City Council Meeting
Page 8 of 8
February 6, 2014
REGULAR SESSION OF THE
BRIGHAM CITY COUNCIL
February 6, 2014
PRESENT: Tyler Vincent Mayor
DJ Bott Councilmember
Ruth Jensen Councilmember
Tom Peterson Councilmember
Brian Rex Councilmember
Mark Thompson Councilmember
ALSO PRESENT: Mark Bradley City Planner
Jim Buchanan Emergency Services Director
Mary Kate Christensen City Recorder
Jared Johnson Community Development Director
Paul Larsen Economic Development Director
Kristy Law Community Activities & Services Manager
Bruce Leonard City Administrator
Mike Nelsen Police Lieutenant
Tyler Pugsley Public Works Director
Diane Reichard City Treasurer
Jason Roberts Finance Director
Mayor Vincent called the meeting to order. The Reverence Period was given by Pastor Steve Barsuhn, Rocky Mountain Bible Church. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Approval of Minutes: A motion to approve the minutes of the January 16, 2014 Council meeting was made by Councilmember Bott, seconded by Councilmember Jensen and unanimously approved as distributed.
AGENDA
STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS
PUBLIC COMMENT
RECOGNITION OF EMPLOYEES
New Hires in the Administration Department, Mayor’s Office and Senior Center
CONSENT
Reappointment of Chair and Vice Chair of Shade Tree Commission
Audit Management Agreement with Davis & Bott for Auditing Services
Amendment to the Employee Policy and Procedures Manual
Request for Approval of Deputy City Administrator as an Appointed Position
SCHEDULED DELEGATION
Update on Small Business Development Center
Proclamation Declaring February Dating Violence Awareness Month
NEW BUSINESS
Request for Approval of Resolution Making Adjustments to the Stipend Program
Consideration of Pre-Development Agreement with Macquarie
PLANNING COMMISSION BUSINESS
Request for Zone Change from R-1-8 (Residential District) to R-M-7 (Multiple Residential District) on Three Parcels of Property Located at 439-443 South 600 West, 454 South 500 West and 462 South 500 West
OTHER BUSINESS
STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS
Mayor Vincent said he is grateful for the opportunity to serve as Mayor of Brigham City. It has been said that elected officials just do what they want and do not listen to the people. That might be true in federal or even state government, but it is not so in this community. He said the Council weighs out the issues and makes the best choices they can with the information they have. The Mayor and Council have the citizen’s best interests in mind. They want to see the City grow and prosper for future generations.
Downtown Revitalization – Recently groundbreaking started on a $7.5M privately funded downtown hotel. The City facilitated this project with a $1M Rural Economic Development loan. The developer will be responsible to repay this loan, secured through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and which is collateralized by real estate owned by the developer.
The Hampton Inn will introduce a new element to the business market for downtown, drawing thousands of patrons on an annual basis. The property and transient room tax from the Hampton Inn, along with ongoing infusions of private donations, will allow the City to complete the Academy building project t, which has long been a goal of the City and County. With the LDS Temple, the Hampton Inn and the Academy building, downtown will become a much more vibrant and active place with many new opportunities for business growth and development.
Main Street – Brigham City’s Main Street has 100 businesses in the downtown district, 220 businesses on the Main Street and 50 businesses on the 1100 South corridor. Main Street is the economic backbone of Brigham City; downtown is its heart.
Improving Economy – Brigham City has great businesses. The Mayor has received reports from numerous businesses regarding their current status and future. Businesses large and small are reporting significant improvements in the economy. Box Elder County’s unemployment rate has declined dramatically.
USU Brigham City Regional Campus – Higher education is critical to Brigham City’s future economic development. In the 2010 Census, Box Elder County ranked 14th out of 29 counties in Utah for residents holding bachelor’s or higher degrees. There were 22.5% in Box Elder County; 28.2% in USA and 29.6% in Utah. If Brigham City and the County are to attract and retain high paying, high tech jobs, the City must maintain the kind of cutting edge infrastructure these businesses need, but also do a better job of preparing a workforce to hold these jobs. It is for this reason that the City strongly supports development of the USU Brigham City Regional Campus and expansion of Bridgerland Applied Technology College.
Partnerships – Brigham City has been able to accomplish a lot through partnerships with other public agencies. Last year, the City was added to the Wasatch Front Regional Council, which has planned and received funding for the 1100 South I-15 project and the 1100 West 1100 South intersection project.
The City also partnered with the Box Elder School District on the 800 West 400 South intersection. This project was long overdue and has provided safer lanes of traffic.
Airport – One of the responsibilities the City has at the airport is snow removal. The City received an airport snow removal equipment grant to obtain a ten wheeler truck with a 17.5 foot plow to aid in removal of snow. Prior to acquisition of this equipment, it took crews approximately eight hours to clear the snow. This has now been reduced to 2.5 hours, providing significant cost savings and operational improvements.
The Mayor indicated on a slide the instrument flights to the Brigham City Regional Airport from all parts of the nation. This airport is not an isolated facility that caters to small airplanes; it is part of a nationwide network of airports that provide a critical transportation infrastructure that dramatically improves the City’s economy. Because of the importance of the airport within this network, the City has been able to attract significant support and funding from the Federal Aviation Association.
Police and Emergency Services - Foremost among the City’s responsibilities is to work to keep its citizens and their property safe. The Police Department is second to none in its commitment to this responsibility, and City leaders need to be ready to support them in their efforts.
