City Council Minutes 11-1-22

TREMONTON CITY CORPORATION
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
NOVEMBER 1, 2022

Members Present:
Connie Archibald
Wes Estep
Bret Rohde
Rick Seamons
Lyle Vance
Lyle Holmgren, Mayor
Shawn Warnke, City Manager
Marc Christensen, Assistant City Manager
Linsey Nessen, City Recorder

CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP

Mayor Holmgren called the November 1, 2022 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 Holmgren, Councilmembers Archibald, Estep, Rohde, Seamons, and Vance, City Manager Warnke, Assistant City Manager Christensen, and City Recorder Nessen. The following Department Heads were also present: Fire Chief Robert LaCroix (arrived at 6:06 p.m.), Police Chief Dustin Cordova (arrived at 6:06 p.m.), and Interim Fire Chief Chris Scothern.

1. Overview of the Tremonton City 2022 Moderate Income Housing Plan

Manager Warnke said one of the priorities of the State legislature is to ensure affordable housing throughout Utah. The approach they have taken is to require cities with over 5,000 in population to create a Moderate Income Housing Plan as part of their General Plan. Each year they have revised the legislation and increased the requirements or clarified them. They prescribe the range of options for cities to consider. He then provided the definition of moderate-income housing and what those incomes look like in three categories (30%, 50% and 80% of the area median income for a three-person household). This showed the monthly housing allowance for those groups, according to the study with rates and mortgages of today. A family of three who is between 50% to 80% AMI with an interest rate of 4% could obtain a mortgage of $241,000. This sets the stage for what affordability looks like in Tremonton. In the end this identifies what the shortage or surplus is in our supply. However, there are problems with the data. We are doing the best analysis we can with the data we have. The State is contracting with an institute to take a look at affordability and some of these numbers to have more accurate demographics and estimates.

Manager Warnke then reviewed the income levels and their shortages. The accumulative total is a shortage of 775 units. The data just looks at income and does not tell us if they own the home. Another thing that is under represented are rentals in our area—they are not all accounted for. We have discussed doing a Good Landlord Program where they would register with the City so we could know how many units are available for rent. The City could charge an enhanced fee for the impacts rentals have on municipal services. The State code says if they participate and live up to certain guidelines then they can have that fee eliminated. This would help us better track the rentals we have in the City. This data also takes a look at what we will need in five years—estimating another 225 units. Our deficit will then be 997, if we do nothing.

Manager Warnke said there are different strategies and we are required to pick at least three. Annually we will report on them. The Planning Commission was tasked with making a recommendation, while the Council is tasked with reporting annually to the State. You must pick three, but can do up to five to have some consideration for transportation dollars. When an application is before that commission, they would give extra consideration for those going above the three. Here are the five we have. One is the expansion of infrastructure that facilitates the construction of moderate-income housing. The State Code requires we have implementation measures, along with timeframes to complete that. The idea here is using our low to moderate income fund balance that has been generated through the West Liberty Foods project area and apply it to areas of town that lack infrastructure. We would work with the developer to come up with an agreement that requires construction of a certain percentage of low to moderate income housing.

Manager Warnke said the next strategy would allow accessory dwelling units. This strategy is to create, allow, or reduce regulations related to internal or detached accessory dwelling units. Where that applies and how that looks is yet to be determined. If we figure out one does not work well for the City we would come up with the setbacks and barriers. Accessory dwellings are another type of housing that is under reported in our City.

Manager Warnke said the next strategy is something we have done, which is zone or rezoning for higher density in mixed-use zones, commercial centers, and employment centers. If you adopt this as part of the Land Use Plan we would identify where those areas are and change our zoning ordinance to allow for density in certain areas. What comes to my mind is on the west end of town. The Taylor’s property has 70 acres zoned for commercial, but that is a lot of acreage. Density could be good there since we are close to BR Mountain Road, which is an arterial road, and the on and off ramps. We would write in our ordinance that a certain percentage of those areas would have to be low to moderate income.

The next one is another strategy we would use our West Liberty Foods funds for. This is a mortgage assistance program. We could provide assistance for public employees in the City or school district who qualify. The last strategy would be the adoption of a land use ordinance that requires 10% or more of residential development in a residential zone be dedicated to moderate income housing. That would be a land use ordinance. In some cases, they could pay a fee in lieu to providing that type of housing to the City to try to facilitate moderate income housing elsewhere.

