City Council Minutes 9-17-24

TREMONTON CITY CORPORATION
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
SEPTEMBER 17, 2024

Members Present:
Wes Estep
Jeff Hoedt
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 September 17, 2024 City Council Workshop to order at 5:52 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, Hoedt, Rohde, Vance, and Westergard, City Manager Cobabe, Assistant City Manager Nessen and City Recorder Nelson. The following Department Heads were also present: Public Works Director Paul Fulgham, City Planner Jeff Seedall, Fire Chief Brady Hansen and Main Street Manager Sara Mohrman.

The Closed Session was held before the agenda discussion.

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

Mayor Holmgren said we have already gone through the budget this year, but are making it correct in terms of conflicts of interest. Manager Cobabe said I talked to the City Attorney specifically about part-time employees and he said it is probably in the best interest of everyone if they step down and not vote, provided we have enough to make an actionable vote based on who is left on the stand. Councilmember Rohde said if there are concerns, we ought to bring them up and discuss them openly and work through that before we vote. Councilmember Vance said have there been any changes since the last time we approved this? Manager Cobabe said nothing has changed.

The Council then discussed the Allred annexation. Mayor Holmgren said this is a subdivision by Salt Creek just west of town. The cost of putting in the infrastructure would be significant. This sits in our annexation boundary. Councilmember Vance said the concern is the water levels and septic tanks going out there. The push was to get them to annex and hook to the City sewer system. There has been talk of selling land in that area to the Inland Port. It just does not make sense if that happens. The developer needs a denial letter from the City so the County can approve what he is doing. When they are not annexed we do not have a say in what they do. Councilmember Rohde said I just do not think we are in a position to do anything with this one. It would be too much of a financial burden for the developer to annex. The timing is wrong. The Council quickly discussed another potential annexation of 6.7 acres just south of the City.

The Council then discussed cemetery fees. Recorder Nelson said people have their family buy their cemetery plot and then they come in the next week to transfer it into their name. They are doing this to get it for the residential fee. We propose that if they have it for less than a year it is more money to transfer that. This way it would discourage them from buying it and immediately selling it. We do charge a $50 transfer fee. This saves them money from the residential and non-residential difference. We propose there is a timeframe. Cost is $600 for residents and $1,200 for non-residents. Councilmember Rohde said we should just charge the difference. The one year is a good idea. Recorder Nelson said the next request is regarding the time it takes after a burial to finish and be out of the cemetery. People need to leave the cemetery by 3:30 p.m., if not then they would need to pay the after-hours fee ($750 opposed to $500—an extra $250). Weekends and holidays already have that fee. This would apply to weekdays after 3:30 p.m. Councilmember Estep said there should be exception to the rule for unseen circumstances. We need to have a little bit of leeway and discretion.

Planner Seedall then discussed a fee in lieu for parks. We have never established this number. Developments are happening near our existing parks so we would like developers to pay a fee instead of putting in their own open space. Other cities have shown they are getting more use from bigger regional parks than with pocket parks. Regional parks can have bigger amenities, more parking and usability. Instead of having developers use a portion of their ground to add a small park, this fee in lieu would help us improve our parks. This would provide the City with cash to build newer amenities in current open spaces. Manager Cobabe said this is not an arbitrary number. City staff have put in the work to establish something that was legally defensible, but also reasonably applied to developers. We would like to bring up the level of service to existing parks as far as amenities go. We would like to bring that up in our existing parks rather than have them build another small park, which is not as effective or used. Planner Seedall said those fees could also be used to purchase land for future parks.

Planner Seedall then discussed the Envision Estates development agreement. This is going to be a change of procedure. We will start bringing development agreements to the Council for approval before they are signed. This provides an opportunity for the Council to provide input early on. Director Fulgham mentioned the industrial water discharge permit with Post, which is something they do every three years.

Motion by Councilmember Vance to move into closed session. Motion seconded by Councilmember Rohde. Vote: Councilmember Estep – yes, Councilmember Hoedt – yes, Councilmember Rohde – yes, Councilmember Vance – yes, Councilmember Westergard – yes. Motion approved.

The Council moved into a closed session at 5:52 p.m.

2. CLOSED SESSIONS:

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

Motion by Councilmember Rohde to return to open session. Motion seconded by Councilmember Estep. Vote: Councilmember Estep – yes, Councilmember Hoedt – yes, Councilmember Rohde – yes, Councilmember Vance – yes, Councilmember Westergard – yes. Motion approved.

The Council returned to open session at 6:14 p.m.

The meeting adjourned at 6:54 p.m. by consensus of the Council.

CITY COUNCIL MEETING

Mayor Holmgren called the September 17, 2024 City Council Meeting to order at 6:58 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, Hoedt, Rohde, Vance, and Westergard, City Manager Cobabe, Assistant City Manager Nessen, and City Recorder Nelson. The following Department Heads were also present: Public Works Director Paul Fulgham, City Planner Jeff Seedall, Fire Chief Brady Hansen, and Main Street Manager Sara Mohrman.

