City Council Minutes 4-29-25

TREMONTON CITY CORPORATION
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
APRIL 29, 2025

Members Present:
Wes Estep
Beau Lewis
Bret Rohde
Lyle Vance
Blair Westergard
Lyle Holmgren, Mayor
Bill Cobabe, City Manager
Linsey Nessen, Assistant City Manager
Cynthia Nelson, City Recorder

CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP

Mayor Holmgren called the April, 2025 City Council Workshop to order at 5:00 p.m. The meeting was held in the City Council Meeting Room at 102 South Tremont Street, Tremonton, Utah. Those in attendance were Mayor Holmgren, Councilmembers Estep, Lewis, Rohde, Vance, and Westergard, City Manager Cobabe, Assistant City Manager Nessen, and City Recorder Nelson. The following Department Heads were also present: City Planner Jeff Seedall, Public Works Director Carl Mackley, Parks and Recreation Director Zach LeFevre, and Co-Interim Fire Chief Andy McBride. Also in attendance was Finance Director Curtis Roberts.

The following items were discussed out of order. A ten (10) minute break was taken by the Council in between topics.

1. Operational Budgets

Director Roberts said lots of people have been working behind the scenes on capital projects. Thank you for taking the time to go through this. Assistant Manager Nessen has been busting her tail getting our operational budget ready. Last council meeting, there was discussion of how much money we have set aside and how much is available. We now have the operational budget to show that. We have modified the approach from the past. Previously, we came to the Council with the budget showing projection of revenues, operational expenses, and capital projects that are going to be spent out of that particular fund, along with transfers. That has changed. This presentation has our best guess of the revenues, because those would be the operational revenues. This has all of the department’s requests for operational expenses and we pulled out the capital. In the General Fund, there are two transfers. There is a placeholder for parks and one for the fire department to fund their operations. Those are supposed to be funded out of general taxes. Those are operational transfers. The net total number ($879,845) is what is available to the Council. That is the annual savings we have or excess of revenues over expenses. If the Council is not satisfied that that is enough to set aside for savings, then we have to figure out, do we carry expenses, revise revenue projections, or figure out changes to fees. I have already projected what is going to be available as of July 1. That was the $9 million. In previous discussions you asked how much would be available in this next fiscal budget. I said based off the sales tax, it should be about $2 million, but it is not. We have a lot more expenses. We adjusted our revenues, but the expenses went up. This does not include any capital. These are solely operational expenses. We had $9 million from the General Fund that was available. We add the $879,000 on top of that. When we put in everything for the fire Department, we made our projection of revenues and put in a transfer similar to what has been done in prior years. We did not increase it a lot, just took what was there. Expenses currently exceed revenues operationally. The revenues are not enough to cover the expenses. This fund needs more operational funds. Councilmember Vance said this is if we approve what they have requested. We need to go through these line by line.

Finance Roberts said operationally, the water fund is bringing in almost $1.5 million. Under the current scenario, this would generate $1.5 million per year. This money will then become available for capital projects. Our water rate is still probably a bit low for my concerns. The Council discussed some of the areas including benefits and impact fees. Councilmember Rohde said would it be inappropriate to go back to the departments and say, find some savings in each one of these operational expenses to see if we can reduce those. It would sure be a lot easier if they were to look at where they could reduce, rather than us choosing. Manager Cobabe said that is an appropriate ask, but I also think we ought to think about how to increase funding. If our operating expenses are what they are looking to be, we want to hold on to people and make sure they have the training, resources, and wages to keep up with the market rate. We have to make some hard decisions. Councilmember Rohde said yes, but they need to make hard decisions first and come back to us. Manager Cobabe said I agree, but this does represent a substantial amount of work on the part of the department heads. There is very little fluff in the budget that could be cut. I am not saying zero so we should send it back, but this is something we need our leadership to think about.

Director Roberts said this is the introduction to operational. As you look at each of those lines, that gives you an idea of how much that fund is generating. Councilmember Rohde said what is the bottom line to add to capital? Director Roberts said when we started this process, we said $9.3 million of general revenues is available. With the budget as it is currently situated, we would be adding $450,000. That is what is left over. Added to the $9.3, gets $9.75 million for the general areas of the City. Parks will have $2.1 million. Roads could use $350,000. Councilmember Rohde said can we adjust this $9.75 million to where it is going to be based off the information we have. Director Roberts said we can. The Council discussed RDA #2. Director Roberts said right now, all of the property tax that comes into this are scheduled to be paid out to the developer for reimbursement. For expenses we put in the $600,000 that is due to the developer. Since the Council had previously committed funds from this to be a matching fund for the grant that is the $173,880. That fund has enough to absorb that $118,000. It has $1.78 million in it. There is still going to be $1.6 million, but it does take away from Main Street. The grant is for Midland Square and is meant to match the grant that was obtained.

When asked about other negative balances, Finance Roberts said there are none, everything else is functioning. The sewer net income has some concern as it is a little on the low side, but we have enough. There are other issues to address right now. The Council then spent time discussing the police and fire department budgets. Finance Roberts said the fire department has its own revenue source, but its current revenue source is not enough to cover expenses. Manager Cobabe said we think about the police as being funded completely out of sales tax and the General Fund because the fire department has a revenue source and the police does not. Director Roberts said I brought up the fire fund because in order to make it whole, it would have to come from General Fund. Manager Cobabe said we have to compensate for the deficiencies. We could also look for ways to save money in other departments to help make up the difference. The other way is through Truth in Taxation. The Council then discussed property taxes. Manager Cobabe said the Transportation Utility Fee is another conversation we ought to have going forward about how to make up some of these differences. This is difficult because people are on fixed incomes, but the expenses the City incurs for everything is adding up and the City is feeling the pinch. If the Council wants to pursue Truth in Taxation, Director Roberts said in June as they adopt the budget the Council would adopt a temporary budget and notify the County they are considering a Truth in Taxation. You would then set a date for a hearing in August. Notifications go out and some time after that meeting, you have to adopt a final budget and notify the County of what that final tax rate is. The certified tax rate from the County does not consider inflation. That is why cities are doing more frequent increases to their property taxes so they do not get further behind. It is a matter of keeping up with inflation.