The Council then reviewed the apartments they knew of and the Good Landlord Program. Councilmember Vance said we need to get into that, it would help them and us. Manager Warnke said to do that we need to do a study similar to what we did for business licenses and how those businesses impact municipal services. That would determine the call for service cost. We need to figure out what the fee is so we know what to charge and what would be waived if they participated. We could put that on an upcoming agenda to get the study underway. The Council agreed to have him pursue that.

Councilmember Rohde said I have had a lot of time to think about this and our data is horrible. Right now, it shows 50% of our houses are low income, but that is not the case. This data is driving some measures I do not think we ought to be taking right now. This 10%, if the number drops dramatically why would we do that to our developers? I have a problem with the strategies for the 10% and zoning. It seems we are doing a knee jerk reaction to some data that is not accurate. Do we really want to go through and start rezoning off of data that is not correct? I suggest we do three this year. Let us get the data correct and if it supports that then we could go that way. Getting infrastructure and utilities to these areas and putting money aside for that is a win-win no matter what we do, as is implementing a mortgage assistance program. I have heartache with inaccurate data. We already have a hard time getting developers to come here. Manager Warnke said in response to that, any developer who is developing in a city over 5,000 people will have some of these strategies applied. Well experienced developers are going to be use to some of these requitements over time. The other thought is, we have to show progress on how we are implementing the strategies and would revisit how many affordable housing units we have or do not have. We do not have to create 997 units to comply, we just have to show progress. We are focused more on meeting the strategies and reporting on them. With that said, it is a great idea to focus on three. These strategies do require action from City staff and I am not sure we would realize the benefit from the transportation dollars. I am supportive of focusing on the three you think are most important and doable. We would also implement the Good Landlord Program and try to refine the data.

Councilmember Vance said we are doing this because the State is putting pressure on us. Is there a penalty if we do not respond until we get good data? It is crazy to come up with goals when we do not really know what we need. Manager Warnke said last year they were going to withhold distribution of revenue that flows from the State to cities. The Utah League of Cities and Towns has been really encouraging us to do this. If the State sees us as the problem, that land use control could be removed at a local level. The State realizes the data is an issue and it is being refined. What we are held to in the end is picking strategies and working toward them. Councilmember Rohde said I agree we have to have better data, but these are good strategies to implement to help with infrastructure and growth. Manager Warnke said I agree. The picture will come into focus as the years go on. I think these are good strategies. It is sad that people struggle with affordable housing. I am grateful we have some revenue we can use to create affordable housing for our residents and public employees.

When asked how they go about getting the Good Landlord Program in place, Manager Warnke said we would contract Zions to do a disproportionate analysis. This study would identify the costs on municipal services and based upon that could generate the fee that would be charged to rentals. We would have to adopt an ordinance for the study and adopt the fee and requirements for landlords. The police department would also have to help facilitate that. It is a regulatory process so staff time would be involved. I will get a cost estimate and presentation ready that dives into the specifics.

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

When discussing the budget, Assistant City Manager Christensen said in June we passed the Fiscal Year 2023 budget and did our best to estimate all expenses and revenues. Throughout the year we do open it up to be amended. If there are one-time expenses or revenues, like grants we were not anticipating, then we recognize those. In the General Fund a noteworthy item is the street sweeper. Ours died and we need to rent one for three months while the leaves are falling. Cost is $12,000 per month. Another noteworthy expense is we had a flood at the police station and received insurance proceeds for that ($13,000). For the fire department it was $28,000. That will be put toward grounds and maintenance, and other improvements those departments need. After the shooting happened, we realized we did not have all the protective equipment necessary for those types of situations. We need to get our officers that equipment for their safety. We also have some unexpected revenues generated through interest rates. That shows in our investments from our savings accounts. We will use that to balance some funds and make sure our expenses meet the revenue. In the Fire Fund, the insurance proceeds match their expenses in the building and grounds maintenance. The Fire Department will receive a $95,000 grant for their diesel exhaust system, which balances that out. The department also received a $100,000 grant for four power gurneys ($25,000 each) to go in the ambulances. That will not go through the budget because the company is just buying those for the ambulances and donating the equipment. In the Capital Equipment Fund we discussed the street sweeper. The last one is Fund 54, which is the Sewer Fund. We thought we were going to complete work on the project on Main Street, but none of it was so we are pushing this balance forward to be completed in Fiscal Year 2023.

