Town Hall Meeting: Response from Utopia Representative

The council received the following email regarding the Town Hall meeting we had earlier this month regarding high speed internet options for our city.  I thought I would share it here as well.  

I watched your recent fiber town hall and just wanted to provide a couple corrections and comments to the quotes below taken from the meeting. Please let me know if you have any additional questions for me. We’d be happy to schedule a work session to continue any dialogue with you about a potential UTOPIA Fiber partnership. Our other projects in the area (Layton, Morgan, West Point) have gone extremely well and the residents are very happy with the ultra-fast Internet services that we have brought to those communities. 

Thank you,

Roger Timmerman Executive Director Office: (801) 613-3855 | Cell: (801) 762-7960 rtimmerman@utopiafiber.com | www.utopiafiber.com

“UTOPIA is a company.”

UTOPIA (and UIA) is not a company. None of us make any money individually from these new city partnerships beyond just our normal salary from UTOPIA. We don’t have any stockholders, or other investors to pay. UTOPIA is an inter-local entity, similar to other municipal partnerships for power, sewer, and other services where we save costs, obtain better capabilities, and achieve better economy of scale by partnering together. A UIA agreement should be considered a partnership with the UTOPIA/UIA consortium of cities rather than being sold something by a business. 

On the flip-side of this, our barrier of entry for partnership with a new city is fairly high. The UIA board will not counter-approve a partnership with a city unless there is unanimous support from the applicant city council. We are not trying to push this on anyone, but are interested in partnerships where we understand that the relationship is mutually beneficial with strong support from both sides.

“Brigham City slowed down when so many signed up.”

This is a strange rumor to hear. I’ve been involved with Brigham City since it started and I’m not aware of any slowdowns. The network has always had far more capacity than has ever been used, even during peak hours or during special events. Our backbone runs right through Brigham City and supports 40 channels of 100 Gbps. That’s enough capacity to support a city larger than Salt Lake City but is there and available to Brigham City if it’s ever needed. Even our specific way of building fiber to the home assigns a dedicated fiber to each home with dedicated capacity to ensure that neighbors cannot impact each other. This is much better than fiber networks built by Centurylink or Google Fiber that use GPON to split and share connections with groups of homes on a single fiber connection. In those networks, neighbor usage does impact other neighbors.

“45% would have to sign up.”

The threshold to avoid cost to the city is closer to 40%, and based on timing, ends up being a requirement that has ~5 years to achieve.

This is an example scenario for a different city (similar size) that shows that even though the revenue guarantee begins after 2 years, revenues before that accumulate to protect the city from any financial exposure from the agreement. All of our projects under this structure have far exceeded this revenue projection with no financial exposure to the participating cities.

“Bill wouldn’t change when capital cost is paid off.”

This is partly true. We will not commit to what the cost of services will be in 27 years when the contract term ends. To do so would be irresponsible both for us and the city. Historically, the service speeds have increased every few years while the costs have stayed the same or gone down. The partnership of cities decides collectively what the rates will be now, and in the future. However, we do agree that you would get the same rates as the other cities, so when there are opportunities to reduce the price, South Weber would stand to benefit from that. South Weber is actually in a position to benefit far more from this arrangement compared to other cities because while residential areas barely break even over the long term, significant financial upside comes from business subscribers, of which South Weber has very few. Proportionally, South Weber would benefit by being part of a consortium that averages a much higher business component than South Weber has on its own. Over time as debts from various UIA projects are paid off, it is very likely that the price of service would decrease, but it would be irresponsible to make commitments now for what will be appropriate 27 years from now. If there is a need for system refurbishments, enhancements, new smart city applications, etc. we do not want to paint ourselves into a corner financially but instead need to have the flexibility to do what is right for the partnership of cities collectively.

“The city will have a 30 year bond.”

In our proposed structure, UIA is the issuer of the bonds and owes the debt. The city will have a 27 year contractual obligation, with 25 years of commitment (starts after two years) with UIA. The city will carry no debt. The city will not have to go through the process of issuing bonds. The city will also not have to deal with any costs above the revenue guarantee. In this structure UIA pays for all capital costs for infrastructure built previously (backbone routes, facilities, etc.) and all incremental after the initial phase (additional take rate, new developments, city expansion, churn replacement. etc) with no financial guarantee or obligations from the city. 

“Comcast has 1 Gbps up and 1 Gbps down service.”

Comcast only offers 1 Gbps service in limited areas and the upload speed is usually only up to 50 Mbps. Because of the shared nature of cable and the real-world condition of their cable, users rarely see anything close to the advertised rates. The technology being deployed now (Docsys 3.1) supports speeds higher than this in a lab environment, but not in real-world environments. Comcast actually launched a 2 Gbps service on Docsys 3.1 in Utah, but had to cancel it because users weren’t able to get speeds anywhere near that because of the limitations of the real-world condition of their cable facilities.

“What happens if there is 60% take-rate?”

Having a higher take rate is both good and bad. The good is obvious in that there will be more revenue than needed for UIA to cover its debt expenses. The bad is that this adds a significant capital expense that is not covered by UIA’s bond or the city guarantee. The difference between 40% and 60% in South Weber is about 500 installations, that cost about $1000 each. Therefore, UIA will be responsible for paying the $500,000 in installation costs for those additional installations. Some quick math shows that it takes about 3 years for UIA to get paid back on those installations from the additional revenue. During that 3 years, perhaps another 10-20% signup, or there is additional city growth and new development. Again, UIA would go underwater with paying for those installations but then would get paid back over several years. I know it seems like UIA stands to benefit from any additional take-rate, but only in the very long term, and only with the intent of financing ongoing subscriber growth, network expansion, and paying off the debts of these projects. 