When asked about impact fees, Director Roberts said the fire and police departments have not had their impact fees adjusted since 2015. There is a cost for that study, but it could help. Your projects plan of what capital needs to be spent over time is given to a financial company that goes through and says, here is the range of impact fees you are allowed to adopt up to. Those tools can be beneficial depending on how they are structured. The impact fee is only going to pay for a portion of those and the City is responsible for the rest. If you adopt that impact fee, you are committing to do that project within six (6) years. We have to make sure we have the cash to do that and be careful with how that is calculated. I think it is a worthwhile study for the police and fire. That is going to be expensive, but at least you would be able to understand and project what people could participate in.

Director Roberts said for the operational, we owe you one more document that will be provided before the next meeting—a one page summary showing comparisons. In the meantime, you have the operational numbers. We can challenge department heads to go back through their requests. The tentative budget has to be adopted the first meeting in May, but that does not mean changes cannot be made between then and the final. Mayor Holmgren said lets meet with department heads and go through their individual operational budgets. That would help the Council understand where their needs are. Manager Cobabe said we have been over the proposed budgets with the department heads. This is not something we just threw out. They were thoughtful in what we are requesting. It is not arbitrary or excessive. These are things we have discussed at length. Ultimately, whether or not to fund these things is your decision as the Council, but we can discuss with our department heads. I am not kicking the can over to you, but I feel your role as the Council is to control the purse strings of the City and make sure the budget is done properly. Councilmember Vance said I see that as your responsibility as the City Manager. Manager Cobabe said I agreed, expect I feel like what is in front of you is as good as we can get. Councilmember Vance said when we got together for a capital discussion, the departments discussed these amounts and the fire department knocked out about $1.5 million worth of capital purchases off the list. I wonder if we should do the same with the other departments. We need to go through this in detail with them. Manager Cobabe said I am at a place where I am looking for guidance from the Council for final approval. Capital budgets are a little bit different in that there is more discretion in what we choose to fund or not. Operating budgets are what they are. Councilmember Vance said your job is to figure out how to increase income, which means raising taxes. You are trying to create more income to make Tremonton a better place. Our job is to protect the constituents and not overtax them. Councilmember Rohde said we are saying can they just go through a little bit closer, working with you. We then need to have enough trust in you to say this is where we are at. Instead of having to have department heads justify to us, they should be justifying to you. We should listen to you. Manager Cobabe said the Council does not have the time to look over every nut and bolt, but what my concern is that I do not want to take away any of the responsibilities. I have been led to understand that in the past decisions were made about the budget without the understanding of the Council. It is the responsibility of the Council to make sure that budgetary decisions are made in the light of day and with the best budgeting practices with regard to the sacred nature of these funds. Having worked with the departments at length to determine what is the best and most efficient use of those funds, this is our proposed budget. We can go back and look at things. We will probably find some things, but as was pointed out, we are squeezing blood from a turnip. Mayor Holmgren said maybe we can have an explanation to help us understand why we have that negative balance. Then we can make a decision on how to rectify it. All of those who have been involved in getting us to this point need a huge thanks. Manager Cobabe said we will have those two departments prepare something for our next meeting. We are not running a deficit. We actually have a quarter of a million dollars for this year’s surplus. It is not as much as we were hoping for, but it is still on the sunny side of things. Councilmember Vance said this is a new thing for the Council. I have been here for ten (10) years and the budget was basically put together for a discussion and approved. This is the first time we have actually had real input as to what to do with the excess as far as capital purchases and that type of stuff. It feels like we are going in circles, but it is a learning process. We appreciate your patience. I know you have spent mega time putting this together. We need to approve this operating budget so we can get onto the capital expenditure and approve a tentative. Director Roberts said as you are still looking at capital, there is not a huge chunk of money available for general projects. We have about $9.7 million to take us through fiscal 2026.

2. Follow-up on Capital projects if needed
3. Discussion with Old Grist Mill – Bruce Leishman

Mr. Leishman said we have done a little bit of preliminary work with some design for a parking lot. The real purpose of being here is to see if financial help is available either through the RDA or even a low-interest loan to help us to facilitate some of these improvements. The parking lot is going to be a major expense and the building will take some restructuring, too. We want to see if there are options for help. Mayor Holmgren said the RDA does not extend that far. Mr. Leishman discussed how he worked with Smithfield. When asked about timeframe, he said, as soon as you can generate money for us, we will move ahead. I can get some bids on the parking lot and exterior to give an idea on what that number could be. Mayor Holmgren said that is probably where we would have to start and determine whether we have funding available. We want to be fair with others who are coming into the community. Councilmember Lewis said I am over economic development and there is a lot of interest in food establishments. We want to be fair, but could have some incentives for people to come. There are also some employment benefits to the community. We would also be interested in understanding the general revenue that sales tax could increase. They agreed to meet and discuss this further in the future. Manager Cobabe said you would have to create a new RDA just for this project. The other only goes to Kents. Director Roberts said you would have to get all the taxing entities to agree to the terms of what you are doing. It would be better to make a new one.

4. Review of the agenda items identified on 7:00 p.m. City Council Agenda

5. CLOSED MEETING: No Closed Meeting held at this time.

a. Strategy session to discuss the purchase of real property when public discussion of the transaction would disclose the appraisal or estimated value of the property under consideration or prevent the public body from completing the transaction on the best possible terms; and/or
b. Strategy session to discuss the character, professional competence or physical or mental health of an individual; and/or
c. Strategy sessions to discuss pending or reasonably imminent litigation; and/or
d. Discussions regarding security personnel, devices or systems

The meeting adjourned at 6:50 p.m. by consensus of the Council.