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

2. Introduction of Council, staff, and special guests

3. Declaration of Conflict of Interest:

Councilmembers Estep and Westergard both declare a conflict for item 8. a. since they are both employees of the City.

4. Approval of Agenda:

Motion by Councilmember Vance to approve the agenda of September 17, 2024. Motion seconded by Councilmember Estep. Vote: Councilmember Estep – yes, Councilmember Hoedt – yes, Councilmember Rohde – yes, Councilmember Vance – yes, Councilmember Westergard – yes. Motion approved.

5. Approval of minutes – August 20, 2024

Motion by Councilmember Rohde to approve the minutes of August 20, 2024. Motion seconded by Councilmember Westergard. Vote: Councilmember Estep – yes, Councilmember Hoedt – yes, Councilmember Rohde – yes, Councilmember Vance – yes, Councilmember Westergard – yes. Motion approved.

6. Years of Service Awards

a. Rusty Bingham, Police Detective – 5 years
b. Nichole Fulgham, School Crossing Guard – 5 years
c. Kristi Kent, Supervisor/Scorekeeper – 10 years
d. Brooke Oyler, Recreation Program Coordinator – 5 years

The Council thanked them for their years of service.

7. Public comments:

Kristie Bowcutt said welcome Manager Cobabe, you are a breath of fresh air, an Encyclopedia of knowledge and a bushel full of honesty. I appreciate that more than you will ever know. I visited with Fielding about their cemetery plots. I had in my possession 16, but only needed two. I asked if they buy them back and she said we would be glad to we are running out of room. I do not know whether you have a policy like that or not. It was just an idea.

Connie Archibald said I am a citizen of Tremonton. All summer we have been dealing with 1000 North and those improvements to the road. I wanted to mention how grateful the Board of Education is for the collaborative efforts of The Public Works Department and our district transportation. The road was not done before school started and Director Fulgham was great. Jason Sparks, who is over transportation for the school district, said he was really good to collaborate. Hats off to Director Fulgham for making that a little easier for parents and students. Also, the mayor wrote an article recently. I loved it. I am eager and anxious to see improvements in Tremonton on our Main Street and Midland Square. I wanted to share some of my comments to the mayor’s article. This is what I had to say, do not get rattled when negative comes your way. Do not throw out all the supportive compelling evidence to move forward when a small bit of opposing opinion is presented. Opposing views are expected. The Steering Committee recently concluded their discussions and offered a proposal to the Council. It is time. It is time to move forward to improve our Main Street as it is beautifully outlined. That trial period or the time of which we were seeking opinions is behind us. Forward, onward, do what is right for Tremonton City. Each of you have a vote, use it. I am cheering you on for bigger and better days. Follow your heart. Thank you

8. New Council Business:

a. Discussion and possible action on adopting Resolution No. 24-33 approving a Final Budget entitled “The Tremonton Annual Implementation Budget 2024-2025 (General Fund, Capital Fund(s), Enterprise Fund(s) and Special Fund(s)” for the period commencing July 1, 2024, and ending June 30, 2025

Mayor Holmgren said we have excused Councilmembers Estep and Westergard as they have a conflict of interest on this item. In the Work Session we spent a fair amount of time talking about each of these.

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

b. Discussion of accepting or denying the Allred Annexation Petition

Motion by Councilmember Rohde to deny the annexation. Motion seconded by Councilmember Vance. Vote: Councilmember Estep – yes, Councilmember Hoedt – yes, Councilmember Rohde – yes, Councilmember Vance – yes, Councilmember Westergard – yes. Motion approved.

c. Discussion of accepting or denying the Chambers/Stenberg Annexation Petition

Motion by Councilmember Rohde to deny the annexation. Motion seconded by Councilmember Estep. Vote: Councilmember Estep – yes, Councilmember Hoedt – yes, Councilmember Rohde – yes, Councilmember Vance – yes, Councilmember Westergard – yes. Motion approved.

d. Discussion and possible action on adopting Resolution No. 24-55 reaffirming, amending, and enacting new fees and fines in a schedule entitled Tremonton City Consolidated Fees and Fines schedule including, but not limited to, cemetery fees

Recorder Nelson said it takes our Public Works crew quite a while to get out of the cemetery after a burial. Rusty Scoffield has asked that we add a fee for after-hours on weekdays. If people are not out of the cemetery by 3:30 p.m. on a weekday, they would incur another $250. We have discussed the transfer of burial rights. We have had a problem with people having their family members, who are residents, buy their plots and then the next week pay the $50 transfer fee. We proposed a $250 increase. The Council did suggest something higher. This would take effect if it has been purchased within a year. If it is older than a year, then it is still the $50 transfer fee.