“If it made sense financially why don’t they do it on their own.”

From a business perspective, UIA could make this work on our own. However, from a business perspective there are many cities that would be more profitable than South Weber if our primary motivation was profit. For example, we would pick cities with a large amount of business revenue potential and lower build costs. For these reasons, South Weber is not likely to ever see any private sector provider build fiber throughout the community. Instead, we are motivated by the communities themselves that recognize the need for this critical infrastructure and we provide the mechanism to make that possible without a cost to those communities.

“Is this the best fiber? Is this going to be good for 25+ years?

The fiber we put in is all the latest fiber from Corning, the leader in fiber manufacturing technology. The fiber we are putting in now is rated for 50+ years and is much better than the fiber we use in some of our backbone links that were installed 20+ years ago. However, even that older fiber is still plenty good for the 4000 Gbps systems we use in our core, so the fiber going in now is definitely good for at least 25 years, if not 50+ years. 

“Perhaps the city should do it ourselves and keep the money.”

Conceptually, this isn’t a bad approach. We are very supportive of all municipal fiber efforts, even if we are not involved. However, fiber is a very technology centric infrastructure and requires a lot of specific skill sets as well as significant start-up and other fixed costs. For example, we have full-time staff dedicated to our 24/7 Networks Operations Center, Network Engineering, Field Technicians/Splicers, GIS, Customer Service, Accounting/Billing, Fiber Construction Management, Fiber Engineering, Inspectors, Utility Locators, Legal, and many other roles. We did not get to a point of being able to cover our operating costs until we had about 14,000 subscribers. It would be very difficult to achieve any sort of economy of scale for a project the size of South Weber while also being able to support all the functions needed to build and operate a fiber network. Even at the size of UTOPIA with over 31,000 subscribers, there is very little profit to be had. Broadband is a highly competitive industry and we constantly work to maintain efficiency knowing that we have to be a better value than the incumbent providers.

Recap! City Council 7.22.2020

City Council Recap! 7.21.2020

You can watch the full video of this council meeting here or by watching below.

I'm trying to simplify these recaps to make the shorter and easier to digest. If you have any specific questions about a topic, feel free to ask in the comments!

One of the most popular items on the agenda last night was that for Morty's Car Wash. This is for the property just south of Maverik. This came before the council in 4 different action items, a rezone from commercial highway to commercial, final plat approval for the subdivision, final site and improvement approval for the carwash building and a conditional use permit. As this was a lot to discuss, the council opted to be able to discuss all the items at the beginning and take action after the discussion. The council spent roughly 3 hours discussing many different aspects of the carwash in full. The first 3 items passed unanimously. The Conditional Use Permit was altered from what was recommended from the Planning Commission. I feel like I have a lot to say here but I am also feel like I should just keep it simple. The below restrictions came about as a way to be able to protect homes near the car wash from noise and sound. It is the car wash's responsibility to make sure their business runs within these parameters. Below is the new Conditional Use Permit:

• Operation hours will be from 6am from 10pm (modified from 5am-11pm) for automatic bays and vacuums, 24/7 for self serve bays.
• No more than 3 automatic bays and 4 self serve bays.
  Review of conditional use permit by the city council with recommendation of the planning commission within 6 months from the date of opening
• Performance specifications: During the quiet hours, 95% of the time sound tests shall not be 5db above ambient sound, not to exceed 55 db, at the property line. During business hours, 95% of the time, from 6 am to 10 pm, sound tests shall not be 10db above the ambient sound, not to exceed 70 db, at the property line. All these measurements will be done on 3 sections of the southern property and take an average.
• Ambient light not exceed more than 30 feet from the building.
• The south entrance be maintained as an ingress and egress.
• The Condition Use Permit passed 3-2. 2 members of the council voted against this on the basis of the 24/7 hours.
  
  

A public hearing took place to amend the budget to allow for more funds to be used as CARES act funds. This includes an upgrade to the audio and visual for live streaming at city hall. The council also passed the bid to Webb designs for this upgrade. In short, new mics, speakers, audio system, multiple camera angels and other needed upgrades to live streaming are coming soon. Yay!

Other items discussed were a gurney purchase for the fire department (using CARES act funds), paramedic servicing license (a future process in the works) and changes to our code for nuisance calls for pets due to changes at the state level.

Reports included an update on the wetlands restoration project, instructions to look into a timeline for the dog park, mosquito abatement information and some information about the Country Fair Days parade.

Town Hall Meeting: Fiber. 7/7/2020

We held our first town hall meeting on July 7th to discuss fiber.  You can watch the meeting by clicking here or by watching below.  

This town hall was dedicated to finding more information about resources available for high speed internet options available for the city.  The municipal utility committee, comprising of Mayor Jo, Councilman Winsor and Councilman Halverson attended.  Councilman Winsor led the discussion and invited 2 residents that are knowledgeable and interested in these options to share their viewpoints.  Questions were taken from citizens watching live and submitted before the meeting.   I thought its as a very great discussion and gave us many things as a city to consider while looking into further options.  Hope you find this helpful!

Recap! City Council 6.16.202

This meeting's agenda only had 2 items on it, which gave the council some time to dig in a little deeper on it.  I thought it was a great meeting and very informative!

You can watch the meeting here, or by clicking below.  You can see the packet and agenda here. 

•Covid 19 update: Mayor Jo reported that the hospital rate for Davis County has gone down slightly to 73%.  We want this number to below 90%.  Rates for unemployment for Davis County have also decreased.  Travel cases of Covid are down, but work related cases are up.  Of those that have been tested for the antibodies, only 2% have shown immunity.

