TREMONTON CITY CORPORATION
CITY COUNCIL MEETING

OCTOBER 17, 2017

Members Present:
Diana Doutre
Lyle Holmgren
Jeff Reese
Bret Rohde
Lyle Vance
Roger Fridal, Mayor
Shawn Warnke, City Manager
Linsey Nessen, City Recorder

CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP

Mayor Fridal called the October 17, 2017 City Council Workshop to order at 6:00 p.m. The meeting was held in the City Council Meeting Room at 102 South Tremont Street, Tremonton, Utah. Those in attendance were Mayor Fridal, Councilmembers Doutre, Holmgren, Reese, Rohde, and Vance, City Manager Warnke, and City Recorder Nessen. The following Department Heads were also present: Fire Chief Steve Batis (6:13 p.m.), Public Works Director Paul Fulgham, Police Chief David Nance (6:01 p.m.), and Treasurer Sharri Oyler (6:01 p.m.).

Mayor Fridal reminded the Council to be courteous during their discussions and not to interrupt one another. He said he has noticed at the last couple of meetings we say things quicker than we should. Let us be patient and courteous—this is a good group and we get along well, but let us be kind and loving, and more courteous to each other.

The following items were discussed out of order.

1. Review of agenda items on the 7:00 p.m. Council Meeting with the following items being discussed in more detail:

Discussion to approve the form of the Lease/Purchase Agreement for a fire truck and defibrillators. Fire Chief Steve Batis said we paid for the chassis and will finance the remainder of the truck when it is delivered at the end of December. At that time we will have the exact amount. He added that a mistake was made. We buy defibrillators for our ambulances usually once a year to keep them upgraded. We thought we were getting a good deal when the salesmen gave us five of them and said we could pay for one every year for five years, but we should have talked to our accountant first. The way our entity is setup we had to claim all five of them at once and instead of making four more years’ worth of payments, our solution was to include that into the price of the truck and clear that debt.

Councilmember Reese confirmed that each defibrillator costs $32,000. Councilmember Rohde said if we have money in our capital, why do we not just bite the bullet and pay for them. It is not judiciary for citizens to pay an interest rate on something like that if we can drop a project and just pay for them. Manager Warnke said the Fire Department has purchased an ambulance, which was paid for out of the Fire Fund, along with the chassis, which was a quarter of a million dollars paid out of the Capital Projects Fund. We do have some cash in the Fire Fund, but it is not in a position that we are recommending paying these off. We looked at that scenario and felt it would be good to have a little bit of operating capital within that fund. This was the best scenario we came up with to finance it with this lower interest rate. Right now we have a 4.5% interest rate, but we are trying to get 2.5%. We are experiencing a high number of ambulance calls and as that fund gets stronger and healthier year after year we could pay it off early to finalize our obligation. Councilmember Rohde asked if they could take money from another fund to pay it off. Councilmember Reese disagreed with that. The other funds should not suffer because of something like that.

Manager Warnke said they are still working on the final terms and suggested tabling this decision. We want to have the discussion, but can come back to you in the near future with the finalized terms. The current pay off for the fire truck is $477,000. If we were to borrow $500,000 we could get the 2.5% interest rate. If we borrow less, the interest rate jumps up to 3.05%. We want to take time to finalize those terms and will bring it to the next meeting.