Manager Warnke said in the last Council meeting we discussed an additional police officer and ongoing staffing. The disproportionate study relative to businesses showed that the hospital, who has quite a bit of call volume, has an impact on policing at about $22,000. I reached out to the hospital administrator and told him what the fee would be if that was implemented. The City Attorney, Dustin Ericson, and I will have a conversation with the administrator next week. They will likely bring in-house security as a way to mitigate their impact on the police department. We were not able to find any ongoing revenue streams that would support an additional officer at this point in the budget. It is always suggested that when we have staffing that represent an ongoing obligation, we match that expense with ongoing revenue. We have discussed using sales tax or property tax. Property tax is stable while sales tax is not, but we are at a point where we are seeing our sales tax grow rapidly. In the next fiscal year, the City could reevaluate where that long term revenue will come from to meet that ongoing expense. If the Council wants to use this option to get another officer, there is no vehicle needed since they would be assigned to the strike force. This is multiple departments participating in creating a strike force that work narcotics within the areas that participate (Box Elder County, Brigham City, and Tremonton). The car would be provided by that team. Since we are about a fourth of the way through the fiscal year, the salary would be about $81,000. Next year the full value of that expense would be $108,000, ongoing annually. This could be taken from the General Fund for a one-time expense. Historically we have added to the fund balance and moved money to the Capital Project Funds. If you approve this then you would move less to those funds. If we always rely on sales tax, you will see the ability to do some of those projects diminish.

3. CLOSED SESSIONS: No closed session 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 6:56 p.m. by consensus of the Council.

CITY COUNCIL MEETING

Mayor Holmgren called the November 1, 2022 City Council Meeting to order at 7:01 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 Archibald, Estep, Rohde, Seamons, and Vance, City Manager Warnke, Assistant City Manager Christensen, and City Recorder Nessen. The following Department Heads were also present: Fire Chief Robert LaCroix, Police Chief Dustin Cordova, and Interim Fire Chief Chris Scothern.

1. Opening Ceremony:

Mayor Holmgren 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 Rohde and the Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilmember Vance.

2. Introduction of guests: Mayor Holmgren welcomed those in attendance, including students from the Alice C Harris Intermediate, as well as McKinley and North Park elementaries.

3. Declaration of Conflict of Interest: None.

4. Approval of Agenda:

Motion by Councilmember Vance to approve the agenda of November 1, 2022. Motion seconded by Councilmembers Estep and Seamons. Vote: Councilmember Archibald – aye, Councilmember Estep – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Seamons – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

5. Approval of minutes – October 18, 2022

Motion by Councilmember Estep to approve the minutes of October 18, 2022. Motion seconded by Councilmember Seamons. Vote: Councilmember Archibald – aye, Councilmember Estep – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Seamons – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

6. Years of Service

a. Arturo Rosales, Public Works – 5 Years

Rusty Scoffield, Public Works Lead, read through his bio. The Council thanked him for his service.

b. Chris Mortensen, Police Detective – 5 Years

Police Chief Cordova read his bio and the Council thanked him for his service.

7. Presentation

a. Tremonton City Citizenship Award to Elementary and Intermediate Students

Councilmember Archibald said we are celebrating citizenship—students who know what it means to be a good citizen. They are respectful, responsible, and safe. They promote that in their school and as a City we want to join the school district in promoting citizenship. We asked the principals from the Alice C. Harris Intermediate, McKinley and North Park elementaries to pick those kids. We are recognizing one child per grade that exemplifies these things. This is a big celebration so thank you parents for what you do in your homes to make this possible. Mayor Holmgren then read through all those being honored and presented them with a gift card to Twisted Sugar. They then took a picture.

b. Mosquito Abatement Board Update – James Walker

James Walker said I am here to notify the City that the Mosquito Abatement is proposing an increase in the tax rate this year. The total dollar increase is $260,860 to help maintain current operating standards. As fuel prices have gone up, our wage for seasonal employees has increased. The tax rate of .00016 will increase to .0002 and the average household will see an increase of $8 to $9 per year. The public hearing will be November 8, and will take effect next year. Manager Warnke reminded the Council that James Walker was appointed to represent Tremonton on the Mosquito Abatement. He is great to have representing Tremonton and is a good resource if you have questions.