•We had 2 comments from the public that took place at city hall.

The council took some time to respond to the comments.  Councilman Wayne Winsor addressed some questions about the fire department numbers and relayed some information he was able to obtain since last week's meeting:  In the last 18 months, the SW Fire Department had responded to 450-460 calls, 25 were outside of our jurisdiction.  17 calls were from other municipalities responding for help to South Weber, all were for fire but 3.  Mutual aid agreements for fire response with other cities does not bring in revenue, but any ambulance care we do charge for those services.   South Weber has a full time fire department; that means our FD is staffed 24/7, however we do not have full time employees.  Normal rotation is to have 2 people at the station at all times, which equates to an average hourly wage of approximately $23.17.  There are times there are more people there for training purposes.

•Certified Tax Rate: The council approved to adopt the Certified Tax Rate. Adopting this rate means we will not be having a tax increase.  We are expected to bring in the same amount of taxes as we did in the 2019 year, plus some for new growth.  There was a comment made by Councilman Winsor to take notice how much the inflation has caused the rate to adjust already.  He cautioned against waiting another 30 years to catch back up to the rate (the longer we wait, the higher the percentage of the increase will be to catch back up to the rate).  You can learn more about how this work here if you feel so inclined.  :-)

•Adopt FY 2021 budget and consolidated fee schedule:  I took some time to go over some of the highlights of the budget and answer questions that have been raised.
•In this years budget there was an increase in garbage fees and sewer fees.  The city will be absorbing both those costs and not passing it on to citizens.
•The city is able to keep up to 25% in our general fund as a savings account (rainy day fund).  The city works to keep it close to that range.
•The budget indicates a $900,000 to upgrade a sewer trunk line.  This is due to an indication from our Capital Facilities Plan (CFP) done in 2014 that a line would need to be updated to remain sufficient.  The CFP will be done again as soon as the General Plan is adopted and updated to reflect growth.  However, since the discussion on sewer updates that happened last year, we have been metering our sewer to better determine capacity. It is possible that we can remain sufficient without upgrading this sewer line.  In the even that we are at capacity as is, this line will not be upgraded.  However, the $900,000 will need to stay in the sewer fund and can not be transferred back into the general fund as it was acquired through impact fees.  
•The budget indicated $327,000 will be transferred to the capital projects plan to reimburse from monies received for SBD.  Staff will get the information on how much money we have received thus far to reimburse for SBD, and the amounts that is still to be collected.
• The question was raised from public comment why the city is having to buy property for a new Public Works building and why the amount of $700,000.  The answer was that the current facilities and location of the public works buildings are out of code.  We are unable to do proper clean up and have room for needed storage as well as a new public works building on that lot.  The goal is to find a property that has adequate space, is not in the back yard of residents, and we would not need to build a road too.  It is hoped that we will not need to use the full amount set aside.  If we are able to do so for less, those funds will go back into the budget.
•I also requested that the $35,000 budgeted new auto/lift, auto/load gurney for the Fire Department have a freeze put in place until the Public Safety Committee is able to address the questions that have come up.  That committee will meet next week and will have more information at the next council meeting.

New Business:

•Councilmember Winsor requested that quarterly department reports in public meetings and the information that is shared be brought back to the table.  It was the decided the PR committee will decide how to engage those types of conversations again.

•The open house schematics were brought up.  Based on the newest guidelines, we are able to meet as long as social distancing (now called physical distancing) is maintained and property sanitization is maintained.  Some members of the Planning Commission did not feel comfortable coming to the meeting, however the council was comfortable being there.  The open house will take place at the Family Activity Center on June 24th and 25th.

Reports:
•Mayor Jo reported they met with the new contracted lawyers for land and property use and felt optimistic about them representing the city.

•Councilman Halverson reported the Planning Commission reviewed a presentation for the Stephen's property.  He also added the PC hopes to review and amend city codes starting next month.  If there are codes you would like to see reviewed, please reach out to the Planning Commission.

•Dave Larsen reported the wetlands restoration is underway and large piles of dirt will be accumulating on the west end of Canyon Meadows park.  He has not been able to make contact with those who took some part of responsibility in dumping the fill dirt there yet.  He will continue to work on it.

And that's a wrap! I hope you will all make sure to take a moment and participate in the general plan survey!

General Plan Survey Walkthrough!

Hello Everyone!

The time has come for the participation in the next general plan survey!  You can find out how to participate by clicking here or going to the city's website.  You are able to provide feedback from June 15th to June 30th.   There will be an open house held at the Family Activity Center on June 24th and 25th.  Details about this meeting are forthcoming.  

If you participated in the last general plan survey - I think I have good news for you!  Because the plan has been condensed and simplified, the survey has also been simplified.  However, I am still here to help walk you through it.  Feel free to share the link with anyone who you think it could help.

Recap! City Council 6.9.2020

I ain't gonna lie, this is a long one!! Lots of good info and things to be aware of, especially during reports. 

It was so great to be back in council again and see everyone face to face. I think all of us have gained a greater appreciation about the ability to gather! Thank you for those who made public comment and for all you who participated online. We had 11 public comments (one email) for this meeting.

•Coronavirus update from Mayor Jo: Davis County has had an increase in cases but our rate is 2.6%. They like to see that stay below 3%. 2 of our active cases have recovered, leaving 2 active cases left.

•We had two public hearings regarding the budget; one was to amend the FY 2019-2020 budget and the other was to review the FY 2020-2021 budget.