CITY COUNCIL MEETING

Mayor Holmgren called the April 29, 2025 City Council Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The meeting was held in the Tremonton City Council Meeting Room at 102 South Tremont Street, Tremonton, Utah. Those in attendance were Mayor Holmgren, Councilmembers Estep, Lewis, Rohde, Vance, and Westergard, City Manager Cobabe, Assistant City Manager Nessen, and City Recorder Nelson. The following Department Heads were also present: City Planner Jeff Seedall, Public Works Director Carl Mackley, Parks and Recreation Director Zach LeFevre, and Co-Interim Fire Chief Andy McBride. Also in attendance was Finance Director Curtis Roberts.

1. Opening Ceremony: Prayer—Mayor Holmgren, Pledge—Youth City Council Mayor MaryAnne Rees

2. Introduction of Council, including the Youth City Council

3. Declaration of Conflict of Interest: None

4. Approval of Agenda:

Motion by Councilmember Vance to approve the agenda of April 29, 2025 with the changes to remove items 8. a., 8. b, and 11. e. Also moving item 7. b. to 7. a. Motion seconded by Councilmember Estep. Vote: Councilmember Estep – yes, Councilmember Lewis – yes, Councilmember Rohde – yes, Councilmember Vance – yes, Councilmember Westergard – yes. Motion approved.

5. Approval of minutes – April 1, 2025 and April 22, 2025

Motion by Councilmember Westergard to approve the minutes stated above. Motion seconded by Councilmember Lewis. Vote: Councilmember Estep – yes, Councilmember Lewis – yes, Councilmember Rohde – yes, Councilmember Vance – yes, Councilmember Westergard – yes. Motion approved.

The following items were discussed out of order.

6. Years of Service Awards

a. Kirsti Summit, Recreation Coordinator – 10 years

Director LeFevre provided a bio. The Council thanked her for her years of service.

7. Presentations

a. Youth City Council Report – Youth Mayor MaryAnne Rees, Youth City Manager Allie Throop, Project Manager Vincent Fertig, Communications Manager Lilly Pedersen, Historian Karen Graves, and Secretary Lily Gilbert

Youth City Council Manager Allie Throop said this year we had 25 members who helped with all our city projects, services, and events. This year, we had 450 service hours. Youth City Council Mayor MaryAnne Reese said we did 18 activities overall, including the Christmas extravaganza and Hay Days. We also helped decorate Main Street. One of our favorites was the Turkey Trot. Youth City Council Manager Throop said our personal favorite activities are the ones we plan ourselves. This year, I was in charge of the Daddy Daughter Dance. I love watching the dads and their daughters. Youth City Council Mayor Rees said I helped with the service project to do the library cleanup. We also want to thank the Council for sending us to Utah State for our leadership conference. Youth City Council Manager Throop said the keynote speaker talked about achieving your goals through proactive action on your part at any point in your life. He taught me that in order to achieve change in a community, you have to commit yourself to making a change. Youth City Council Mayor Rees said Youth City Council has taught me so much—how to cooperate and communicate with others and gain a love of service and my community. Youth City Council Manager Throop said a lot of people do not know the amount of work that goes into events and projects within the community. I loved being able to bring our communities together.

b. Tremonton City Citizenship Award to Elementary and Intermediate Students

Mayor Holmgren said giving these awards is one of our favorite things each month. They have demonstrated an extraordinary ability to show respect and be responsible for the things they are in charge of in their schools and to promote safety. These are really important in our community. We appreciate their efforts, their teachers, and their principals. They gave them their awards and took pictures.

c. Report and update on UTOPIA – UTOPIA Representatives Executive Director Roger Timmerman and Director of Government Affairs Nicole Cottle

Mr. Timmerman provided history on UTOPIA. We are an interlocal entity. The owners of UTOPIA are the cities that created us. Tremonton is one of those founding members. There are 11 original cities that bonded in 2004 to build a fiber network. Since then, we have had a lot of growth and new partnerships. It was a rough start. Costs were high and subscriptions low. The technology was not great. There were a lot of missteps and legal challenges. The cities stuck it out and in 2009, things started to turned around. We made changes to staff and bonded for projects to build networks and add customers and revenues. We have expanded and improved the financial position of the member cities. This is now a critical service. We are positioned to be leaders in the world as our cities have the best broadband in the Country. He then reviewed some of their accomplishments. Tremonton keeps growing and adding customers. There are almost 3,500 locations in the City that have fiber available with about 1,650 connected. He also reviewed their providers and internet options available to customers, along with costs and funding.

8. Appointment & Oath of Office:

a. Discussion and consideration of adopting Resolution No. 25-14 appointing Jeffrey Jarrow to serve as Tremonton City Fire Chief
b. Swearing in of Jeffrey Jarrow as Tremonton City Fire Chief

This will be done at a future meeting when Jeffrey Jarrow is in attendance.

9. Public comments:

Debbie Brantner said during the town hall meeting, we had a discussion on ways to save the City money. My son lives across the street from the nature park, and there are plug-ins for electric cars. Who pays for that electricity? I want to know why the City is paying for that? We could save a lot of money. I see travelers plugged in there all night. Why are we paying for travelers to use electricity? Citizens are paying for that. Councilmember Rohde said a card swipe is a good idea.

Ralph Craven said the services not being collected for the fire department are huge. You might as well hang signs on the side of the ambulances that say, free ride. We want the very best employees, the highest trained and the very best motivated employees. With your surplus, I suggest you look at adding additional funds to those who work for the City for training and development. The 24th of July has a budget of $200,000. That is not enough. We could generate return on investment here. That is a revenue generator and you can charge for people to get in. Everybody in Tremonton could get a deduction, but it would attract a lot of people. I enjoyed your meeting and am proud of you guys.