Councilmember Vance asked if they need the five defibrillators. Chief Batis said we have five ambulances so we have to have five. We buy and rotate them, but with this situation we ended up with them all at once rather than one a year for the next five years. Councilmember Doutre asked if the used defibrillators can be sold. Chief Batis said they can be, but we pay over $30,000 for a new one and only get $3,500 for the old ones so the Fire Department has donated them to surrounding communities instead. Councilmember Reese said we need to table this, but his concern is we are going to have five old defibrillators in five years. We have set this up on a pace and now we are creating a bottleneck by getting five now. It is a progression plan that we are getting away from. Chief Batis said they last 10 years and will try to rotate them through. Our first three ambulances get used a lot, but the other two not as much. Councilmember Vance asked if they have enough money in the budget to cover this cost every other year. Chief Batis said we did budget it and make payments to buy one every year. Councilmember Vance asked if they could create an account in the Fire Fund and put money into it so when five new defibrillators are needed in 10 years then the money is sitting there ready to spend. Manager Warnke said yes, this last fiscal year we created a Capital Improvement and Capital Equipment plan, we just need to add it to that plan. It has its own separate category and fund balance we just need to start it. Councilmember Rohde suggested they take the ones being used and replace one in eight years, one in nine and another in 10 so they can get back to once a year rather than all at once.

2. Discussion of tasks and details surrounding the implementation of a pressurized secondary water system

a. Review and adjustments of the secondary water service areas

Director Fulgham said he addressed some concerns Councilmember Vance had last time with the proposed service areas for secondary water. The suggestion has been to do service areas 1-5, but by expanding the areas, they could cover into the populated areas of 6 and 11 as well as having area 2 expand into area 8 and area 3 into area 7. He said we could do that really easy, it is just a matter of piping and some valves. As other areas expand and get their own stand alone system, all we will have to do is shut down a valve. When you get to that balancing point where they are using more volume and pressure than what the system allows, then we should be up and running in the other areas. If we opt to build them in different stages, we would pick up everything. The only thing we cannot pick up is everything east of the Malad River—that has to be built once we obtain easements. Councilmember Reese confirmed that would be for service areas 9, 10 and 12.

Councilmember Vance asked if this changed the cost immensely. Director Fulgham said it will change the cost, but not immensely, it is just a piping issue. We will be taking the pumping stations out of the other areas until they need to be placed in there so it is just piping, which will be reused. The valves will not be reused, but in situations they could come in handy to keep people in water if we ever have the system go down. We could still feed in to them on a limited basis while pumps get replaced.

Councilmember Vance asked if they knew how many people would not get hooked up in this scenario. Director Fulgham said about 100 to 150 homes. Councilmember Rohde confirmed the plan covers the whole city except for east of the Malad River and asked how much more it would cost to add that area. Director Fulgham said they have already identified the cost of stations 9 and 10, but the biggest part of that is the acquisition of the easement to run the line from the canal to those areas. Pump stations would be located at the canal with a line. There would be two different easements, one north of Main Street and another south of it so they would not have to cross Main Street. We would not gain anything by doing that. Councilmember Holmgren asked if the locations of the pumps were set in stone. Director Fulgham said that is flexible as they can be installed anywhere the City can get the easement.

Councilmember Vance thanked Director Fulgham for his efforts and said it is important for them to be able to cover as many people as possible up front. He then brought up an idea that Councilmember Holmgren had presented previously and asked what the volume of water is the City is dumping into the Malad River. He said he read something about municipals trading water and asked if the City could pick up water on the frontend of the Malad River to service the east side of the City. Director Fulgham said it is something we can look at if someone has canal shares we could swap. However, he explained that there is a perception of where the water is coming from that the City would be trading. If it is going straight to alfalfa there is not a perception, but if it is going to a food crop then that is always the perception you get into. Councilmember Holmgren said there is probably some validity to that perception, however, the canal itself has some high levels of bacteria. They would just have to work with the Canal Company. Councilmember Vance said he doesn’t know why we have to worry about trading shares if we are just trading water. Director Fulgham explained that as long as the Canal Company is good without having a share for what they trade, they could. Councilmember Holmgren explained this would be a concern for some producers downstream, especially those who raise onions, because they have high standards to meet in terms of qualifications to grow onions.

Director Fulgham said the beauty of it is, it is all metered—what we take out and what we put back into the Malad River right now. So it is easy to show what we put in and convert to what we take out. If we do that we might have to disinfect the water with chlorine, which we do not currently do because to put it in the Malad River we have to take the chlorine out. Instead we use UV lights to disinfect. However, to reuse it on a food crop or lawn and garden, the State requires you to put chlorine in it and have a compact time to further neutralize any capacity that might be left in it.