•Proposed changes to this FY budget: Some of the changes that we needed to make adjustments for was increased revenue due to an increase in developing. Part of those revenues will be used to put lights in new subdivision (paid for by the developer). There was also adjustments to salaries and other operations and maintenance items. You can see these changes in the packet.

•Development Agreement with Riverside RV Park: The council asked many questions about this agreement. There was a discussion on the TUF contributions. The agreement allows the developer to adjust how many long-term (any stay longer than 30 days) and short-term sites (any stay less than 29 days). The council questioned on how that report would be given to the city and when. It was determined that the developer’s software would provide the information needed. Each of these stays will contribute to our city’s TUF fund based on a ERU calculation. The disputed 4 acres that reside in Weber County will not be developed until the boundary issue is resolved. In the event the boundary cannot be resolved, those 4 acres will remain open space for this RV Park. A motion was made with amendments to the original contract regarding the reporting features and the contract to be indefinitely rather than 10 years. Resolution passed 4-1.

•Site Plan Approval for Riverside RV Park: A few more items were discussed concerning the site plan. The motion passed 5-0.

•Approval for Conditional Use Permit (CUP): Council questioned what recourse the city would have if the RV Park is out of compliance with their rules. City manager Dave Larsen said that it would fall to code enforcement and the ordinances of our city through proper processes. Resolution passed 4-1.

•Street Light Project: Developments that are 2 years or newer are now able to have their streetlights installed. The council approved a bid by Big Bear Electric.

•Uintah/South Weber border discussion: There has been a discussion with Uintah regarding our border no longer falling to the river but running alongside I84. This would then veer to the north at the RV park and Cottonwood Drive and then back up to I84 again. It was questioned why Uintah would not take the section of the RV Park and Cottonwood Drive and was answered that they didn’t want too. Council suggested a compromise that we keep the border as suggested, but we find a way to cost share the maintenance of Cottonwood Drive as it is a road they highly use. The discussion with Uintah will continue and come back to the council for final approval.

•New Business: A consideration was brought up about the possibility of a new city hall as we are out of date and space is becoming problematic. This is a very long process and could take use but it was decided the Admin and Finance Department would start looking into beginning that discussion. A public comment addressed concerns about the budget of the fire department, the public safety will take on that discussion and look into it.

•New Reports: Mayor Jo reached out to Mark Larsen to ensure the corner piece off of the frontage road where it turns into 8200 E needs to be maintained by the HOA. She also reported some interesting stats from the WFRC. In the past 3 months: fuel tax is down 14%, E-commerce is up 40%, telecommunting is up 40%, public transportation is down 70%, bicycle and open space use is up 100%, freeway volumes are down 40%, travel time by auto is down 15%, air emissions are down 38%.

•Councilman Halverson: Planning Commission met and discussed Morty’s carwash off 2700 E. They recommended the CUP and the site plans to the council. This will be coming up to the council soon. There has been lots of public comment on this development.

•Councilwoman Alberts: Public Relations met and discussed the audio and video of quality for city hall. Bids are currently out and will come before council soon. Happy to report that Country Fair Days committee had decided to move forward with Country Fair Days! Yay! It will be a modified scheduled but they have a lot of great ideas and fun activities. Our town hall meeting on Fiber will be held July 7th.

•Councilman Soderquist: Admin and Finance committee met twice to discuss salary ranges that were discussed in the budget hearing. He also met with both gravel pits. They are doing many things to help mitigate the dust. One day last week they were unable to do those mitigation processes due to high winds. They usually start the mitigation process around 9 or 10 am when they wind dies down.

•Councilmember Petty: Parks and Rec committee met with train club; they are planning to do their June train rides with some type of modification in place. The wetland restoration is expected to be completed by July 1st. Dave added in that the developers that did the do the dumping have been contacted with the hope they will help with the cleanup and save money for the city.

•Councilman Winsor reported on the townhall meeting will be a Fiber panel discussion. He and Councilman Halverson and residents that have been invited to attend will discuss the options and then take questions from the public. Mosquito abatement is still working on killing some bug with a long name that is responsible for West Nile. We do not currently have any West Nile cases in Davis County.

Holy Moley! Still with me? I know that was a lot! If you made it to this point you deserve a treat!

June 9th Meeting: Public Hearing, RV Park, Discussion on Uintah Border

Hello Friends!

Tuesday has a lot on the agenda that is of interest to many citizens.  So I did a live video on it to catch you all up.  Watch below.

See the Agenda Here.

Participate in public by going here.

Stay Safe South Weber!

Recap! City Council 5/19/2020

See this meeting by visiting the city's Youtube channel or watch below!

Here is the agenda for this meeting:

•Coronavirus update: Mayor Jo informed everyone that Governor Gary Herbert has issued another executive order.  This order will expire May 29th.  Additionally, the phased guidelines have been updated, you can see the new document (version 4.4) here and the Governor's order here.  

She also gave some updated information about last week's announcement about the county doing random household testing.  2 communities in Davis County have been chosen, one in south Davis County and one in north Davis County.  Officials will knock on every door in these communities and leave information about where and how to be tested if you are willing to do so.  She also mentioned about the upcoming concert in Kaysville that Mayor Katie Witt has supported to put on.  The council of Kaysville is doing everything in their power to stop this concert.  The health department has said they can not stop the concert from happening, only punish violations that take place at the gathering. 

