Recap! City Council November 2020

 City Council Recap: November!

•General Plan 2020: {insert celebration!!}. The General Plan was officially and finally approved by the city council. There were only a few changes from the recommendation that came from the Planning Commission. That included changing the zoning on the area south of the carwash to commercial highway with the option of adding patio homes (single family units) as a buffer, as well as adding more verbiage in the narrative regarding the history and decision of removing the connection to Layton. There was a discussion concerning the uses included in the commercial recreation which was decided to have the code committee review. I want to thank everyone who participated in the general plan feedback one final time! That plan underwent a great deal of evolving to get from what was presented to what was approved, and it wouldn’t have happened without you!

•The Fire Department has a rehab truck that was given to them from Region 1. This rehab truck was in need of replacement of the trailer, truck and supplies. All these items will be covered by funds from Region 1, *not* the city. However, it will be stationed and managed by the South Weber Fire Department. The council approved the supplies requested.

•The contract renewal of our city manager, David Larson, was approved by the council. I think I can speak for all our council members that we feel very grateful to have been able to renew this with Dave and he is a great asset to our city!

•The parks and rec committee brought forward their recommended master plans for Canyon Meadows Park. This includes pickle ball courts, basketball courts and pavilions. The Petersen Family has donated to the city a barn on their property that is over 100 years old. This donation was also discussed in council. This beautiful barn will not be able to be renovated as we had hoped, but the family would like to have a pavilion designed with barnlike elements put in its place as a way to commemorate and memorialize the barn. After discussing costs associated with this, it was determined that a pavilion can certainly take its place but additional design and elements above that may need to be received via donations as the budget for the park is already very limited.

•Blue Ox Development approached the city about paying for a market study for the Stephen’s property – which is just off 84 on the west end. They related a possible grocery store was interested in this location but wanted the city to pay for the market study to see if it was financially feasible. The council decided that while we are not opposed to discussion of a shared cost for the study, we were not comfortable with paying for the full cost of the study.

•Also presented to the city was a concept plan for the Poll property which is just west of Highmark Charter School. This plan included multiple businesses, townhomes and apartments. Some of the commercial, including Aggie Ice Cream and Dutch Brothers, had level of interest agreements. Other commercial ideas were an anytime fitness and another large area for future commercial building. The council felt the plan was a good plan – particularly the commercial aspects – but had concerns over the amount of density of the housing on both the apartments and the townhomes. The developers listened to feedback from the council as well as the planning commission to test the waters and will go from there.

•The Public Safety Committee has been working on applying for a BRIC grant from FEMA to develop a hazard mitigation plan for the city. The application requires the city to match any grant funds received at a ratio of 25:75% meaning the city would be responsible for 25% with FEMA covering the remaining 75%. The council approved budgeting $15,000 in anticipation of a nearly $50,000 grant from FEMA. This grant will apply to natural disasters so anything relating to wildfires, flooding, hurricanes, earthquakes and such. This plan will identify potential risks of natural disasters so as a city we can work on and plan for mitigation of those risks.

Reports:

Mayor Jo: The landfill will be transferring a substantial amount of waste to the new landfill which will help with the odors. The next stage of cover will begin August of 2021 for the landfill that is closest to South Weber. The life of the landfill is approximately 10-12 years, however the transfer station will continue to be in use. She also attended a channel opening on the Weber River. This was done to create channels for the Bluehead Sucker which is a threatened species. The hope is these channels will help these species to move off the main channel and provide an area where they can begin to thrive.

Councilman Blair Halverson: HAFB RAB met on the 29th of October. There is a new ORC contract put in place for the next 10 years. 2 of their objectives is to evaluate and recommend alternative solutions for OU1 and OU2 (both located in South Weber) and doing ROD amendments for OU1, OU2 and OU6. OU4 (down towards Riverdale) is not really progressing so they will be focusing on new tactics for that site. The Public Safety Committee is continuing the discussion of the paramedic service transition from a county sheriff’s department level to a city level. The CERT program citizens met and laid out the team captains and discussed the layout of a plan. Resident Brandyn Bodily has been working diligently alongside Chief Tolman on this and the city appreciates their efforts and work! This is a great asset to the city!

Councilman Wayne Winsor: Code committee is making headway though it is a bit of an extensive process. They are now meeting once a week instead of 2 times a month. They are reviewing all the uses and their definitions. The municipal utility committee had a presentation from Utopia as well as Connext. They are also reviewing other options for high-speed internet and will work with the PR Committee to get all information out to the residents. There is some concern about 5G and some health issues that Wayne will be focusing on researching further. Mosquito abatement may be losing a financial partner as far as ariel services – they are looking into other options to increase revenue to compensate for these areas though possible solutions are premature at this time.

Councilwoman Angie Petty: The YCC had a leadership retreat that was planned for November that was postponed due to Covid restrictions. They have been working very diligently in their gratitude challenge for South Weber and lighting up the city with gratitude. The parks and rec committee will take the feedback from the council on the master planning of the park and look into different options.

Councilman Quin Soderquist: Everything was discussed and he had nothing further to report.

Councilwoman Hayley Alberts: PR committee met and discussed website updates. We had budgeted $25,000 to redesign the city’s website but we were able to find other options that allows us more customization and flexibility and at a lower cost. This will be a bit of a slower process to migrate all information over, but we are excited for the upcoming abilities.

City Manager David Larson: The court hearing for short term rental Cobblestone Manor happened this month and we were successful in arguing our case that the short-term rental (STR) is operating without a business license. The city was granted a preliminary injunction which requires the STR to stop any and all short-term renting until they have obtained a business license. This is great news! We will continue to work on things on our end. The council agrees we need to look further into our code regarding STR’s in general and areas where they are and are not allowed. Our code on short term rentals was very helpful in proving our case.

That is all! Hope your November was wonderful. I want to thank all those who participated in the #LightupSouthWeber campaign. We are still counting and so continue to watch the trees at city hall. Have a great Saturday everyone!