Mayor Fridal asked if the City has any obligation to dump water into the Malad River. Director Fulgham said we used to but the State said that is the City’s water so we are not required to. About 15 years ago, Central Valley Wastewater Treatment Facility started using treatment water on their golf courses. The State was upset and they went to court, but the ruling was that the water belongs to the entity that puts it into the river until it is reaped. You can reuse it as many times as you want until it hits the river—once it hits the river it belongs to the State. If we can pull it out previous, we can reuse it until it is used up. Councilmember Rohde imagined it costs a lot of money to pump it back up. Director Fulgham said they would have to have a lot of pipe and it would be easier to grab it downstream or pump a short distance to the canal system at the south end of town.

Councilmember Rohde asked how many shares the Treatment Plant is pumping out. Director Fulgham said it is about 1.5 million to 1.9 million gallons a day and that he would convert shares to gallons and get that answer to the Council. Councilmember Rohde also wanted to know how much it would cost to move forward with secondary water in the additional areas. Councilmember Vance asked if the City could pump right from the Malad River into the secondary system. Mayor Fridal said the water would kill the ground. Councilmember Holmgren explained that the Malad River has six times the salts and minerals as the Bear River.

Councilmember Holmgren asked how many water shares the City has now, which is 137. However, all but 48 are used, which are put in the lease pool. The largest quantity of shares is used on the golf course and the secondary system at Jeanie Stevens Park. Councilmember Holmgren said if secondary was installed in zones 1 through 5, there would be about 326 acres of land with houses on it. Additional shares will come with all the new development as the City gains them through the exaction process. If we can work with the Canal Company and leverage that a bit, it is achievable to get at least through zones 1 through 5.

b. Review of irrigation equipment that work with pressurized secondary water

Mayor Fridal asked about irrigation equipment with secondary water. Director Fulgham said he put together an estimate and what it will take for homeowners if they were to completely change out their sprinkler heads, but said they would most likely not do that all at once. He strongly recommended homeowners have an exterior filter on that system. The zone valves will continue to work fine, but the heads will slowly wear out if they are using rotary heads. Impact heads work the best—the rain bird impact heads or the ones that rotate around also work pretty well because they do not have gears that wear out like the rotary heads.

Mayor Fridal asked how the $20 and $250 filters compare. Director Fulgham said the larger ones are two to three inches and work like a big filter. When the pressure is too high and the filter plugs up it rotates and cleans the filter, which then needs to be dumped by the owner. The other, less expensive filters have to be flushed out weekly. The Council asked Councilmember Holmgren about his filter system for his crops, but he said that is a whole different system. It is a sand media filter that cleans it to the point that there is no grit. Director Fulgham said that has to be done with drip irrigation. Councilmember Reese asked how expensive it is. Councilmember Holmgren said it is not cheap, but is not sure how it compares to other systems. Mayor Fridal asked if they would have one at each lot, but Councilmember Holmgren said it would not be cost effective and something would have to be done at the point of the source. Director Fulgham said connections will be run to the property line. Most sprinklers are coming right off the service line downstream of the meter so homeowners would disconnect that and hook into the secondary line, which is a shallower connection—instead of three feet it is one foot underground. They will be able to install the filter in the ground or above it.

c. Update on the water share exaction ordinance
d. Review of the Implementation of Pressurized Secondary Water System plan/chart
e. Other matters pertaining to the creation of policy and completion of tasks associated with the implementation of pressurized secondary water system