•Water Service Agreement with Job Corps: The Weber Basin Job Corps has learned they are out of compliance due to failed tests on their water and have been entered into corrective action.  South Weber City has agreed to join together two projects, one for the East Bench Transmission Project Line the city was planning to do and joining it with the Job Corps water line replacement.  Job Corps will reimburse the city fully for all expenses and as an incentive, Job Corps has agreed to pay for all professional services (design and project management) and a 15% administrative fee.  Below is table to demonstrate the proposed agreement.  The agreement passed with unanimous approval.  Donnika Bigelow from Job Corps was available on the call and expressed appreciation to South Weber for being good neighbors and agreeing to help them be able to get back into compliance and protect those that are at their facility. 

•Mutual Aid Agreement for Fire Department: The Fire Department wishes to enter into a mutual aid agreement with Morgan County.   This means our fire department will be called when needed without cost or liability to Morgan County and vice-versa.  The council had some concerns about the fire department being gone from our city during emergencies and therefore needing our mutual aid to cover our cities.  Dave explained that Chief Tolman, as fire chief, is the one who makes the call whether or not to answer calls from other communities knowing his responsibility lies to the citizens of South Weber.  It was also expressed that if we find the agreement is not suiting South Weber well, there is the ability to terminate the agreement.  The agreement passed with unanimous approval.  

•Agreement with Davis Dispatch: Davis dispatch has increased their rates for dispatch calls.  Price per call increased from $30.59 to $31.51 resulting in an increase for South Weber to $802.70.  The agreement passed with unanimous approval. 

New Business

Councilmember Alberts reported that a graduation ceremony is schedule to happen on May 26th at 3:00.  Graduates should meet at the church at 1814 E 7775 S.  Wear your cap and gown and decorate your vehicle.  The Sherriff's department and Fire Department will led the parade.  Details of parade route are in the flyer below:

Reports:

•Mayor Jo reported that she and staff met with Horrock's to work on the latest study for the best feasible route for the Weber Pathways Trail.  They are about half way through the TLC grant we received from the Wasatch Front Regional Council.  She also relayed that the county received $545,000 funds as part as the CARES Act to support Covid-19 supported related fund.  The committee chose these funds to go to the Bountiful Food Pantry and Davis Behavioral Health both for specific services those entities provide.  She also notated that before Covid Davis Behavioral Health had about 240 visits per month.  During Covid, that has increased to over 1100 per month. 

•Councilwoman Alberts reported that the County Fair Days committee met today with regards to upcoming plans CFD and restrictions that will be necessary.  They are working very hard on trying to find out differnt solutions and possibilities and will be deciding shortly if and how this could be possible.  These ladies are trying to pull of something great and I commend them for their persistence and dedication to our city.   Councilmember Winsor said that he wants them to know they have his full support in going forward with a version of CFD and feels that it is something the community needs right now.

•Councilman Winsor reported that the mosquito abatement is in the process of Ariel application via drones.   The mosquito season is expected to be early and strong due to the dry and warmth weather we have been having.  He also report they are looking for a UAV pilot to hire.  

•City Manager David Larsen reported the new development process put in place at the beginning of this year is working very well.  There has been lots of back and forth with the developer of the Lofts Project and is happy with the process of ensuring all code issues has been resolved and addressed before coming to the Planning Commission.  

Recap! City Council 5.12.2020

You can view this meeting via zoom through the city's YouTube channel or by watching below!

As you can see from our agenda there wasn't a lot to discuss and so this meeting was short and sweet.

•Coronavirus update:  Davis County will be implementing random household testing.  Each member of chosen households will be given two tests, a blood test to check for antibodies and a the PCR test (swab into the nostril).  It will help define how many cases and how many asymptotic cases we may have missed.  There will be roughly 8,000 test conducted in two communities.  The health department for Davis County does not anticipate a move to yellow by Friday but is hopeful it will happen by the end of the month.   Numbers for Davis County continue to look very good, we have no active cases in South Weber.

•Tentative Budget: Staff has been working with the tentative budget for the last 4 months.  A public hearing will be held June 9, 2020 to formally adopt the budget for fiscal year 2020-2021.  The tentative budget can be found in the packet.  There were a coupe of clarifications asked by the council, specifically towards a power lift gurney for the paramedic vehicle and future streetlights for existing neighborhoods (currently new neighborhoods will have the streetlights installed at the developer's expense - the city is moving from Rocky Mountain Power to South Weber owning and maintaining the lights).   Installation of lights for the new developments should be coming forth to the council towards the end of this month. 

As far as the public hearing we will have some sort of hearing ready to accommodate for it depending on what happens with restrictions due to Covid-19.  We are also awaiting further suggestions from the state for legal opinions and our options.  

Reports

Jo: Uintah City approached us about our shared boundary.  Uintah approached South Weber City about a piece of property on the east end of the city that is part of the Uintah Business Park but lies on South Weber's side.  Dave, Barry and Jo all met with representatives from Uinta and decided that a committee from both cities will meet together to discuss what should be done.  The reps from SW council will be Blair Halverson and the Planning Commission Chair Rob Osborne.  Wasatch Integrated Waste should have their sorting station to separate out green waste, plastic, paper ect. up an running by August.  It will start with 50% capacity in the beginning and will go to full capacity next year. 

Councilman Halverson:  Public Safety Committee continues to meet weekly.  The CERT program continues to move forwarded spearheaded by citizen Brandyn Bodily and Chief Tolman.   The bid for painting the curb for 2700 E has been created and is getting ready for quotes.

Councilwoman Alberts: Our first town-hall meeting is scheduled for July 7th of this year.  Accommodations for this will also depend on restrictions for Covid-19, more information coming soon.  Councilwoman Petty will be starting our Councilmember Corner in the newsletter for July with each council member taking a month for the rest of the year.  

