Gunnison City Council Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, December 10, 2014, 12:00 p.m. Noon
Gunnison City Hall, 38 West Center
Gunnison, UT 84634
Present: Mayor Bruce Blackham, City Council Members: Robert Anderson, Blake Donaldson, Brian Jensen and Melissa Judy, Recorder Janell Braithwaite, Heidi Embley, Youth City Council Advisor Charee Reynolds and the Youth City Council
Presiding: Mayor Bruce Blackham
Invocation: Council Member Brian Jensen
Oath of Office to Youth City Council
Mayor Blackham welcomed the many students in attendance. Council Member Judy introduced Charee Reynolds, and noted Charee would be taking the lead with the Youth City Council. Council Member Judy noted she would be working with Charee in lining out the calendar for the year. Charee introduced herself followed by each Youth City Council candidate. Corin Westra reported the new YCC would be helping with community events as well as participating on any possible committees while learning how government works, and help any way they can. Charee summarized her hopes for the YCC, and what she would like to see them take from this experience. Recorder Braithwaite then administered the Oath of Office to the 20 Youth City Council members. These members include: Deisy Avila, Danielle Boore, Shelby Williams, Rachel Embley, Josie Sorensen, Isaac Bjarnson, Austin Mylroie, Kylie Nay, Carlie Fredrickson, K'Leigh Halliday, Cole Stewart, Kaylee Hill, Alexandria Reynolds, Austin Francis, Zack Christensen, Samantha Peterson, Hannah Miller, Tae'lor Thompson, Corin Westra, Reece Reynolds. Council Member Judy announced Corin Westra and Josie Sorensen have already been involved with the pool committee, and invited the rest of the YCC to take part in the different committees and be involved in the decision making processes. She also explained some of the activities they would be able to participate in.
Oath of Office to Court Clerk, Allysia Dahl
Recorder Braithwaite administered the Oath of Office to Allysia Dahl who was recently hired as the Court Clerk.
Update on Water Project ~ Council Member Blake Donaldson
Council Member Donaldson explained the recent letter received from John Iverson with Sunrise Engineering regarding the water project. Council Member Donaldson stated John had gone through and used the Division of Drinking Water rules to come up with all of the facts and statistics in the letter, and felt the city was in pretty good shape for development for the next 20 years. He explained the problems that had been incurred with the Christensen well that had been drilled, and noted a second well was only a proposal at this time. Council Member Donaldson noted the requirements for placement of an additional well and the problems that could be incurred at the different locations. He reported the city would definitely like to eliminate Peacock Springs from the system. Mayor Blackham noted there were still a lot of decisions that need to be made, and this letter describing how the city could get more water was just a proposal from John Iverson. He noted John had recalculated and refined his numbers, and felt if the city mixed in a little bit of Peacock with Bartholomew Well, based on the calculations on the projections of growth, the city would have the ability to accommodate 960 more beds at the prison as well as the projected growth of 142 homes within the city. Mayor Blackham reviewed the last meeting held with Representative Cox and John Iverson, and explained Representative Cox had spoken with the Chairman of the Relocation Committee indicating to him the Gunnison City's concern regarding the ability to provide the water needed for an expansion. The costs to help with the development of the water had been discussed with the Chairman with the discussion being such that he was very open about the state helping the city fund this development, noting this should and could be a very reasonable thing for the city to ask for.
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12:30 Council Member Thayne Carlisle arrived
Representative Cox had indicated he would feel comfortable presenting this to help the city. Council Member Jensen stated he hated to see the city pursue this second test well until the city could see where the state is headed with this, and would like to see what this legislature is going to do first. Council Member Donaldson explained if the city drilled a good second test well then this would become the well, and could cost approximately $200,000. This well would need to be at least 1,000 feet from the Christensen Well, and the geologists had stated the further south they go the higher the level of arsenic, and the water further north would probably be cleaner. Council Member Donaldson pointed out the geologists felt there were two aquaphors that come out of there, but the formation under the north well does not allow the water to flow as well as the Bartholomew Well. Council Member Donaldson reported they had talked about drilling a test well about 1,000 feet from the Christensen Well and using that test well to get another 300 gpm. Mayor Blackham explained these were all decisions the Council would have to make. Council Member Donaldson explained John Iverson's disappointment with the Christensen Well. He also explained the difference between the Christensen Well and the test well in their construction, and felt the rules had to be followed by the Division of Drinking Water in determining how each well was done. Council Member Donaldson stated the well drillers have never experienced this big of disappointment in drilling a well. Supervisor Reber questioned the Council about spending a little money to hire a dowser to find water. He noted the little amount this would cost would be very small compared to the amount spent on the well. The Council agreed to try this. Supervisor Reber will work on getting this done. Supervisor Childs reported the contractors have put in approximately 135-140 new services so far, and there were 680 total that would need to be done. He felt the contractors were doing a good job, and things were going well.
Update on Swimming Pool with Proposed Approval of Appointing Pool Committee Members ~ Council Member Judy
Council Member Judy presented the names of the new committee members for approval. These included Stacey Reid, Dallas Overly, GJ Willden, Corin Westra and Josie Sorensen. Those already on the committee have completed their terms, and will need to be approved for a second term. These include Randon Anderson, Tom Bore and Kent Larsen. Randon will continue to be the Chair, Stacey Reid as the Assistant Co-Chair and Tom as the Secretary. Council Member Judy reported the committee had redone the bylaws and would be approved at their next meeting. Council Member Anderson would like to see a rotation established for the terms to keep the continuity with the group. Council Member Judy will bring this up as material for the bylaws prior to approval.