Items 2. c. d. and e. were discussed together

Manager Warnke said after some real thoughtful consideration by the Planning Commission, there was a consensus and a recommendation made that all the language that was proposed in the draft was okay, but suggested they change it to one share per irrigateable acre. Through the subdivision process we will have to come up with a general ratio of what that means. The footprints will be different so we might have to come up with some averages and apply that to the extraction process. We are also going to be having a conversation with the Canal Company Board on October 25. We will talk to them about our plans and the exaction ratio of one share per one acre of irrigateable land. Councilmember Holmgren asked what they are willing to do and what that ratio would be. Manager Warnke said to get the conversation going we will tell them what we are planning our system upon and see what their response is. We think that is within the bounds of what the share would allow or provide. Director Fulgham said in 2013 the Canal Company redid some of their bylaws and broke out different uses. There is one that addresses lawn and garden, as well as one that addresses municipal uses, which he said they will likely fall under and break it out as one share per one irrigateable acre. The Canal Company’s manager said before there will be anymore reduction than that, the City will have to have hard data and that is our goal over the next one to two irrigating seasons. We can show them what we take out of the canal and how much is used per irrigated acre to see if we can work the reduction from there.

Councilmember Rohde asked if that data could be collected from the meters on the current secondary system. Director Fulgham said the problem is that those meters have not been read in so many years. They were put in and read the first year but nobody wanted the data so they were just kind of left there. Director Fulgham said he is going to replace those meters with a magnetic meter, which has no moving parts in it. That way we do not worry about the silt wearing out the meter and we will have hard data that can quantify what we use per season.

Councilmember Rohde asked where the City goes from here. As we do data collection, figure out the cost, and come up with this exaction ratio, we also have to make a decision that we are going to move forward or not. We need to get the public involved as much as possible to help make that decision and asked how it could be presented to the public. Councilmember Vance said Engineer Breinholt has those numbers in the study. Director Fulgham said there are two numbers in the study, one is .38 per irrigated acre and .62. The .38 is the basic amount it takes to irrigate, but the .62 is peak day demand. Everything we design is based on that peak day. All impact fees are based on peak day and that is the key number we have to focus on until we can prove different. We are going to the Canal Company knowing that their rules say one share per irrigated acre and we are going to ask them for the reduction, but we do not know if we can get that without being able to verify it with hard data.

Mayor Fridal asked how are we going to apply this and make it happen and how we get the public involved. Manager Warnke said Councilmember Rohde had a great idea, which was to start mapping this out and putting together a plan, which took the form of a chart. We have laid out the steps and this will be revised as we continue through the process, but it is a good start to identify the steps and tasks we need to complete. It also shows the responsibilities. There are some policy decisions that are Mayor and City Council. There is a category for water shares, which has been a big issue. There is also a category for the engineering, which includes the City Engineer and Public Works Director. There is bonding and financing needs for the Finance Director and construction, which would be the Public Works Director, as well as miscellaneous items. Manager Warnke said the Council knows the critical nature where we are with water, but reminded the Council that the City Engineer needs to certify we have enough sources to supply water to our residents every January and because of that, we are moving forward with engineering a portion of phases 1 and 2. We have appropriated the funds and we are moving forward with that. A section under miscellaneous talks about education and public outreach, but under this scenario it is anticipated that the Council will make that decision. There will be a time and a process whereby we need to reach out to the public and educate them on the changes and the cost. Mayor Fridal asked if they would need to have a public meeting. Manager Warnke said it depends on the type of bond and if the City were to proceed with a general obligation bond, which is a revenue source of property tax and would require a vote of the people. He said this project is anticipated and setup to be an enterprise operation and at this point, coupled with the water fund, would be a revenue bond and would not require the vote of the people but that is the Council’s decision.

Councilmember Reese said this information is all really good, but the City will not be able to sell it until homeowners are shown them how expensive it is going to be if we stay with culinary water. We have to do one or the other so we have to have a plan that asks residents what they want, culinary or secondary, and this is the cost of both. Director Fulgham said we have those numbers and suggested inviting citizens to an open house. Mayor Fridal said before we do that we have to have the plan and then we will present to the public and explain what we are doing. We do not have to go to them to ask permission, but we do have to explain and convince them. Councilmember Reese said he would like them to know both sides. Councilmember Rohde said if we are going to partner with the community, they need to be able to come in to talk and learn. Some open houses would be a really good thing to do.