Motion by Councilmember Rohde to accept the resolution, but I would like to change the transfer burial rights, if purchased less than one year ago, to $600 per certificate to match the non-resident price. Motion seconded by Councilmember Estep. Roll Call Vote: Councilmember Estep – yes, Councilmember Hoedt – yes, Councilmember Rohde – yes, Councilmember Vance – yes, Councilmember Westergard – yes. Motion approved.

e. Discussion and possible action on adopting Resolution No. 24-56 reaffirming, amending, and enacting new fees and fines in a schedule entitled Tremonton City Consolidated Fees and Fines schedule including, but not limited to, Fee-in-Lieu for Parks

Planner Seedall said this fee has never been established by the City. It has come into question with recent developments. City staff has determined where we would like to see the level of service for parks get to. This fee will help us add amenities to our existing parks so our level of service can go up. Councilmember Rohde said how does this compare to others cities? I know you have done your research, but it feels high. Planner Seedall said it is a little bit higher. We have not done a lot to our parks and fallen behind with the growth. We are kind of playing catch-up. This number has been set a little bit higher, but as things come on, we could lower it. Manager Cobabe clarified that these are expenses that would be incurred by the developer when developing a pocket park. The cost is essentially the same to the developer. The idea is that instead of getting the quarter acre pocket park, they would pay a fee in lieu, which could be used to update the City’s regional parks. The idea is to focus that onto places that are more usable. Planner Seedall said the hope for this is to continue building the parks and help us program them a little better.

Motion by Councilmember Vance to approve the resolution. Motion seconded by Councilmembers Westergard and Estep. Roll Call Vote: Councilmember Estep – yes, Councilmember Hoedt – yes, Councilmember Rohde – yes, Councilmember Vance – yes, Councilmember Westergard – yes. Motion approved.

f. Discussion and possible action on adopting Resolution No. 24-57 approving the Envision Estates Development Agreement

Planner Seedall said we plan to bring development agreements to the Council for approval before they are signed. That way if there are any changes the Council would like to see they can add their input. Visionary has worked with the DRC to get their development agreement to this point. We do not want to be recording a document at each phase with the County. That becomes cumbersome. My hope is to have an umbrella development agreement that we do not have to keep track of each phase or each phase having its own development agreement. We are working on minimizing the process so it does not take as long while being conscientious of the fact that developments do not appear overnight. Councilmember Vance said so it is a living document. You will be the one managing it. This seems like a nightmare. Planner Seedall said so does having nine development agreements and hoping they do not contradict one another. Councilmember Vance said these will have to be updated. Could you finish a phase out and start the next contract rather than having a living document? Otherwise, you are going to miss something. Planner Seedall said the concern would then be if something in Phase 2 contradicts Phase 1. Utilities are designed for a whole development not phase by phase. Councilmember Rohde said once that master development agreement is approved, we need to have a summary of what is different so we are not reading the whole thing every time. Planner Seedall said development agreements push the City into contractual law, which really takes out of a lot of our general liability. Cities can have errors and omissions based on city code and some fallback. That is why we were trying to adopt a PUD. That way it is based on code and our development agreements can be granular things.

Motion by Councilmember Vance to adopt the resolution, adding that we also need DRC’s approval prior to recording. Motion seconded by Councilmember Hoedt. Roll Call Vote: Councilmember Estep – yes, Councilmember Hoedt – yes, Councilmember Rohde – yes, Councilmember Vance – yes, Councilmember Westergard – yes. Motion approved.

g. Discussion and possible action on adopting Resolution No. 24-58 approving an Industrial User Wastewater Discharge Permit Agreement between POST Consumer Brands and Tremonton City

Director Fulgham said this is a renewal of our pre-treatment agreements. Nothing has changed—it is just to carry on for another three years.

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

h. Discussion and possible action on awarding the Compost Equipment Storage Facility Expansion to Staker Parsons

Director Fulgham said this is the expansion of our actual compost facility—the asphalt area that we are required to have to produce compost. We will be doubling the size of that. This was built 20 years ago and it is time to expand. We had four bidders. My estimate was $200,000 and Staker Parsons come in at $198,580. All the bidders had Staker Parsons down to do the asphalt work, which is a big portion of the project. This will give us another 20 years.

9. Consent Agenda

a. Adoption of June Warrant Register
b. Adoption of June Financial Statements
c. Adoption of July Warrant Register
d. Adoption of July Financial Statements

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

10. Calendar Items and Previous Assignment

a. Review of calendar

The Farmer’s Market is the first Saturday of October and will be the last one for the season.

b. Unfinished Business/Action Items: None.