Council Member Judy made the motion to approve those names presented for positions on the Gunnison Valley Pool Committee. Council Member Donaldson seconded the motion. The motion passes with a 5-0 vote.
Pool Manger Sorensen gave a summary of the maintenance work that had taken place at the pool and was appreciative of the help he had received from many people including a group of scouts. This included priming and painting the ceilings in the dressing rooms, installation of the new partitions, and sealing of some test spots on the gutter system. He noted the sealing on the gutters proved to work well and would be finished up on Friday. She reported members of the pool committee had been up to work with Manager Sorensen completing a spread sheet of the maintenance projects that need to be done. Manager Sorensen reported the little pool will be refinished with the EcoFinish next week noting this product is supposed to be superior to the plaster. The door jams are still being worked on with some help from Darryl Reid who is using automotive bondo and other automotive materials. Council Member Judy pointed out the help they have had from the committee members and the expertise they have brought to the table. Manager Sorensen noted the beams will be sprayed off to get as much of the peeling paint off as possible. He will also work with the CUCF Employee Association who want to come in and do a service project. He noted the mural still needs to be sealed and the duct work cleaned. The new vent covers should be in shortly for the dressing rooms, and the drains are still being worked on in the dressing rooms to determine the best solution for those. Council Member Judy noted members of the pool committee would be meeting with
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Gary Keddington next week to go over the financials of the pool. The committee is working on getting a survey out to the communities as well as attending council meetings in the surrounding cities to recruit
committee members from their cities. Manager Sorensen reported some of the responses he has received from members of the other communities.
Proposed Approval of Advertising Expenditure
Recorder Braithwaite reported it was time for the Christmas/year end ad in the Gazette, and questioned the Council if this is something they would like to participate. It is $142 for a quarter page. She suggested they use the picture taken today of the Youth City Council with the City Council.
Council Member Donaldson made the motion to approve the ad in the Gunnison Gazette for $142. Council Member Carlisle seconded the motion. The motion passes with 5-0 vote.
1:55 p.m. Recorder Braithwaite left
Discuss and Proposed Approval of Road Improvements ~ Council Member Carlisle
Recorder Carlisle noted he has not been able to get with Supervisor Childs regarding the roads. Supervisor Childs reported he was still waiting for a bid on the street by the middle school that goes from the Mayfield road to 700 South. He felt the city needed to talk with Staker Parsons since they are the ones using the road with all of their heavy equipment and breaking down the road. Council Member Carlisle will talk with Staker Parsons. He also discussed the possibility of working on Center Street up to 100 East and completing a 12 foot strip to take out some of those bumps. Supervisor Childs explained the process that could be done to take care of the patched trench work that had been done when the water line was put in. The previous estimate on this was $40,000 just for the overlay, then it would still need to be chipped. Council Member Carlisle noted some of the laterals that have been cut out have also settled. Supervisor Childs noted Johansen's will take care of all of these before the water project is complete. A schedule of getting the roads crack sealed and chipped was discussed. Council Member Donaldson pointed out Farmers Freeway was falling off on all of the edges all the way down the street.
Discuss Information to Include in Packet for January Legislature Presentation
Council Member Donaldson stated this information for the legislature packet was a matter of what information John Iverson came back with. Mayor Blackham agreed with this, and suggested the next scheduled meeting (January 9th) with the CUCF Citizens Advisory Committee would be a good time to discuss this.
Future Items
Police Vehicles: Chief Halliday reported the two new police trucks had come in, but would like to keep the Charger that Officer Wimmer is driving for the part-time officers to use when they are on duty. He noted there would be a few additional expenses to the budget to have an additional car in the department. The needed equipment was discussed between the Chargers and the new trucks. Mayor Blackham noted he didn't have any problems with keeping one of the Chargers. Chief Halliday noted he would make this work with his budget.
Economic Development: Council Member Judy reported John Springmeyer from Bonneville Research would have their report to the city by Friday.
Business Association: Council Member Judy noted Charee Reynolds has already met with all of the businesses in Centerfield and Gunnison, and will be trying to start a Chamber of Commerce.
Christmas Tree: Council Member Judy reported the Lion's Club had put up the big Christmas tree in the plaza, and the tree had been donated by Barbara Bown.
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Proposed Approval of Bills and Adjustments
Council Member Donaldson made the motion to approve the bills and adjustments as presented. Council Member Andersen seconded the motion. The motion passes with a 4-0 vote. Council Member Jensen abstained from the vote.
Proposed Approval of City Council Meeting Minutes for Wednesday, November 13, 2014, Open and Closed Sessions
Council Member Jensen made the motion to approve the City Council Meeting Minutes for Wednesday, October 15, 2014, Open and Closed Sessions. Council Member Andersen seconded the motion. The motion passes with a 5-0 vote.
Council Member Jensen made the motion to adjourn. Council Member Donaldson seconded the motion. The motion passes with a 5-0 vote.
1:20 p.m. Adjourn
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Janell Braithwaite, City Recorder
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Bruce A. Blackham, Mayor
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Approval Date