Councilmember Doutre said we have been talking about areas 1 through 5 and clarified the City needs 568 water shares for those areas. Director Fulgham said that amount of shares is for the whole build out, not to get started. We figure we need about 300 shares to start. To do everything but areas 9, 10 and 12, they will need to have 326 shares. Councilmember Holmgren said the usage for areas 1 through 5 would be about 1.86 million gallons a day and if you figure that into CFS that would be about 2.83 CFS, which is what we are putting down through the Treatment Plant. If we figure out a way to negotiate that with the Canal Company and clean that water up to the point where they are comfortable with it, it could be a significant addition to the shares we currently have.

Director Fulgham suggested the Council set a projection date on when they want to do an open house so we can start getting the information ready to present to the public. Councilmember Vance asked if they would be able to tell citizens what their bill is going to be on a monthly basis. Director Fulgham said we need to know what is being financed before, but we could come up with some worse case scenario financing. Manager Warnke said they probably could, but might over estimate. Councilmember Doutre said she would like to be able to tell citizens what their cost would be to hook up, as well as the monthly cost. Councilmember Holmgren said we need to do the comparison of culinary versus secondary water, but also that we are going to run into a wall in terms of supply. Unless we go with the Conservancy District, we have a limit as to how far we can go with culinary water. Mayor Fridal suggested setting the open houses a couple months away that way we have plenty of time to get things in order and make sure we have a good presentation. Councilmember Rohde agreed and wants to make sure we have some hard facts, not a ballpark estimate. We need to decide as a Council if that is the direction we are going. If it is, then it is time to pull them in, but we are still a ways away from having the data to make that decision. We ought to build out the whole thing all at once and bond the whole project. Councilmember Doutre asked if we have enough shares. Councilmember Rohde said that is part of what we will have to answer. Councilmember Vance said we can get the shares if we can make our minds up on what we want to do. Director Fulgham reminded the Council that they do not have to have all the shares upfront to build it out. We will not be serving all the areas, they will slowly come on as developers build.

Councilmember Vance said if we make a decision on what Director Fulgham presented today and say let’s jump on that, then the next step would be to figure out how many shares we need to get. It is the timeline we have been asking for. We have to make this decision before City staff can move on with the next step. So if we figure out how many shares we need, we can start answering how we are going to get the shares or if we can get them. Manager Warnke agreed, and stated we need to take some time to look at the plan and see if we are missing steps and maybe reprioritize the order of them. We do need to make some decisions—tentative or preliminary policy decisions so we know what we are presenting and can start preparing a scenario to present to the public. Councilmember Vance said every time we come up with an idea it means hours of time for City staff to refigure this. In a perfect situation, it would be cool to know what the cost is going to be for setup and what the cost would be to cover everybody, including the new pump houses. Then we could figure out what the cost is going to be and we could make a decision. Director Fulgham said all those numbers are in the study. Councilmember Vance asked what it is going to cost citizens per month. Director Fulgham said that is the part we do not know. It all depends on how much we are going to build and how we choose to fund it. Councilmember Vance asked how much time it would take to figure out both of these scenarios. Manager Warnke said Finance Director Roberts put together different scenarios in his spreadsheet. Councilmember Vance said the zones have been switched around and it has changed the scenario. Director Fulgham said if we look at funding everything as one whole project, we have those costs because that would leave every zone the way it is. For the other scenario, we would have to back out the pipe, but that is easy to do. Councilmember Vance asked if they could provide that answer by the next meeting so they could make a decision to either go with the scenario that was presented tonight minus the 150 homes or the second scenario, which would be to build two more pump houses and figure out how to pipe it across the land. Councilmember Rohde asked if they would be able to put out a dollar figure of how much it would cost per resident for monthly rates. Manager Warnke said yes, but everything will be a range at this point since there are a lot of unknown factors.