Jonathan Gardner said I am one of the physicians in town and as such, I have a huge investment in the health of our community. Years ago, we talked about doing a mountain bike park up on Radio Hill. I have not heard anything about any progress. I know a lot of youth who love to mountain bike and would love to do volunteer hours to move that forward. More green space would be great. The river trail is amazing, but it would be nice to expand that even further. There are plenty of people willing to help. I love to be engaged with other health things. I love the sloth-a-thon and whatever we can do to increase our health for our community is great, especially as we are growing and expanding.

Mayor Holmgren called a Public Hearing to order at 7:49 p.m. to discuss a proposed annexation. There were 67 people in attendance.

10. Public Hearing:

a. To consider annexing approximately 200.78 acres of real property, referred to as the LB Land Holdings Annexation into Tremonton City’s incorporated limits. The 200.78 acres of real property is located in Box Elder County along 6800 West from 10200 North to 9600 North

Cindy Shipley said build high-density housing wherever you want in the City, but I do not understand why you keep expanding and putting it wherever you want. We wanted to stay rural residential south of the freeway. I think all of us here feel that way. If I was to buy a plot in town, I would not be allowed to raise pigs because it would offend my neighbors. If you are to come out where we love, our rural environment, and build a strip mall or high-density housing, we would feel the same as the people living in the City that would not like me having a pig farm. If you think you are doing us favors by raising our property values, you are not because all that means is we have to pay higher taxes and that is not valuable to us. If you are going to annex that property, annex it with the zoning that keeps it rural residential.

Kelly Wood said in December, I had several discussions about the annexation. I asked the City Planner if we could meet with our neighborhood, the City, and the developer to share our concerns about this annexation. The words of Jeff Seedall were, I highly doubt that any of you have any ideas worth penciling down. Needless to say, this conversation ended badly and it has taken me four months to speak up again. I am doing this because I love the community. I want to continue to be proud of where I live. I am deeply concerned regarding the direction development is going in our City and specifically the possibilities for this annexation. Some of the ideas communicated to me by the City Planner and Manager include the possibility of a moderate to high-density housing, office buildings, and strip malls. In two recent surveys conducted by Box Elder County and Tremonton, residents overwhelmingly responded their top priority and concern for both the County’s and City’s future is to preserve the agricultural, rural feel and small-town atmosphere we have enjoyed in this valley. Tremonton’s land use and planning documents said it is clear that Tremonton residents want to preserve the rural small-town atmosphere. This is the reason we chose to live here. In the same document in the section outlining the community vision and land use priorities, the number one key principle of guiding growth and development is as follows: Preserve and enhance Tremonton’s agricultural character, peaceful lifestyle and rural atmosphere using carefully considered zoning ordinances, preserving environmentally sensitive lands and providing high quality open space. Allowing moderate to high-density housing or commercial retail and office space south of the freeway boundary on Iowa String does not feel like careful considered zoning to those of us who live there. Such development will detract from the rural feel that currently exists south of that boundary and reduce the high-quality open space we now enjoy. It is my understanding that the City is currently focused on the much-needed revitalization of the downtown area. I am really excited to see the improvements there. The development of commercial areas in this outlying area south of the freeway will further weaken the commercial streets of the downtown area, which is already struggling. Main Street is lined with empty buildings that should be utilized. Further, there is land going both east and west of historic Main Street that are much more suitable for commercial offices, storefronts, and moderate to dense housing. Iowa String is lined with houses on its frontage. Sandwiching these homes between commercial, retail, and industrial buildings is not carefully considered planning. In studying communities that have successfully maintained a small-town agricultural field through periods of growth and expansion, one line has stuck out to me. Communities who have done this well in a way that appeals to its residents and those moving there have done so with a primary guiding principle being developed to preserve. Growth is coming to Tremonton, but let us be wise and careful in our planning so that growth is guided in a way that preserves what we love about living here. Our plea is that you do not sacrifice our community at the hands of short-sighted development. I have been repeatedly told by the City we are not going to tell the developers what they can or cannot do on their own land. That is one of the reasons we have city planners, councils, and committees so that through thoughtful discussion and planning, strict guidelines and regulations can be created and enforced to tell developers what they can and cannot do. This ensures when the dust settles, we still have a city we feel safe in, we love and are proud of. I remind you of the first guiding principle in your land use plan to preserve and enhance Tremonton’s agricultural character, peaceful lifestyle, and rural atmosphere using carefully considered zoning ordinances. Tremonton is at a pivotal point in its history. We are seeing rural communities disappear along the Wasatch Front. While we know growth and development is coming and our City is going to change, we are asking you and begging you to take careful consideration into the planning and zoning of all future development in our City so it is done in a way that protects the priorities of our community, which is maintaining a rural agricultural small-town atmosphere. This applies to the area south of the freeway and Iowa String, which is an ideal boundary to transition from higher density housing and commercial retail space to low density zoning that will preserve the rural feel we now enjoy. We all have a responsibility to develop to preserve.

Chris Barfuss said and I have a couple concerns about this annexation. I am over the Iowa String Drainage District and we have a lot of drains in these fields that cannot have housing or buildings put on them. They will have to be moved or piped differently so there will be a lot of cost. We will not have them putting their water runoff in our drains. They will have to pipe it to the Malad or Salt Creek. We have problems now with cities sending water down. Our main drain gets filled up and is flooding us out.

Kristie Bowcutt said I am a little confused. I sat in a meeting not too long ago where the City Planner said letters were sent to all the people around this development and they were all for it, more or less. I am hearing a different thing from them and I do like what they are saying because it is their livelihood that is going to change. There is some conflict going on. I am with them.

Brodie Calder said I am one of the developers of the properties that has petitioned for the annexation. I met with Planner Seedall multiple times and met with a lot of the community members to go over everything. We have discussed at length what is going on. We do not know what we are going to get in regards to zoning so no plans have been done. We do not know exactly what is going to happen. It is our plan to look at building and growing to help out the community. We have had a lot of residents who have had issues in that area with septic and drainage. This helps out the community and that is why we have had good support from a lot of the residents who signed the petition to be annexed. Not that this is potentially a commercial, but there are already commercial projects on Iowa Street that are included in this annexation around 10000 North.