Mayor Holmgren called a Public Hearing to order at 7:24 p.m. to amend the budget listed below. There were 12 people in attendance.

8. Public Hearings:

a. Amending the Tremonton City Annual Implementation Budget 2022-2023 (General Fund, Capital Fund(s), Enterprise Fund(s), and Special Funds)”, for the period commencing July 1, 2022 and ending June 30, 2023

Resident Michael Leighner asked have you contacted an agency that leases street sweepers. Councilmember Estep said we are renting one right now at $12,000 a month. We have not checked into leasing. Mr. Leighner asked why not? The Davis County Sheriff’s Department stopped buying trucks in 1989. We leased them and paid for fuel and tires, but none of the maintenance came from the General Fund. If you would have thought about leasing one when your street sweeper went down you would not be panicking to rent one. On a lease if it breaks it would be replaced by the dealer. That cost us nothing, because it was part of the contract. Manager Warnke said we have leased things before, but I talked to our finance director, who recommended we do not enter into a lease agreement. The Council adopted a resolution to authorize a purchase and we are in the process of purchasing the street sweeper. We are replacing a 2008, which we have had for about 14 years. We tend to buy equipment and use up every ounce of utility that is in it. We tried to replace it earlier, but with COVID and all the things that happen to the supply chain that interrupted our opportunity to do so. Councilmember Vance said I think it is a good point. I thought we could not lease a street sweeper, but we need to talk to Public Works Director Paul Fulgham. We will look into it.

Mayor Holmgren closed the Public Hearing at 7:29 p.m.

9. Public comments:

Resident Jeff Hoedt said thank you for the opportunity and kudos on the student recognition. We need a lot more stuff to encourage exceptional students to set themselves as role models to others and deal with some of the mental challenges and depression. I also wanted to talk about moderate income housing. We have been out of state for a while trying to support our son who has been deployed. That has enhanced our stress level and we will be leaving shortly again. Prior to that I have been doing quite a bit of research on moderate income housing. Having dealt with writing legislation and working with getting it passed I am familiar with laws and have read through them extensively. It is a personal interpretation of course. You have been required as a city of 5,000 or more to have a plan and do an annual report, but there have been no measures of effectiveness. This next year, that is one of the things that changes. You will have to report on the measures of effectiveness and determine which strategies actually have a positive result or what were the results and that will be the challenge. One of the justifications for all the building that has gone on in this town has been to get moderate income housing. Unfortunately, it was really left up to the builders and the developers as to whether they built any moderate-income housing and they have not. Zero, because they got too much money. The prices have escalated and gone through the roof. One facility being developed that you used in your plan two years ago was to have moderate income housing. They have zero. It is a rental apartment complex and they started in April at $900 a month for a one-bedroom apartment. They are now $1,199, which is a 30% plus increase in cost just since April. That is not moderate-income housing for a one-bedroom apartment so that is a real challenge. I am glad to hear you are going to start working on the data. I would not debate that it is not valid or reliable. You should not look at that now that should have been a forethought a couple years ago and you should have been implementing contracts to get that data put together. At this point in time when you are going to have measures of effectiveness kick in you would have had better data to be working off of and establishing goals. As long as the economy is good enough that builders can get more money selling or renting above moderate-income levels, they are going to do it. That has been proven over the last year or two. Unfortunately, now we are in an economic swing and interest rates are going up. Housing sales have gone way down, not the prices, but the sales have gone down tremendously. We have many homes that have been for sale for months now and are not moving. You see the construction really slowing down. Trying to get builders in the future, even if you regulate it, which I support. I think it is a good viable and necessary program for moderate income housing. If they do not build then those regulations are not going to have much influence on what they are doing, but still for the future kudos because I think you are looking at some initiatives that in long term will have good impact. I encourage you to be thinking ahead. Between all of you, you have a range of expertise so utilize that and put together that information for what will work in the next few years to develop more moderate-income housing. The Council thanked him for his comments.