Councilwoman Petty:  The Parks and Rec committee met and had several discussions.  Among these items was reviewing the rules for the dog park as well as new rules for all of our parks (will come before the council as a discussion later).  Our updates to our city parks are underway with tentative plans to begin work on Cherry Farms this August.  She praised the council's choice to open the parks for families in the city.  She has received a lot of good feedback from mothers who have really appreciated having this asset available to them. 

Dave - City Manager:  He mentioned that Brandon Jones will no longer be attending all the city council meetings unless he is needed.  

And that's a wrap everyone!  Hope you guys are all doing well and good.

Recap! City Council 4.28.2020

Man oh man do I wish this was our last zoom meeting.  I guess we just still don't know!  This one was a little bit of fun though.  We did a zoom background contest to spice things up a little bit, and the results were pretty hilarious in my opinion.  Take a gander and see who you think won!

Below is the agenda.  

 

You can watch the live streaming to Youtube below, or by clicking here.  

Alright, let's dive in:

•Covid-19 updates:  Mayor Jo related that Governor Herbert will likely be moving our state from a red zone to an orange zone starting May 1st.  More details will be forthcoming.  She also related that there has only been 1 confirmed Covid case from South Weber.  There was at one time 2, though the second turned out to be a false positive.  

•General Plan Timeline:  As discussed in early April, the general plan open houses were postponed due to Covid-19.  The council decided to plan for open houses to resume starting in late May.  While we won't know what measures will need to be in place at that time, it will be determined that some sort of adjustments will likely take place to maintain social distancing.  The council also received all the feedback from the survey participants and found their perspectives very helpful and changes are likely to be further made to the survey based off their suggestions.  

•Dog Park:  The retention basin for Harvest Park (near the Posse grounds) will be utilized as a dog park.  The 4 acre basin will be fully fenced and have a walking trail along the outside of it.  The council reviewed the rules and parking.  The Parks and Rec committee will continue to work on adjustments or changes as needed.  The park is planned to be opened sometime in late July or early August.

•No on-street parking on 2700 East: This discussion came before the council after being reviewed by the public safety committee - which was reviewing concerns of on street parking after a 'park-n-protest' was held in early September of 2019.  The committee decided to redstripe both sides of 2700 E from South Weber Drive to Deer Run as soon as possible.  The committee also determined there were other streets that needed to be looked into, specifically South Weber Drive in front of Highmark, Cottonwood Drive, and Canyon Meadows among others.  The council decided some changes in the city code will regarding parking to be changed, no longer allowing trailers/dumpsters and other large vehicles to be parked on the side of the street for longer than 24 hours (down from the original 48 hours).  The committee will be meeting shortly to further discuss the increase of parking on Cottonwood Drive due to the trailhead nearby.

•Davis County Sheriff's Office:  The contract that was signed with DCSO had the ability to renew for 2 more years at the same contracted rate as the previous year and original contract amount.  The council approved this renewal.  

New Business:

•Fellow resident Diana Hyer would like to add some cheer to the residents at Peterson Farms Assisted Living.   Diana is organizing a drive by wave to help ease the loneliness due to isolation measure resulting from Covid-19.  Come and wave hello and give encouragement.  Meet at Canyon Meadows Park at 1 pm.  Decorate the passenger side of your door and prepare to share some cheer!

Council Reports:

Mayor Jo:  She has recently met with Curtis and Dave regarding the Rec Center and plans that will be in place once they are given more direction.  More details will be forthcoming.

Councilwoman Alberts:  The Country Fair Days committee met.  The organizers are moving forward with what they can but have decided that they need clarification on whether large event gatherings will take place by June 1st.  They felt any time after that date would not give them enough time to get everything prepared and vendors and money raised.   In the event that we will not able to do large gatherings, fireworks will likely proceed with proper distancing measures in place.  However, anything else would likely be cancelled though they will continue to look into what they can.

Councilman Winsor: The Municipality Committee will be meeting soon to review the contract with Job Corp on the pipeline replacement.   He will be reporting details of that contract to the council when he has them. 

And that's a wrap my peeps!  Just a reminder the council will not meet again until May 12th at which time we may or may not be able to meet at City Hall.  Regardless of where we meet, live streaming will continue.  

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!

Recap! City Council Meeting 3.31.2020

Here is the agenda for this meeting:

Once again, this meeting was held remotely for each council member through Zoom and live streamed to Youtube.  You can watch the whole meeting by clicking here, or watch it below.  

Because of the quarantine, all public comments were received via email prior to the meeting.  I want to thank you all for your involvement.  We received by my count over 30 emails from concerned citizens.  I appreciate every one of you for taking the time to do so!

Highlights:

•Ambulance and Power Gurney Purchase for Fire Department: Chief Tolman reported that the ambulance we have is 20 years old and it shows.  There have been times that the ambulance was in the shop being repaired and they had to have someone else cover their calls during that time.  Quotes for replacement ambulances came in at about $110,000-$180,000.  However, they were able to find a used one that is 5 years old for $15,000 from Roy City.  The city has a vehicle replacement program with a capital projects plan where money is set aside each year for these purchases.  The council felt the price was good and approved this purchase.  The power gurney and its benefits and costs were discussed.  The council felt that at this time it is best to hold off on this purchase.

•General Plan Timeline: Due to the Coronavirus and the quarantine in place, a discussion took place about how to move forward with feedback for the general plan.  Initially, April was discussed to be a time for citizens to review the second draft.  This included open houses and a survey.  However, due to restrictions on gathering, things needed to be reworked.  The council had a lengthy discussion about moving forward and how.  In the end it was decided to essential put a pause button on the general plan.  We will spend the month of April working on the survey which includes a selection of randomized citizens reviewing the ease, user ability and general understanding of the survey.  This is to take place for 2 weeks in April.  The council will review the results of the feedback of the survey the last week of April at which time we are hopeful we will have further direction of the quarantine and how to move forward.