Director Fulgham said they would present this information at the work session of the next Council meeting. We have the data it is just pulling and calculating the desired numbers. They could also show what the current secondary customers are paying in their normal monthly utility bill versus someone who is using culinary water so they can get an idea as to how this rate could impact people financially. Councilmember Rohde hoped by the time the two are combined, it is going to balance out and be in the favor of the citizen and that would be an easy sell. Manager Warnke agreed, the residents need to know what the financial impact is, but they also need to know what the environmental and development impacts will be if we do not move forward with a reasonable solution.

3. Calendar Items and Previous Assignment

a. Review of calendar
b. Review of past assignments

4. CLOSED SESSIONS: No closed session was 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

The meeting adjourned at 6:59 p.m. by consensus of the Council.

CITY COUNCIL MEETING

Mayor Fridal called the October 17, 2017 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 Fridal, Councilmembers Doutre, Holmgren, Reese, Rohde, and Vance, City Manager Warnke, and City Recorder Nessen. The following Department Heads were also present: Fire Chief Steve Batis, Public Works Director Paul Fulgham, Police Chief David Nance, and Treasurer Sharri Oyler.

1. Opening Ceremony:

Mayor Fridal informed the audience that he had received no written or oral request to participate in the Opening Ceremony. He asked anyone who may be offended by listening to a prayer to step out into the lobby for this portion of the meeting. The prayer was offered by Councilmember Holmgren and the Pledge of Allegiance was led by Scout Peter Jensen.

2. Introduction of guests:

Mayor Fridal welcomed those in attendance including the Youth City Council and several scouts.

3. Approval of Agenda:

Treasurer Oyler asked if they could move the Employee Years of Service Award before public comment so the employees could get back to the Library. The agenda was accepted with that change.

Motion by Councilmember Rohde to approve the agenda of October 17, 2017. Motion seconded by Councilmember Doutre. Vote: Councilmember Doutre – aye, Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

4. Approval of minutes

a. September 26, 2017

Motion by Councilmember Vance to approve the minutes of September 26, 2017. Motion seconded by Councilmember Reese. Vote: Councilmember Doutre – aye, Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

b. October 3, 2017

Motion by Councilmember Reese to approve the minutes of October 3, 2017. Motion seconded by Councilmember Holmgren. Vote: Councilmember Doutre – aye, Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

5. Public comments: This is an opportunity to address the City Council regarding your concerns or ideas. Please limit your comments to three minutes.

a. Steve Jensen- Pressurized secondary water system

I am not sure where you are on this, but what I am concerned with is the requirement of secondary water for property that is going to be developed as residential. I am asking for more consideration and maybe an even bigger board to consider some of it. I visited the manager of the Canal Company, who seems to be hesitant to say things. One of the requirements quoted from the City is that it requires one share per acre and I questioned him on that. We in this valley have to be thankful for our forbearers who put in for the water. It runs through Cache Valley and they cannot touch it. I am told there is no official price on them, but those shares were $5,000 a piece and they will do nothing but go up. They appreciate much faster than the land. He told the Council he is a property owner and his acres will eventually be developed. This one share per one acre, do you know how big the stream is? I have 19.69 acres and that is about 12 hours and 45 minutes of water that I can run through 14 five-inch tubes. If you take the footprint of the City and require one per acre and there are 200 acres, is the dream to have 200 shares? I do not think you need anywhere close to that. The requirement should be considered by zoning and maybe even through agreements for that development. How much of the footprint will be watered. He also wondered what type of landscape the City intends to have throughout the City and wondered if they would encourage conservation or if they would end up taking his water and use it somewhere else. I was on the Planning Commission 20 years ago and this was being taught, but it never went anywhere because both Stan Stokes and I were landowners, who dragged our feet. They looked into it and it was not feasible so it was dropped and now all a sudden I hear about it. My big concern is am I being required to help furnish it for the old parts of Tremonton? For my ground we probably would not have the money to develop it. You are in the area of $10,000 to $15,000 an acre and the government is going to take out $5,000 of my water. I feel like this is an unfair taxation to take one on one. I do not even like the idea of being told to take any, but if you consider what weight we are going to put on the City that is wonderful and be truthful on it. He wondered if they could having zoning requirements that allow people only so much lawn unless they want to pay more. He also said he would like to be on a committee to help consider these things.

b. Val Stokes- Impact fees and project improvements which may include the construction of a sewer collection line.