11. Reports & Comments:

a. City Administration Reports and Comments

Manager Cobabe said I hope you are enjoying the department head reports. We have an amazing team and the party was an example of that. It was a blast. I work with incredible people.

b. Development Review Committee Report and Comments

Planner Seedall said we met with a developer, who is looking at developing portions of BR Mountain. I have talked with Engineer Chris Breinholt about updating our hillside standards. We want those to be a bit more detailed and development friendly with grades and requirements. We will be outlining those in DRC. Part of it is in our future annexation boundary and part of it is in Garland’s. The developer has expressed interest in being completely inside Tremonton. Once he puts a tank up there, a lot of existing subdivisions should start going up the hill. Director Fulgham said the City would work with the developer on the upsize. We would want to see at least a million-gallon tank on that hill. Mayor Holmgren said the developer has talked about working with the City on a trail system up in those mountains. That would be really neat if we could do that. Manager Cobabe said he seems really dedicated to making sure the development is a good quality with amenities. We are excited—it should be a good project.

Planner Seedall said we brought forth the sign permit changes that Councilmember Hoedt wanted to make and the Planning Commission was hoping for more insight. A concern they had was if we start limiting signs, then people will just have banners. There is not much language against banners inside the code. They also questioned what behind the walk meant and permission to put it in private areas and keeping them out of the public right-of-way. I think we need to vet this out more with a fine-tooth comb or loosen the reins and put very clear requirements and simplify the understanding of it. I wanted more insight from the Council before taking it to the Planning Commission, who tabled the changes until they get better insight. Councilmember Rohde said they also wondered if employees can remove signs from private property if someone repeatedly is putting signs up or breaks the rules. They wanted to quantify the number of signs and define public versus commercial. Planner Seedall said we have a provision about a five-sign maximum per parcel, but they were not sure how that applies for larger commercial parcels that have hundreds of feet of usable advertisable space. They were not sure either if that meant five total or five per candidate. It was suggested that Councilmember Hoedt attend Planning Commission to answer those questions.

c. City Department Head Reports and Comments

1. New Crossing Guard at 100 E 700 N

Director Fulgham said our 1000 North project is wrapping up. There were a couple driveway issues we had to deal with. The bridge project was scheduled to start September 23, but has been pushed back to September 30. That is a UDOT project. They have also started on the streetlight project to the east.

Chief Hansen said I have completed my first year as the Fire Chief and am excited about that. I just received the final report of the fire department consolidation study that was performed by the County. Manager Cobabe suggested I put that on a drive to make sure the Council has access to that. It is a lengthy report. The final recommendation is that Box Elder County divides into two districts, two fire departments. A northern fire department district in Tremonton and a southern fire department district in Brigham City. That is what they recommend and outlined some options that are slightly different. I will follow whatever direction the Council gives enthusiastically. We need to measure ourselves and our success by always serving each individual customer very well. Whatever path you choose I think we will continue to do that. Mayor Holmgren said with these smaller communities in the County, how do they envision paying for this? Chief Hansen said it does not spend as much detail on that topic as I thought it should, but it outlines levels of cooperation. I say to my team all the time, we do not have to be one fire department, but we should act like one fire department. We need to work so closely with our neighbors that the customer would never know the difference and the study points that out. That is the first level of cooperation—fire departments working very closely together and sharing resources, equipment and training. Then it outlines five levels of cooperation. It does talk about using contracts to pay into another fire department to provide that support. The fifth level is full consolidation as an independent taxing district. Every community pays a fire district tax no matter where you live in the valley, everybody pays the exact same amount. That is the highest level of consolidation. Then the Council, and others in our region, have a menu of what level of cooperation you would like to choose. As a fire department we are continuing to evolve and work as closely together as we possibly can even without consolidation.

Assistant City Manager Nessen said there is need for another crossing guard at 100 E 700 N. North Park has a parent or teacher going out to help in the afternoons. We could add the salary and benefits for that crossing guards in the budget amendment to add that position.

d. Council Reports and Comments

Councilmember Vance said last week there were Just Serve signs all over our community, which is neat. This is really a positive. We live in a great area—the whole Bear River Valley. Last week in commemoration of 9-11 They had two parks where a ton of people showed up to clean and serve. On Tuesday, they had a food drive and 27,000 pounds of food was brought in. A local bank cut a check for $10,000 based on that. Tons of people showed up for a blood drive and the suicide prevention event. They planted 100 trees. We live in a great area with lots of great people.

Councilmember Estep said I just want to reiterate that the party last night was great. A lot of time and effort goes into that and there was delicious food.

Mayor Holmgren said we do have great employees and great people. A few of us went down to the League of Cities and Towns meetings in Salt Lake City, which was great. There was a lot of good information provided. We learned a lot. Also, the Main Street Steering Committee has been meeting on a regular basis and has come together on ideas. We plan to put out a survey for community input.

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

13. Adjournment.

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

The meeting adjourned at 8:21 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 1st day of October, 2024.

Cynthia Nelson, City Recorder

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