10. New Council Business:

a. Discussion and consideration of approving the September Financial Statements

Motion by Councilmember Archibald to approve the September Financial Statements. Motion seconded by Councilmember Estep. Vote: Councilmember Archibald – aye, Councilmember Estep – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Seamons – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

b. Discussion and consideration of approving the September Warrant Register

Motion by Councilmember Vance to approve the September Warrant Register. Motion seconded by Councilmembers Archibald and Seamons. Vote: Councilmember Archibald – aye, Councilmember Estep – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Seamons – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

c. Discussion and consideration of adopting Resolution No. 22-60 amending the Tremonton City Annual Implementation Budget 2022-2023 (General Fund, Capital Fund(s), Enterprise Fund(s), and Special Funds),” for the period commencing July 1, 2022, and ending June 30, 2023

Chief Cordova explained to the Council what was lost due to flooding at the police station and civic center. Councilmember Rohde said the other concern was money used in overtime. Assistant City Manager Christensen said there are three overtimes that are included. Recorder Nessen attends these meetings and has a hard time flexing her hours. She works all day and then comes to the meetings, often staying until 11 p.m. Treasurer Sharri Oyler is seeing a lot more ambulance bills coming to her desk. A lot of overtime expenses in the Treasurers Department stem from that. For the parks that is because of the 24th of July Celebration. Manager Warnke said there is timeliness associated with billing for the ambulances. When we do that, we have greater success in getting it paid in full. Recorder Nessen also has the deadline of payroll, which is hard to put those tasks off and necessitate overtime. I am concerned about Treasurer Oyler, too. She had 22 hours of overtime last pay period, which is 10-hour days and that is too much for anyone to have a healthy lifestyle. It is something we are looking at in evaluating different options from increasing our staffing to outsourcing the ambulance billing. In the next few weeks, we will try to figure out a game plan on how to move forward on mitigating that specifically.

Motion by Councilmember Estep to approve the resolution as written, including option A. Motion seconded by Councilmember Archibald. Roll Call Vote: Councilmember Archibald – aye, Councilmember Estep – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Seamons – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

d. Discussion and consideration of adopting Resolution No. 22-61 approving the Tremonton City & Tremonton City RDA 2022 Moderate Income Housing Plan as an element of the Tremonton City General Plan

Councilmember Estep said I am all for this and am going to vote yes, but I do not see how we are going to get affordable housing with the cost of everything within that 80%. I do not know what people can live in for that kind of money. We are going to do the best we can do, but it will be challenging. Manager Warnke said we have to choose strategies and implement them. I like the idea of trying the three we think are the best and continuing that process of reporting and getting our data in a better place. I would suggest we put the other two in the appendix so if you want to implement them later on we do not lose them.

Motion by Councilmember Rohde to adopt the Moderate Income Housing Plan with strategies E, F, and N. Motion seconded by Councilmember Vance. Roll Call Vote: Councilmember Archibald – aye, Councilmember Estep – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Seamons – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

e. Discussion and consideration of adopting Resolution No. 22-62 authorizing the Fire Department to purchase an ambulance

Fire Chief LaCroix said as you know, I have resigned as the fire chief. I want to thank everyone for the opportunity over the last two years. I want to thank the men and women of the Fire Department and the Council for all the support. I also want to introduce the Interim Fire Chief Chris Scothern. He has been with the department for eight years and is a great firefighter and EMT. I am 100% confident in his ability. We have gone over the transition because we have a lot of open grants that need to be closed. He is the right guy for the job. I did get a $36,000 grant for a list of gear that should arrive soon. I want to also recognize Manager Warnke as being my favorite boss so far. I also want to thank Recorder Nessen, Treasurer Oyler and the whole staff. As far as the ambulance goes, the Fire Department has been getting them every two years. We are hard on them and they get a lot of mileage. This will replace a 2018 Chevy ambulance, which has about 150,000 miles and does not have four-wheel capability. It is an 18-to-24-month build. It will also have fire capability to help fight fires. We only got a bid back from Horton for $268,000. It is full steel and the plan for the future is to start remounting, taking the box off and putting on a new chassis. That would save 30% in the future. We budgeted $210,000. We have three others we need to purchase in the future before we do the remounting, but I think that is the process we need to do. We rotate our ambulances monthly so they get less miles and that ensures we are using the equipment. Councilmember Vance said we need to see what it would cost to lease so we know those numbers. Could the City hire you to continue to do grants for us? You have got all kinds of grants so thank you. We will miss out on that knowledge. Chief LaCroix said I may help out and will work with the next fire chief to help with grant writing and making sure things are moving forward.