Mr. Val Stokes was not in attendance.

6. Employee Years of Service Award

a. Ashlea Cunningham, Assistant Librarian – 5 years
b. Debby Carter, Assistant Librarian – 5 years

Mayor Fridal said we appreciate your service at the Library and then presented them with their award. They said the Library is an awesome place with activities—it is not just for books anymore.

7. Youth City Council Oath of Office

Recorder Nessen led the Youth City Council in the Oath of Office.

8. Council Business:

a. Discussion and consideration of the approving the July Financial Statements

Motion by Councilmember Reese to approve the July Financial Statements. Motion seconded by Councilmember Vance. Vote: Councilmember Doutre – aye, Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

b. Discussion and consideration of the approving the August Financial Statements

Motion by Councilmember Holmgren to approve the August Financial Statements. Motion seconded by Councilmember Rohde. Vote: Councilmember Doutre – aye, Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

c. Discussion and consideration of approving the September Warrant Register

Motion by Councilmember Doutre to approve the September Warrant Register. Motion seconded by Councilmember Reese. Vote: Councilmember Doutre – aye, Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

d. Discussion and consideration of adopting Resolution No. 17-51 approving the form of the Lease/Purchase Agreement for a fire truck and defibrillators with ZB, N.A., Salt Lake City, Utah and authorizing and delivery thereof

Manager Warnke said he wanted to present this information and let the Council know where we are at, but we will come back with the additional terms. Let me know if you have something you want to provide by way of comments for the next iteration, otherwise we will proceed. Councilmember Rohde said he would like to see if they could pay if off early and what their options would be.

Motion by Councilmember Rohde to table the resolution. Motion seconded by Councilmember Vance. Vote: Councilmember Doutre – aye, Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

e. Discussion, if necessary, of any agenda item listed on the 6:00 p.m. City Council Workshop

Manager Warnke said they discussed the idea of putting more detail into their Capital Improvement Plan and Equipment Schedule for replacements, which they will do. Councilmember Vance asked if the Fire Department can afford to pay $32,000 every two years or every year for defibrillators. Manager Warnke said it was setup to pay for one every year, which came out of fire operations. Councilmember Vance asked if they intend to start putting money into a Capital Fund or where that $32,000 each year would go. Manager Warnke said that can be done—it is a special revenue fund we leave on the balance sheet. If the Council wants to make reservations on the fund balance that is shown on the sheet we can assign it. Councilmember Vance confirmed they are leaving it where it was in the past and said he feels better keeping it there and building that money up so in 10 years they can pay for it. Councilmember Reese agreed. Years ago the Fire Department split off to see if they could stay in the black or red and they have been good to do that.

In reviewing the calendar, Manager Warnke said there are a few dates to keep in mind. Wednesday October 25, from 3:30-5:30 p.m. there will be an open house for Comfort Research, which occupies some of the old La-Z-Boy building. They will meet the company and take a tour. Also, Utah Local Governments Trust, the City’s insurance provider, has great training opportunities that City staff have taken advantage of in the past for leadership, safety operations, how to reduce liability and risk, and keep a safe environment for citizens and employees. There is another training coming up and Department Heads will carpool to Salt Lake City and wanted to make the Council aware of the opportunity.

Manager Warnke also reminded the Council about a punch list that was at the end of the October 3 minutes showing tasks and assignments, and how to proceed and follow-up more efficiently.