William Shipley said I grew up in this area of Iowa String about a mile south. The nature of the area should be considered with regard to traffic flow and access to the region. A strip mall is a very different type of traffic pattern and access compared to what kind of commercial operations you see in the area currently. The most notable one that I can think of along that stretch is the concrete factory, which has very little traffic other than operation of the business. You also have a couple of small farming-related businesses. When you are talking about building high-density residential or commercial shopping centers, you have to remember this is a two-lane road coming from the City going under an overpass with very limited throughput. The closest way around it would be further east where there is a similar restricted access road or further west. Neither of those are included in this. If this development goes through and it has a substantial increase to traffic flow, where is that traffic going to go? Adding Procter & Gamble dramatically increased the amount of freight traffic along that road. The justification then, was they were going to go through Corinne, which I believe is what happens primarily, but the increased traffic goes essentially in every direction from wherever you build something like that. Those types of impacts are difficult to measure from a city planning position. People with the most liquid funds buy these types of land and want to turn it into something much higher in value for a quick turnaround and profit. Those people typically are not involved in the area for much time after construction. They do not have to live with the aftermath. When you are at this boundary between City and County land, it is very easy for those decisions to end up being made by people who are not affected.

Monte Austin said I taught school here all my life and lived in Garland. I did not want my children being raised on Factory Street because of the crime so I moved into the 3rd Ward so my children could play. In the Army, the personnel officer asked me a question since he noticed I was a return mission, asking if I could kill somebody. I said, yes. If they threatened my home and family I would. I moved into the 3rd Ward and now they are talking about a strip mall and high-end density housing in an area. We moved to raise our families in peace and enjoy our farms and the community. People want to make money, but the farmers want their farms, and families want their families. This has been a nice community to do that in.

Jennifer Bjorn said I was told we would not see annexation in my lifetime. Well, I am not that old and here it is, knocking at our doorstep. There is a problem in the schools and district. They are all over capacity. The teachers are stressed out. I can stomach some higher-density homes coming in, but I like the rural. I love the farmers around our community and what happens to them? What happens to this land? The school system has problems and something needs to be done. With high-density housing comes lots of people. I am going to have grandchildren entering this system, and I do not feel like our schools can handle it today. You keep adding high-density housing, but what are we going to do? Where is the infrastructure? We are outgrowing the City faster than the City can handle it.

Brett Payne said we all realize that cities and towns grow. Utah’s growing, but I think it is our responsibility, as members of the community and the City Council, to make that growth happen responsibly. It is a rural-type community. It is your responsibility and you can control how that is zoned. If you control that zoning, low-density type housing, then the majority of that rural-type atmosphere will still be maintained. If you allow high-density housing and commercial strip malls to come in that area, that is going to affect that rural environment we all love and that our City is about. It seems like you have, out of the area, wealthy landowners, combined with developers wanting to build the most profitable type construction on that land. It should be up to the Council to say, we want to keep the rural environment, let us zone this for low-density housing, not commercial and high-density.

Heather Baker said I am new to annexations. I live in that area. I moved from downtown Roy to a peaceful place for my kids, for crime and safety’s sake. My kids and their school situation have flip-flopped. They are both excelling and I could not be happier with that. This place is peaceful and everyone I have met is very friendly. The farmers are very generous and friendly. They do not deserve this strip mall to be put right in their backyard or front yard. I am curious what is going to happen. With the new development down the street there have already been a lot of cars coming down my street like there is no speed limit. It takes five minutes to go to Main Street and there is plenty of empty buildings and spaces. They could put more stores there. I do not think we need it right in the middle of our farming community for safety and our irrigation’s sake.

Jaime Crowther said I have lived on Iowa String for 27 years. I have a couple questions about the process. This looks like it is the first public hearing regarding this potential annexation. You say you do not have control over what the developer does with it after that zoning, but the land has been purchased and he is asking for annexation. If you have had any sort of financing on the land, you would have had to tell the lender what you are doing with it. So, to say, I do not know what we are going to do with that, I do not believe that is necessarily true. I feel like, you would have an idea of what you are considering to do with the land. You have to repay your debt when you get a loan and to say the developer is not sure what he is going to do or not necessarily high-density housing has been included. I do not know if that is true. What is the intention of the property? To say, hey, I have met with people and they are all in favor of it, well where are they today and who are those people? When were those meetings? If delivering sewer is the one benefit of annexing this in, I feel like there should be other benefits. I am for growth in the City, but not like that in this area. That could also mean widening the road. That has impact on the ones who live there. What are the intentions of the developer coming in here? I do not believe the fact that he does not know what he is going to do with it as an answer. I feel like there has to be plans already in place because there is money in place to have purchased it. The lender is going to want to know what are you doing? You would obviously have to have plans for it. If it is high-density and a strip mall, is there better use of that downtown where there are empty buildings. We need a cute Main Street incentivizing people to bring their business there and have people walk on Main Street instead of driving a mile or two to do what? What are the intentions of the multi-use property? What is next? We deliver our comments, but then you just make your own decision and not consider what we say. Councilmember Rohde said if we decide to move forward with annexation it would go to Planning Commission. That is where we need you to come and talk to them and share these exact same concerns. They are the ones who are going to set the ordinances and code for that area. We do not know what is going to happen because that code has not been set yet. It has to be annexed. Residents were encouraged to check the City website for updates and notices.

Bonnie Ellis said I have been to a lot of meetings about this since last April. We are in Freeman Farms subdivision. I have been told many things that keep changing. For instance, I was told three times in those meetings that a problem I had would be taken care of and it would be paid for. In the last meeting we had with the planner, they say no, they probably will not be paying for that. I heard the developer say, a minute ago, that in the last meeting we had we said, no strip malls or businesses down that road and he said that he was only doing housing. I thought he said there was industry going down there. Another concern I have is our homes are 30 feet off of Iowa String and there is no room to widen that road without coming right up to our doorsteps.