•Budget Workshop for Fiscal Year 2020-2021: We are currently underway on all our budget for next fiscal year.  A discussion that took place in the Admin and Finance committee about the future revenue of property tax.  There are essentially three different options.  The council chose to make no changes to the current property tax for this fiscal budget.  The discussion will take place again at a later date when the public can convene and weigh in.  If you are interested in learning more about these tax options, I did a video on it you can view here.  

•Procurement Policy: The Admin and Finance committee has been working on a procurement policy for our city for over a year and it was finally ready for council's review.  You can read more about this, and the policy itself in the packet.  The council made an adjustments to the authorizations amount for the department heads and city manager.  This will go back to the committee for revision and come before the council at a later date for final approval.

New Business:

•A discussion about the latest ruling on the TUF fee and the wording that was change to include that a transportation utility fee is a fee and not a tax will be coming back to the council at the next meeting.

•We had discussion about conducting nonessential business during the quarantine.  Deciding what is essential and nonessential can be hard to define.  It was decided that the mayor will set the agenda and if the council found that some items needed to be discussed at a later date, as what had happened in tonight's meeting, was a good balance.

•Preparation for future impacts on sales tax revenue.  In light of all that is going on with the economy due to Coronavirus, staff is looking at preparing for a decrease in sales tax revenue.  More information will be coming forth on the 14th.

•A question on the discussion of Fiber was brought up.  The municipality committee has not made any further steps at this time.  A extensive discussion needs to be had.  There are many choices that will need to be made that will have potential impact on every resident.  It will also come up at a later date when the public can be more involved.

Reports:

•The Public Safety Committee will be meeting with the Fire Department to discuss emergency preparation for Covid-19 and other emergencies.

•There are plans underway to have updates to the bathrooms at Cherry Farms.

•The Davis County Landfill will be closing to residents this Friday.  Regular curbside pickup will continue.  As of now, the Spring Cleanup is still underway but could change.

•Our grant submission application for placing sidewalks on South Weber Drive was approved and the city should be expecting a $300,000 reimbursement from the state coming soon.


And that's a wrap my friends!  If you have any questions please don't hesitate to reach out!

#getinvolved #stayinvolved

Recap! Joint City Council/ Planning Commission Meeting - General Plan

Recap!

Due to the pandemic and all the other crazy stuff this past week, this meeting was done virtually through Zoom and live streamed to YouTube.    You can view this meeting by going to the South Weber City's YouTube Channel or see below.  

This was our final meeting before sending the general plan back out to the public for round 2 of public comment.  A few more items were discussed.

•Mixed Use.  As some of you may know, when the first general plan draft was released early fall last year, mixed use was something that was added but not yet defined (mixed use being some form of adding commercial with residential).  Starting at the new year, a committee comprising of two council members and two planning commissioners, along with the mayor and staff were tasked with defining what mixed use for our city would be.  After much contemplation, the committee returned to the council with a proposal to actually *not* offer any mixed use.  There are two main properties that were discussed with mixed us.  One is just off 475 E and Old Fort Road on the west end of town, the other is just west of Highmark Charter School off South Weber Drive on the east side of town.  The committee felt that a residential component would be far larger for these parcels of land and felt that keeping it commercial only would be the most beneficial for our city.  Both of these properties would require a development agreement and a design plan for the entire property.   The council and commission agreed with the committee's proposal and will go forward onto the general plan for further public comment. This discussion takes place about minutes 5:00-25:50.

•Annexation on the South Slopes:  In the first general plan draft, the south slopes were zoned Business Commerce.  However, the first round of the public comment indicated hesitation and safety concerns when developing these slopes.  This section has now been moved back to open lands.   There was some additional edits made to the general plan narrative to further indicate that annexation is meant to protect the slopes, not develop them.  You can hear this discussion on minutes 32:00-1:00:00.  If you would better like to understand annexation, you can read more about it on my blog post here.

•Land Use on West Side: There was some concerns discussed about the land use on our far west side, currently zoned Commercial Rec with some opportunities for Light Industrial.  The concern was the buffer zone between the commercial side to the nearest residential zone, which is low-moderate.   This discussion takes place approximately minute 1:01:00 - 1:13:00.

•Capital Facility Plan (CFP):  This conversation discussed not only the land use but also population buildout.  Our CFP is looked at after every general plan and helps us plan for future infrastructure and costs to the city due to growth, called impact fees.  By removing mixed use from the plan, our population decreased from 13,500 of the previous plan to 12,800.  Minutes for this discussion happens about minutes 1:14-1:38.

•HAFB & Contamination:  Concerns about the plume maps and the exact location of contamination was discussed and the city's responsibility when it comes to developing properties near the plumes or on potentially contaminated lands.  In the end it was felt this needed to be discussed further at another meeting and a committee will be meeting to review information to bring back to the council for a discussion in the future.  Minutes 1:42:00-2:00:00.

Future Timeline
The rest of the meeting talked about the next steps.  There are a few important things for the public to note.
 *In light of the recent events with the Coronavirus, this is subject to change.*

1.  The city is currently requesting for volunteers to beta-test the survey between now and the end of the month (5 days).  I encourage all who have the time and ability to volunteer.  You can do it online or on paper.  This will just help ensure the survey is easy to use and understandable.