The 2013 National Night Out Against Crime gave the opportunity for residents to mingle with 14 different services providers involved in police efforts. There were over 850 attendees at this function. They served over 1200 hamburgers and hot dogs. Thanks to the hardworking police professionals, crime rates are stable and declining.
The Emergency Services Department provides vital services in fire control and suppression and in ambulance and EMT services. In 2013 these services included more than 2300 ambulance calls for service, over 340 fire calls for service and countless hours of public service in the community.
Recycling Center – One of the most popular and important services provided by the City is the voluntary recycling center located on Watery Lane. This center diverts approximately 7,000 tons of recycled material per year and over 123,000 tons per year of compost that would otherwise be taken to the Box Elder County landfill. Instead, the life of the landfill is extended and a usable product in the form of compost is produced. This material is in turn put to beneficial use by the residents and customers. These services have been consolidated at the new facility and improvements to the service will continue.
Water – We are currently in the third year of drought conditions. There has been declining water from snowpack for storage in Mantua Reservoir. If conditions persist, the City may be implementing a water conservation program. City leaders made decisions many decades ago, followed by ongoing investments and improvements that are helping deal with drought conditions today.
In 1990 the City had two state approved wells in Brigham City and three in Mantua. In 2014, there were five state approved wells in Brigham City and three in Mantua. The new Canyon View Well could be available for use in July making a total of six wells in Brigham City.
Last year, six of the wells were put into service to meet culinary water demand. In the past, elected officials have been very proactive with water development and the Mayor hoped that this trend continued.
Electricity – The City is currently dependent on Rocky Mountain Power (RMP) will for most of the wholesale power generation. Rate increases will continue if the City remains dependent on RMP. It is difficult to plan going forward under the current situation. Peak demand is the most costly part of demand. The Mayor proposed a capital project for construction of a six megawatt natural gas generation plant to operate during peak usage periods. This will reduce demand and energy charges from RMP and bring more stable rates. The City needs to control their own destiny by owning power sources rather than renting them.
Facility Fund – The swimming pool repair project led the City to establish a facility fund for ongoing maintenance of City facilities. The citizens have invested substantially in these facilities through utility rates and tax dollars, and needs to maintain the City’s investment. The facility fund will provide a revenue source for ongoing maintenance in a timely and efficient manner.
The state of Brigham City is sound with a bright future. The City just completed a very successful audit. Financially, the City is in great shape. Decisions that were made in the past, often with significant opposition, are now proving to have been the wise choice and have positioned the City for future growth, prosperity and quality of life. The City continues this tradition of sound decision making and investment in its future. The Mayor said he, along with the wisdom and help of the City Council, intends to support efforts to improve Brigham City’s condition.
The Mayor thanked all City employees for all that they do. A lot of times the Mayor and City Council do not recognize them and all their hard work. The employees are passionate about Brigham City and spend countless hours trying to make this community a better place to live.
The Mayor stated that he struggles with the nation trying to pull prayer and God out of the schools and government. The Nation’s money says “In God We Trust.” We are citizens of a great City, a great County, a great State and a great Nation. Although everyone may not agree on everything that comes forward, we are still neighbors and we are friends, and we need to be God fearing. He asked that citizens pray on behalf of the Council and Mayor that they might make pertinent decisions that will help the progress of this City.
The Mayor presented a video about Brigham City and Box Elder County.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Lee Phipps, Brigham City – Mr. Phipps announced a Constitution Celebration on September 17, 2014 and invited the Council and citizens of Brigham City and Box Elder County to participate. During that week they plan to have several activities. He recommended the City make that week Constitution Week.
Alan Shakespear, Brigham City – Mr. Shakespear is the IT Director for Box Elder School District. UTOPIA currently provides internet access to 55% of the students in the District. It also provides a critical data link between the District Office, located in Brigham City, and Bear River High School in Tremonton. There is currently no other option for fiber optic connection that would connect them to both ends of the County. Any other options would have required the District to have at least $3M up front for the connection. Of the options discussed in the work session, the School District is in favor of any option that keeps the UTOPIA network a viable option going forward. He added that someone mentioned that there is really not a potential for new customers, the School District contracts with telecoms for internet services and they go out to bid every year. As they do, UTOPIA will be in the mix to bid on these and it is anticipated that they may end up with a lot of these contracts.
Becky Maddox, Brigham City – Ms. Maddox said if people like UTOPIA, that’s fine, but they should pay for it themselves. She does not have television because she chooses not to. She did not feel she should have to pay for something that she does not use. UTOPIA represents a pie in the sky governmental system and it failed years ago. Socialism has never worked; it seems to work in the beginning but it always ends up being a failure.
Jim Madsen, Brigham City – Mr. Madsen said there is a petition throughout the State of Utah to put an initiative on the ballot to do away with the caucus voting system. Mr. Madsen explained how the caucus system protects the rights of the small individual. He asked people not to sign the initiative because it takes the choice away from the common individual and into the hands of the wealthy. He also addressed UTOPIA and said that Brigham City Corporation is saving $1,400/month by using UTOPIA, so everyone is benefiting. He felt they needed to get a sales force to bring more people into the system.
Lee Johnson, Brigham City – Mr. Johnson said when government sticks to the Constitutional requirements people benefit, but when it strays from that there are a lot of problems.
Vaughn Jensen, Brigham City – Mr. Jensen said there are more than two choices for UTOPIA. We can pay the cost to fix it so it can be used, since we have to pay for it anyway; or let it sit unusable while still paying for it. He added that there should have been some kind of insurance or assurance. When he refinanced his house he had to pay off the UTOPIA lien. This made it so he could not do the remodeling they had planned. He does not want to have to pay a monthly utility fee on top of this.