Chad Christensen said I live on 9600 North close to 6000 West. On Saturday I saw my fourth accident there in the last year and a half. The density around this area is making it a lot more dangerous. I do not think our roads have the capacity for high-density housing or shopping malls or even too many people. We are all okay with some houses, but I think if we start putting high-density houses, that is the wrong spot for it. I am also a farmer and our drains will be affected when you start digging things up and moving things. The roads are not wide enough. We cannot have that many more people. Unless we want to put a ton of money into that.

Phil Crowther said I appreciate the process and opportunity to express our feelings. I built on my grandfather’s farm over 26 years ago and raised my family there. We have been on septic for 26 years. My grandparents have been on septic their entire lives. We have not had any trouble with the septic. Like has been mentioned, there is a lot of tile drains that flow through that 200 acres. It has been a wonderful place to raise a family and livestock. A while ago we had similar issues like this with the power line coming through. That took away some of the view of the beautiful mountains and what I really am concerned about, especially for the Wood’s business, is taking away that beautiful view of the mountains they have for people’s special day for weddings. That is really a treasure in our community to have that there. People come from all over because the views are so pretty. I am concerned about having something similar to what is behind IFA and creating an eyesore of what that beautiful farm country is out there.

Jamie Poppleton said I have been here for four years talking about things going on in the community. There is not a one-click method. People are interested. They want to come, be heard, and follow the processes. It is difficult to go to Tremonton’s website, click on the department you need to go on and find the right packet. If this is such an important community decision where people have taken their time out, please put it on a big block right on the page when the meetings are, when they can attend, and what the next step is. For the last few years, we have annexed and sprawled and I think it is to the point where people cannot find what they need to attend. I think the people would greatly appreciate that so we have enough notice, not just three days, when the next meeting is going to take place concerning all of these large annexations.

Lacie Barfuss said I live on Iowa String and say ditto to pretty much every single thing that has been said. I think I can speak for almost everyone sitting behind me as well. Traffic is already so busy on Iowa String. I have children and have watched them get on the bus while semis blow right past the red light as they were stopped. If you start turning this into a commercial area with high-density housing, while people are trying to get to work and semis coming in, I think that is going to create a huge issue. Widening the road is not necessarily an option.

Russell Thornley said I live off of Iowa String and have a few concerns. We all want a small-town feel, but we complain about our school conditions, the cost of housing, having to leave Tremonton to find food and entertainment, and even public services keeping up. The biggest concern is the community wants assurances that big growth happens in a balanced way, that services are always keeping up with it and not just a hasty, build as fast as you can, because that is all I hear from everyone. We have children and need places for them to live and grow and work. There needs to be a balanced approach. My biggest concern is the housing market having a part of this so that we are being careful of the boom bust cycle. I worry that if growth happens, especially high-density housing, what happens if there is a bust? If we want high-density housing and commercial, why are we not considering east to west first? It makes more sense than to funnel everything down on 1000 West, especially without a freeway off-ramp. Is this the best way to do it and can we do it in a balanced way that brings in housing for our children and grandchildren, but does not make us look like Detroit overnight.

Chad Bjorn said I agree with everything that has been said here, especially that the schools are too big. This gentleman said he had talked to all the neighbors and everybody in that area was all in favor for it. Well, I am in that area and I am not in favor for it, and everybody else I have heard talk here does not seem to be in favor of it.

Michael Allen said I live in the Freeman Farms, we purchased the land and built four years ago. Last April, Freeman Farms was notified about meetings in regards to the annexation. The annexation we originally met with was much smaller than what people are perceiving here in this room. We had a series of meetings every other month. It was interesting because the first meetings there were five of us showing an interest. The second meeting there was more. I am not 100% sold on the annexation myself. I spent thousands of dollars beautifying my yard that will have to be torn up to hook into a sewer. The developer said he would put it all back together and pay for the impact fees. He also said there would be no commercial zoning. Councilmember Vance said in looking at the application for annexation. I do not know where we have been talking about multi-housing and retail.

Ms. Wood said the City Planner and Manager told me he envisions what is in front of IFA, strip malls and apartments. They told me it is a possibility of office buildings and more moderate to high-density housing. I also am in the annexation and have never received a letter about any meetings.

Meta Croney said I am an old timer in the area. We were definitely in the Country and there is not much commercial out there. The cement plant has been there for a long time. There is my daughter’s barn, which is a gathering place not a commercial 24-hour business. A block south the Mennonites have a butcher shop. That is the only thing I know of that is out there. The biggest concern I have is when La-Z-Boy came into the valley, they wanted that land. I was in this meeting and the concern was there was not adequate pumping to do sewer and water. They would not be able to do any development south of there until a pump station was put in south of the freeway. Our business on West Main Street was heavily flooded and people helped us pump it across the road and it went straight south and a lot of these farms were devastated by the water that was pumped from Tremonton south. I do not understand why we are even talking about building more if you think sewer is a problem. There is no pumping station south of the freeway. It seems like we are putting the cart before the horse by allowing further development there until a pumping station and those issues are taken care of. In that meeting, the pump station was supposed to be done first.

The Council thanked them for their comments and attending to voice their concerns. Mayor Holmgren closed the Public Hearing at 8:39 p.m.

11. New Council Business:

a. Discussion and possible action on accepting the Weston Bennett Annexation Petition for further consideration under Utah State Annexation Law. The Annexation Petition consists of 11.48 acres of real property located along 9600 N between 7180 West and 7280 West

Planner Seedall said this annexation is west. They are looking at doing a couple houses and since they exceeded the County’s guidance on the annexation code they had to come through the Council. Due to the small nature and builds I would recommend denying this annexation. It is small in scale and impact. Even with improvements this would be below the anticipated lift station.