2.  In the meeting it was mentioned the public houses would be cancelled in light of the quarantine.  Since then, the council and mayor have decided to discuss this at our meeting on Tuesday how we could do an open house and when.

3. Public Comment Period will start April 13th and end April 30th.  A joint meeting held with the CC/PC will again take place May 12th to review.  At that time we will decide if we need to do another round of drafts, or if we feel we are at a place where the plan can be approved.

This is all discussed minutes 2:00:00-2:05:00.

Phew!!  Ya'll still with me?  I know that is a lot of information.  I hope you will all take the time to participate in the general plan.  As citizens, the general plan is the most powerful tool you have in shaping your vision of the future of our city because it relies heavily on the public's feedback!  Thank you thank you for taking time to get involved and participate.

  It IS making a difference!

#getinvolved #stayinvolved

Live Video: Tuesday March 24th Meeting and City Ordinances for Dogs

Live Video: Upcoming Agenda Item Regarding Property Tax

While this meeting was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this will still be something to discuss for the future of the city at a later time.  I hope that this is informative and helpful to you to better understand the way we should structure the property tax for our city.  

#getinvolved #stayinvolved 

Planning Commission Meeting: Discussion of R7 and Commercial Recreation Zones

The Planning Commission's Agenda is available for this Thursday at 6:00. They will be reviewing the R7 zone (our high density zone) as well as commercial recreation. I encourage everyone to review these two zones as they currently stand and if you have specific feedback or suggestions to let the commission/council know.

Our R7 zone was recently changed from 13 units/acre down to 7. There are additional changes that need to happen with the change in density. This includes setbacks in height, distances, minimum acreage, restrictions and others.

The commercial rec zone is being proposed on our current land use general plan proposal. This is the light blue section that is mostly on the south-west side of the city. As most in the city are keenly aware, if a proposal fits the zoning, then it is hard to be able to deny it. We need to review our CR zone to ensure we are attracting the types of developments to the city we want. Below is a link to each of the codes. If there is anything in the permitted or conditional uses section you feel should be removed or included or any other changes, please make sure to make your voice is heard.

To review the R7/HDH zoning code click here.

To review the Commercial Recreation code click here. 

Recap! City Council Meeting 3.10.2020

City Council Recap 3.10.2020

As always, a huge thanks to Jeff Judkins who is volunteering time away from his family to come and live stream these meetings.  Also, a special thanks to those who came out to the meeting or tuned in otherwise.

•Presentation of Stephen’s property located at 475 E and Old Fort Road:  This development presentation included a hotel, a gas station, a strip mall of commercial, storage units and 200 apartments in one building.  The concept to the plan will be linked below as well as the information that was given to the council and shown at the meeting.  There was concerns brought up both by public comment and with the council concerning the apartments.  The developers responded that the residential aspect was needed financially in order to ensure the commercial.  There was also concerns brought up about the height of the hotel being 4 stories.  The developer mentioned that if a restaurant or some greater commercial would commit to coming in it would possibly bump the hotel or other aspect.  This is very early in the planning.  The council gave a few additional concerns.  Ultimately this will depend on what comes back with the definition of mixed use that is being determined by the council and planning commission currently.  Just a reminder that this was *only* a presentation.  Nothing has been finalized or even started at this point.  

•Waterline on Cottonwood Drive:  Uintah has met with South Weber staff and is on board with the latest agreement.   It was explained why this was a 12 inch line vs. the 10 inch line South Weber was previously looking into.  There is benefits to both cities to do the 12 inch line.   The council approved unanimously to approve this agreement.  This process will begin soon with the repavement of Cottonwood Drive coming shortly after.  

•Final Approval for Alpha Coffee:  Alpha Coffee is a coffee shop that will be just west of Little Caesar’s.  You can see the final renditions for this establishment in the packet.  

•Another item that was discussed was utilizing a company that will review any development plans to our code. This will not be a cost to the city but will rather be passed on to developer fees.  This will be an added measure to ensure that all plans meet every part of our code.  Currently we will use a pool of companies that best fit our needs and then will possibly slim down to one company if we feel it best fits our needs.

•Legislative Review:  HB273 which deals with public officials being held personally liable in the event that they refuse to develop land after being advised to do so but a state ombudsman passed the house as well as HB357 that deals with public education funds.   SJR9 that distributes tax revenue of income tax to children and the disabled and SB39 that is a continuation of affordable housing and SB34 passed the Senate.  There was also an update to the TUF – the words “or tax” have been removed from the definition. This will likely mean that the TUF as it is instated will continue without any foreseeable problems.  

•New Business: The council recommended that the Planning Commission review the commercial recreation zone.   The time of the meeting on the 24^th will likely be adjusted due to the caucus being that same night.  More details will be coming soon.  

•Reports: Mayor Jo reported there are citizens who are interested in raising funds to get a removable cover for the pickleball courts.  Councilmember Soderquist said that he has met with the Gravel Pits and were informed of their processes and daily plans as well as when they shut down operations and how they mitigate the dust.    Councilmember Petty reminded everyone about the Easter Egg Hunt that will take place April 6^th at Canyon Meadows park.  It will start at 5:30 on the dot.  Afterwards the train will be operational until 7:00.  Food trucks will be available as well.  Old Fort road will be starting repaving again starting about April 15^th but could be sooner weather permitting.  Another fun item for our city is we are now on the JustServe app for any service or volunteer opportunities within the city.  

And that’s a wrap! I hope I got everything that I felt you would want to know.  Thanks again for all those who are staying involved and for the comments coming in that are helping to shape South Weber to the best that we can be!

#getinvolved #stayinvolved