FAC. Power is available at the dog park – the sprinkler and fence are also going in as well as sod – looks like that park may be open by November 1st after all! Updated General Plan will be on the meeting on the 27th with the council for approval.
• Councilman Winsor: West Nile has been found in the state, 11 of which were in Davis County. They have been especially bad the last month, but the abatement has been working hard and successfully on it. You can call or submit a form online, and they typically respond within 24 hours.
• Councilwoman Petty: Parks and Rec met and submitted several letters of intent for grants. Also discussed the master plan for Canyon Meadows Park and will be bringing that forward on the 27th for the council to review.
• Councilman Soderquist: There were some updates made to the policy and procedures manual. This will come before the council sometime next year prior to our June audit.
• Councilwoman Alberts: Our new sounds system is in! Our cameras have not yet arrived, but hopefully will be available by next meeting. The monitors on the dias will be lowered.
• Councilman Halverson: The planning commission meeting on the 8th. The general plan was recommended to the council with one minor change – the parcel adjacent to the car wash was moved from commercial highway to R7. They give preliminary approval for a salon next to the coffee shop.
• Staff: Just a reminder there will be a ballot drop box available at the FAC. There will not be one at City Hall.
Hozzah! If you read to the end of this, you deserve a treat! Indulge away!
Watch the meeting below. Click here to see the agenda/packet.