Motion by Councilmember Rohde to deny this petition for annexation. Motion seconded by Councilmember Lewis. Vote: Councilmember Estep – yes, Councilmember Lewis – yes, Councilmember Rohde – yes, Councilmember Vance – yes, Councilmember Westergard – yes. Motion approved.

b. Discussion and possible action on adopting Ordinance No. 25-07 annexing 211.34 acres of real property, referred to as the LB Land Holdings Annexation, into Tremonton City’s incorporated limits. The 211.34 acres of real property is located in Box Elder County along 6800 West from 10200 North to 9600 North

Manager Cobabe said it is important to point out that this property is zoned per the County’s ordinances. Development can take place on this property through the County. There is nothing guaranteeing that these properties will remain farms forever. It is a part of the nature of development and land ownership. People have property rights and may exercise those according to the laws that are in place. The annexation in front of us allows the City to have jurisdiction over what goes on both in regard to zoning as well as drainage and infrastructure. If it is annexed into the City, then the City takes jurisdiction. The developer and property owners want to annex into the City to be subject to those jurisdictions and requirements, understanding there are some negotiations that need to take place. Those all take place through a development agreement, which will require an additional public hearing and resolution. All of these questions about zoning, traffic, sewer and drainage, would then be regulated by the City. If we have an interest in that, then we ought to think about considering annexation. If we think it is better left in the County for development, like these 11 acres that we just discussed and denied, then we ought to think about that as well. That is the question before us, not what the zoning is or other concerns. Those are valid concerns, but now is not the time that we necessarily are prepared to address those. Councilmember Rohde said what we are discussing tonight is if we want to move forward with the annexation and bringing this to the Planning Commission to discuss zoning and future uses of that property. Manager Cobabe said if concerns cannot be addressed by the developer in an appropriate way, then the answer is no, you may not develop to whatever level that causes the concern. The developer has to find a way to either make that happen or reduce the impact. Mayor Holmgren said a lot of these things could be addressed through the development agreement and zoning process. Councilmember Vance said we need to understand that the developer owns the land and is going to go to the County and proceed with the development. This way, we can control and zone it to try to do what everybody wants. I think it is safer that we consider annexing it so we can control the sewer and all that needs to be looked at. Ms. Wood said I think a lot of us are not opposed to the annexation, it is what happens on the land. Councilmember Rohde said I would feel the same way you do. Please come to the Planning Commission and let them know your feelings. Mayor Holmgren said I want to emphasize this is only the annexation that gives the City a little more control over what can happen on this property. The zoning and development agreement are all yet to come. Manager Cobabe said the development agreement actually holds the contractual obligation that trumps any other laws that may be applicable to the property. We need to be very careful about how we do that and make sure that everything we need and want to be addressed on the property is addressed in that agreement. It gives us a lot of leverage and a lot of power, but it also gives the developer a lot of leverage and power as well. It is a negotiated thing and is subject to review.

Motion by Councilmember Lewis to adopt the annexation. Motion seconded by Councilmember Westergard. Roll Call Vote: Councilmember Estep – yes, Councilmember Lewis – yes, Councilmember Rohde – yes, Councilmember Vance – yes, Councilmember Westergard – yes. Motion approved.

c. Discussion and possible action on adopting Resolution No. 25-15 approving Brodie Calder Pre-Annexation agreement for parcel number 05-199-0001

Planner Seedall said as part of the discussions I had with those who attended the meetings through the last year, we came up with some of the requirements in this pre-annexation agreement to start that contractual obligation between the developer and City for what is going to be done. We have worked with the residents who attended and put this agreement together. These will be further outlined in the development agreement. One talks about the public utilities connecting them to where they have availability. Two is looping the pressurized systems. Three is agreeing to put in a lift station as approved by the City engineer. Four will be dedicating frontage along roads to meet the right-of-way requirements with the Transportation Master Plan. Five, since 10000 North is a smaller road, the developer is going to have about half of the frontage. We wanted to make an agreement where he will do all of the roadway improvements along that (curb, gutter and sidewalk). The rest of that frontage is already owned. That will be vetted out in the development agreement. We will work with the cement plant and existing owners to make sure we have proper driveway approaches. The rest of that is owned by private companies. We will work with the developer to get that full roadway section built instead of two halves and detached halves as well. Next was to coordinate with the existing residents within the annexation boundary for their utility connections as they come through. That will be the hookups with City water (culinary and secondary) and sewer. He will work with the residents on the impact of those changes of being part of the annexation. Eight we put in the caveat that it has to be approved by the Council, but he was requesting RM-8 zoning, which permits multi-family residential at eight units an acre. That has to be approved by the Council through the zoning process. That would be four duplexes per acre.

Motion by Councilmember Vance to adopt the resolution if we take out number eight at this point, because there are too many questions. Motion seconded by Councilmember Lewis. Roll Call Vote: Councilmember Estep – yes, Councilmember Lewis – yes, Councilmember Rohde – yes, Councilmember Vance – yes, Councilmember Westergard – yes. Motion approved.

d. Discussion and possible action on adopting Resolution No. 25-16 amending Tremonton City’s Articles of Incorporation to include 211.34 acres of real property referred to as the LB Land Holdings Annexation, into Tremonton City’s incorporated limits. The 211.34 acres of real property is located in Box Elder County along 6800 West from 10200 North to 9600 North

Mayor Holmgren said this just changes the City’s articles of incorporation to include this property.

Motion by Councilmember Estep to adopt the resolution. Motion seconded by Councilmember Westergard. Roll Call Vote: Councilmember Estep – yes, Councilmember Lewis – yes, Councilmember Rohde – yes, Councilmember Vance – yes, Councilmember Westergard – yes. Motion approved.

e. Discussion and possible action on adopting Resolution No. 25-17 awarding a bid for the Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) Project

This item was tabled until the next Council meeting.