Motion by Councilmember Rohde to accept the resolution. Motion seconded by Councilmember Estep. Roll Call Vote: Councilmember Archibald – aye, Councilmember Estep – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Seamons – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

11. Calendar Items and Previous Assignment

a. Review of calendar

Assistant City Manager Christensen said we will attend Fielding’s City Council to discuss the Senior Center. We sponsored a table for the Habitat for Humanity Dinner in Brigham City so let us know who would like to attend that. The Turkey Trot will be held on Saturday November 12. The Youth City Council helps with that. The Holiday Extravaganza is on Saturday December 3, from 1-4 p.m. and we need judges for the Ugly Sweater Contest.

b. Review of past assignment:

Following up on a public comment about a crossing (6th North 300 East), Chief Cordova said one of our officers, who works closely with the school and crossing guards, observed this area on Wednesday, October 19, and saw a total of 32 youth use the crosswalk at 2:30-3:15 p.m. Of those, 30 were high school age and two were elementary. Nearly all crossed south along the west side of the intersection. Two crossed west. He did this again on Thursday, October 20, and saw a total of four use 300 East entering from 7:30-8:30 a.m. Three were adults and one was elementary age. A total of 32 used it from 2:30-3:15 p.m. Of those, 29 were high school age and three were elementary. Most crossed on the west side of the intersection. Based on his observation he would not recommend a crossing guard be placed there. One block north has those resources. The Council was given a paper showing those intersections based on his review. Manager Warnke said this was done internally to understand what we could observe. We could ask UDOT to do a study in the spring when the weather is better and they could observe a longer period of time. They reviewed the crossings. Resident Julie Beagley, who brought this issue to the Council’s attention at a previous meeting, said if they go to school on this side of the road it does not make sense for them to go that way to the crosswalk. On this side they have to cross that highway and it is scary. Cars do not stop for them. Manager Warnke said I will reach out to our traffic engineer to have a conversation and share what we observed. I will also request a study and see if we could put a crosswalk on the west side of the north to south at 6th North 300 east.

12. Reports & Comments:

a. City Manager Reports and Comments

1. Recruitment of Fire Chief

Manager Warnke said we are sad to see Chief LaCroix leave us. We have enjoyed him while he has been here and he accomplished a tremendous amount. It feels like he accomplished six years of work in two. We will forever be grateful for what he has done to move the department forward. We are also grateful for Chris Scothern for being able to step in and sure up the position as the interim. We are actively recruiting and will take a look at the applications and work on the interview process similar for previous recruitments for department heads. We appreciate you guys.

2. Recruitment of Building Inspector and Zoning Administrator

Manager Warnke said we are also actively recruiting a building inspector and zoning administrator with the first round of reviews on Monday. We will keep you posted.

b. Development Review Committee Report and Comments

Manager Warnke said at the last DRC meeting we approved the final plat for Harvest Village. They are working on finalizing that project. Bear River Meadows is the project between Aspen Ridge and 6th South. The builder was not able to follow through on the contract so they are working on getting someone. It has been approved by the DRC, but they need approval for the canal crossing. They have dedicated water shares and are moving forward. We will have a DRC meeting tomorrow to discuss development of property on BR Mountain. Also next to Visionary’s project is one called Envision Estates, going east of Archibald Estates. This would be for single-family homes, but they would like to do some multi-family housing. They are having some access issues. For some reason there is a 10-foot strip that interrupts the right-of-way, but they are working with Visionary Homes to get that.

