December City Council Recap!
•The council awarded a contract to KR Plumbing. The bid included updating water fountains to touchless in all city buildings and parks with those amenities. The total was just under the $50,000 allotment used from CARES act funds.
•The city gave recognition to city planner Barry Burton who is retiring. The council and others gave their thanks to him for all his work and dedication to the city for over 30 years.
•The conditional use permit for the soccer complex came forward again. In September after a lengthy meeting with the council agreed that owner Kelly Park could come back to council after having the opportunity to revisit costs associated with the CUP created at that time. A committee consisting of council and staff along with Kelly met to review his findings. The committee made a few changes and brought to the council which was approved unanimously.
•The council accepted an agreement with new city planner Shari Phippen. Before coming to a council, a committee consisting of council members and staff interviewed the top two candidates that applied for the position. Shari comes with 12 years of planning experience in other small cities and a master’s degree in Public Administration. We look forward to working with her!
•The council needed to amend funds that to match FEMA grants funds for a BRIC planning grant. This was originally done back in November but an error in calculation required the council to change the amount to $17,000 rather than the $15,000 granted back in November.
•The Parks and Rec committee brought forward some amended plans for Canyon Meadows Master Plan. The committee requested the city to consider using funds that are now available since some costs that were already budgeted were covered under CARES act money. After some deliberation, the council agreed to allow the parks committee to use first, park impact fees; second, funds now available through displaced CARES act money; and any other costs associated will come from capital funds project money - if needed. This motion allows for the construction of 4 pickle ball courts, basketball court, paved parking lot and tactical bicycle track to begin. This will cover phase 1 of the park, with future amenities to include grass, pavilions, 4 more pickleball courts, 1 more basketball court and concrete walking paths. There is also a fund from private citizens that is being collected to help cover the costs of the pickleball courts if anyone else is interested in contributing.
•Paramedic Service Transfer: Currently paramedic services are licensed by Davis County. In the near future Davis County will disband their license and require municipalities to cover these services either by providing their own or contracting with neighboring cities to pay for them. This has been an ongoing conversation of over a year and the council was brough up to date. Currently, the county collects taxes from citizens to help supplement these costs. When this license is transferred, the county tax will be redirected to their respected municipalities. South Weber is in a position to be able to cover their own ambulance licensing without needing any additional equipment but will need to bring on 3 additional firefighters as required by law -one to stay at the station, one to drive the ambulance and one to assist the patient in the ambulance. The difference of these costs against the income the city will receive from the redistribution of taxes was discussed. No final decisions will be made at this time, but it will be an ongoing conversation.
•Crossroads & Speed Limit Signs: There has been a few different requests for flashing speed limit signs throughout the city and crosswalks on South Weber Drive in a couple different locations. These concerns were brought to the public safety committee which brought it to the council to weigh in on. Where South Weber Drive is a state road approval from the state is needed. The council discussed flashing speed limit signs and deliberated the flashing speed limit signs. It was agreed the city should cover those funds but a process would need to be in place to evaluate requests. It was also deliberated whether it would be appropriate for private citizens to place the flashing speed limits on their property. Staff will begin working behind the scenes to come to a resolution.
Reports:
Mayor Jo: She has met with the county regarding property acquisition to discuss the trail that will connect the Bonneville Shoreline trail to the Weber Pathways with Staker Parson’s and will be meeting with Geneva soon.
Councilwoman Alberts: The PR committee was able to finalize our choice for a new website design. They will begin migrating the data from our old site to our new site beginning of January and should be up and live by the middle of January.
Councilman Soderquist: He met with the gravel pits to discuss ways to measure dust travel and other dust mitigation
Councilman Winsor: Code committee met and finalized all the definitions of uses for city code. We will meet at the end of December and review and send it to the Planning Commission for their approval. The code committee will continue to start applying the uses to the appropriate zones.
City Manager Dave Larson: The council had a discussion last month regarding a grocery study for the Stephen’s property at the corner of Old Fort Road and 475 E. Ultimately a 3 way split was agreed upon by all interested parties including the city. The cost for the city will be approximately $2100.00.
Just a reminder we do have a position that will become open for a new planning commission member. Applications are on the city’s website and are due by January 6th. This position is available to anyone who is interested and has been a resident for at least 12 months.
And that’s a wrap! Happy New Year everyone!! Here's to tightly crossed fingers 2021 is better than 2020!