12. Consent Agenda

a. Adoption of March Warrant Register
b. Adoption of March Financial Statements

Motion by Councilmember Lewis to approve the Consent Agenda. Motion seconded by Councilmember Estep. Roll Call Vote: Councilmember Estep – yes, Councilmember Lewis – yes, Councilmember Rohde – yes, Councilmember Vance – yes, Councilmember Westergard – yes. Motion approved.

13. Calendar Items and Previous Assignment

a. Review of calendar

Mayor Holmgren said Senator Mike Lee’s staff will be at the city offices on tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. The City clean-up is on May 2-3, at Public Works and people need to provide proof of residency. Our next Council meeting is on May 6. The Senior Center Mother’s Day Tea will be on May 8-9. May 12 the Senior Center field trip is to a gardening center. The Farmers Market series will be on the second and fourth Friday at Schumann Park from 4-8 p.m. Planner Seedall said the Utah Chapter of the American Planning Association is having their spring conference in Logan May 7-9.

b. Unfinished Business/Action Items: None.

14. Reports & Comments:

a. City Administration Reports and Comments
b. Development Review Committee Report and Comments
c. City Department Head Reports and Comments

Director LeFevre said Tremonton won the Best of State award for public art again. We won from 2016 to 2019, then again from 2021 to 2025. Our youth volleyball program is up and running. We have 70 participants. Our youth soccer program is over 650 people as well. Adult soccer is up and running again. We have six teams. We also had our youth softball tournament over the weekend. We had 22 teams come from all across the state. There is a formula of how to recognize how much impact these events have. We hosted 22 teams with 12 players and two coaches. So, you have 14 people from each team or 308 participants on our fields. They also had spectators, averaging 3.1 spectators. 308 times 3.1 a person so 955 people were brought to town with this tournament. Every person spends $25 on food per day and that is estimated at $37,750 in food sales over the two days. A one-night stay in a hotel is $117 so we brought in $11,700 in hotel stays as well. Plus, the $12,000 we earn for hosting the tournament. We brought in close to $75,000 into the community for hosting these tournaments. We host two of these youth tournaments a year and one adult tournament in the spring. We are hoping that we can continue to host more of those.

Director Mackley said we have a couple new employees, one in the water department and one in the streets department. I am excited to be looking for an assistant. I have proposed my vision for how I see the Public Works being organized and that is with an assistant that is primarily a project manager. We have a lot of capital projects that need close attention paid to. Our engineer and I are not able to provide that. I would remain over employees and facilities, and state regulations, but we need somebody who can oversee growth, the infrastructure, and capital projects. We have some really good candidates. We are also looking at getting a part-time office assistant for four days a week. We are still working out the details. We have some good projects in the works. We opened bids today on the ASR project, which is where we are going to inject the spring water over the wintertime up into the Cedar Ridge and into that aquifer up there. It is a pilot program, so it is experimental. We are also finishing up the pump line project. It will be really nice to have a large 14-inch diameter pipeline replacing those. We have specked out some equipment for our wastewater treatment plant that will go into the design and give us more control over what we end up with.

Co-Interim Fire Chief McBride said Fire Chief Jarrow has started. Things are going well. He is getting a fill for the department and where things are at and where we want to go in the future. We have a lot of officers and department members who are doing a great job at continuing the things they were doing before and offering to help out in any way. He is excited. We are all excited about the future of the department. With the current budget we have there is room for potentially adding step increases for our firefighters. This is something most full-time fire departments have in place. It gives their guys something to look forward to as long as they are reaching their goals and achieving the minimum qualifications for the jobs. It also gives them the opportunity to have loyalty from the City. The longer you stay the more you are going to make. We will look at putting that on the agenda for the next meeting. In preparing for the future, we have built a fifth bedroom downstairs. That is complete. This also works in the current budget.

Planner Seedall said we have gained a lot of attention in the past few months on the hillside development. We have had four different developers meet with the City for the development approval process. I have been working with our engineer to modify our hillside development standards. We are looking at how to master plan the utilities on the hillside.

d. Council Reports and Comments

Councilmember Estep said I hope residents do not think we are just listening in one ear and out the other. We are listening and the choices we have to make are not easy. We will do what we feel is best. It is not putting a penny in anybody’s pocket. We really feel like what we are doing for the City today is going to improve it for our kids and grandkids.

Councilmember Rohde said we had a town hall on Thursday that went extremely well. We went through the second group of goals. We are going to meet again on May 29, at 7 p.m. to go over to the third set of goals. I would like to set up a live feed so people can watch, but we will not take any responses. We will have to work through mic issues, too.

Councilmember Vance said I am glad to see everybody show up and I cannot wait to hear why we do not charge for electric chargers too. Manager Cobabe said we will get an answer to you on that.

Councilmember Westergard said I do not think anybody wants strip malls out there. I know I am not voting for that.

Councilmember Lewis said as we are looking at development in regards to industry for economic development, what types of businesses we want, we need feedback. We are listening as a Council. We have public comments in every meeting and would love to hear your comments.

Mayor Holmgren said you may have notices that Highway 102 is now the Borgstrom Brothers Memorial Highway. That starts in Deweyville and goes through Main Street up to Thatcher through Penrose. One sign is near the Crossroads and the other is at the end of Highway 102 in Penrose. Senator Scott Sandall is going to try to get two more signs for Deweyville and Thatcher.

15. CLOSED MEETING: No Closed Meeting held at this time.

16. Adjournment.

Motion by Councilmember Rohde to adjourn the meeting. Motion seconded by Councilmember Estep. Vote: Councilmember Estep – yes, Councilmember Lewis – yes, Councilmember Rohde – yes, Councilmember Vance – yes, Councilmember Westergard – yes. Motion approved.

The meeting adjourned at 9:37 p.m.

The undersigned duly acting and appointed Recorder for Tremonton City Corporation hereby certifies that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of the minutes for the City Council Meeting held on the above referenced date. Minutes were prepared by Jessica Tanner.

Dated this 6th day of May, 2025.

Cynthia Nelson, City Recorder

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