c. City Department Head Reports and Comments

Chief Cordova said first of all, thank you for your support of a new officer. A lot of people were waiting for this, including myself. We do appreciate the support and it will make a big impact. Props to Sarah Mohrman, who has taken on our social media. We are trying to make a better community relationship from a police perspective and share some of that information. We are learning along the way and have had some failures and some success. I want to recognize Chief LaCroix, he has been great and it has been a pleasure to work with him. With his ability to write grants I have reached out to him and he will help me get up to speed on the police side so we can continue to do that. We are looking for creative ideas and I appreciate Councilmember Rohde as well for ideas going forward for funding. I am hoping to come up with more to present. I am working on a police officer involved shooting legal protection protocol. We met with the Trust and hashed that out to find a solution for our officers to be covered in that event. That is in place to protect them. We had a meeting with Governor Cox and a ton of administrators from around the State and it was really productive. We discussed police pay and retirement, the image of law enforcement right now, probation and parole issues, as well as funding. They were very attentive and had good solutions. We are working on staffing and actively recruiting, but it is very competitive. I had meetings with the health department and their administration in regards to closing problem homes for meth contamination and other drugs. They are on board and will support us. I invite the Council to attend a police training we have coming up. I talked to Manager Warnke about the Good Landlord Program when I first started and am glad we are looking at that. I have seen it implemented in problem areas and it did have an impact and lower a lot of the consistent crime problems because it empowered us to have that relationship with the owners and work together to solve those issues. I have seen it work from a law enforcement perspective.

Councilmember Rohde said we got an anonymous letter, are you okay if we follow through with Smithfield and talk to some people there on how they enforce those ordinances? We do not want to go over your head, but can Councilmember Estep talk to the contacts he has there? Chief Cordova said I am open to suggestions and recommendations. We can all learn together. We are taking action on that side and following conversations. We plan to be more proficient and work with Garland to that end. That is somewhat of a staffing issue. We opened the opportunity in Garland to get an animal control and code enforcement officer, but there was zero interest. If we make it a full-time position we would be able to attract applications because the pay is good. I will pitch that, but I need to come up with numbers to show them it is financially feasible.

d. Council Reports and Comments

Councilmember Estep said I want to thank Chief LaCroix from this side, we have appreciated everything. That is an amazing feat what you have done for the department in such a small time. I told you when you got here you could make or break it and you have made it and you made it better, so thank you.

Councilmember Archibald said I ditto that. I also want to recognize those who were involved in the Trick-or-Treat on Main. I have been involved for years and have never seen that many kids. We are bringing people to Main Street. Other businesses to the west wanted to be involved and though it is a distance we should try to involve them in the future. Thanks to those who organized and helped with that, it was very successful.

Councilmember Vance asked if anyone has been to the Garland City Council. Mayor Holmgren said we need to set that up. We will make every effort to get on their agenda to work with them and see what we can do for the Senior Center. The plug is coming I have talked to Blaine Rupp and it is on his list of things to do.

Councilmember Rohde said thanks Chief LaCroix. We are really trying to improve communication with citizens so we have a social pinpoint page we are working on and a map. It is exciting and we are hoping to roll it out soon. On this page people will be able to comment and we can respond. We hope to start working together and drive positive commutation even if there are concerns.

Councilmember Seamons said Chief LaCroix thanks, it has been great to have you.

Mayor Holmgren said I second the thing on the Trick-or-Treat on Main, that was incredible. We had lots of people come and it turned out really good. We are working on a grant. The Governor’s Officer of Economic Opportunity has put out a rural community opportunity grant. We want to use that for Midland Square to fix it up with an amphitheater and restrooms, along with other things to bring people downtown. That is a significant grant we are working on. I want to second what everyone else has said, we are going to miss Chief LaCroix. We are excited that you will still be a part of this community and we appreciate all you have done in the last two years. Interim Chief Scothern we are excited to work with you now. I met with the County for the Senior Center and they are a big participant. We will get their full funding. We have great support from them. We went to Elwood and they are tight on budget, but will do what they can and work it into their budget for next year. We appreciate their support and hope we can get more people to participate in our Senior Center.

13. CLOSED SESSIONS: No closed session held at this time.

14. Adjournment.

Motion by Councilmember Rohde to adjourn the meeting. Motion seconded by Councilmember Vance. Vote: Councilmember Archibald – aye, Councilmember Estep – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Seamons – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

The meeting adjourned at 8:35 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 15th day of November, 2022.

Linsey Nessen, City Recorder

Follow-up items for the Council and City Staff

Manager Warnke would look into the Good Landlord Program and provide a presentation at the next Council meeting. He will continue to look into options for the crosswalk that was discussed and have those conversations. He will also continue efforts on looking into staffing options to meet growing demands.

City staff will look into leasing options for their capital equipment.

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