Discussion on the City’s mission statement was led by Councilmember Rohde, who asked what values we have as a city. Councilmember Vance said lifestyle and infrastructure. Councilmember Rohde suggested safety is important. Councilmember Doutre added recreation, parks and to be fiscally responsible. Manager Warnke said sometimes mission statements have broad overarching terms. A lot of what has been said so far relates to the quality of life, which could encompass anything from lifestyle to parks and open space. Councilmember Holmgren said diversity is important and an open and a flexible government, as well as supporting growth and development. Kevin Christensen from the Bear River Health Department mentioned health and safety. Manager Warnke added that economic opportunities for the residents to be successful and make a living are important. Mayor Fridal said economic development is hugely important and should be one of the pillars. We are doing what is good today, but also what will be good for our kids in the future. We have to take care of the future—we have that responsibility. Councilmember Rohde asked if the green movement was important. Councilmember Vance said that could go under lifestyles. Councilmember Rohde also asked for citizens’ input and said family is important, but could fall under lifestyles. Citizen Diana Harris agreed with recreation being one. She said for the City to have a recreation center would be really important for everybody not only the youth. Citizen Micah Capener said if there is economic development and additional jobs where our kids can work, it will fuel all the other stuff.

Councilmember Reese said a mission statement has to be short. Councilmember Rohde said this is an exercise to identify things and then start prioritizing which ones are most important. Today he wanted to come up with some values. He will send an email to help the Council continue the discussion and get more precise thoughts for the next meeting. Manager Warnke suggested thinking of this as planning—the City Council has the responsibility to look forward. We do engage in a lot of planning efforts and exercises and we try to implement the plans as we go forward. We have several planning initiatives we are working on for transportation and economic development. Councilmember Rohde also asked the youth in the audience what is important to them and they said education. Manager Warnke added one thing that makes a difference in the community is creating a sense of place. The City has started to do this with the murals, but creating a connection between the physical streetscape, the fabric of the community, and an emotion that people have to that. Some of the initiatives we have already taken with public art creates a sense of place and the Main Street improvement does that and that helps to set the community apart. Councilmember Rohde said he hopes the citizens feel an ownership or a partnership with the City and hopes they get involved and are part of the community. Diana Harris added that she would like to see help for businesses to come and more growth to make jobs available. We live in a good place where people go on the freeway to Idaho. If we have a program that supports new businesses and attracts tourists, that creates new jobs and helps with the local economy. Councilmember Rohde said they would need comments and input from the citizens on what is important.

9. Reports & Comments:

a. City Manager Reports and Comments
b. City Department Head Reports and Comments
c. Council Reports and Comments

Councilmember Vance said they needed to talk about obtaining water shares behind closed doors.

Motion by Councilmember Doutre to move into closed session. Motion seconded by Councilmember Reese. Vote: Councilmember Doutre – aye, Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

The Council moved into a closed session at 7:43 p.m.

10. CLOSED SESSION:

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
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

Motion by Councilmember Holmgren to return to open session. Motion seconded by Councilmember Rohde. Vote: Councilmember Doutre – aye, Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

The Council returned to open session at 8:05 p.m.

11. Adjournment.

Motion by Councilmember Doutre to adjourn the meeting. Motion seconded by Councilmember Reese. Vote: Councilmember Doutre – aye, Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

The meeting adjourned at 8:05 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 7th day of November, 2017.

 

Linsey Nessen, City Recorder

Follow-up items for the Council and City Staff

Director Fulgham will look into the cost to build out all 12 areas for the secondary water system versus the cost without areas 9, 10 and 12. He will bring that discussion up in the next work session. He will also find out how many shares the City is pumping into the Malad River.

Director Fulgham, Engineer Breinholt, Manager Warnke and Finance Director Roberts will prepare presentations for an open house. The Council needs to decide on a date, but seems to be shooting for the first of the year.

Councilmember Rohde will send out an email so the Council can continue talking about the mission statement and figuring out what values are important to the City. They will continue the discussion with more precise thoughts at the next meeting.