TREMONTON CITY CORPORATION
PLANNING COMMISSION
JUNE 25, 2024

Members Present:
Micah Capener, Chairman—excused
Penni Dennis, Co-Chairman
Kaden Grover, Commission Member
Mark Thompson, Commission Member
Raulon Van Tassell, Commission Member
Bret Rohde, City Councilmember
Jeff Seedall, City Planner
Cynthia Nelson, Deputy Recorder

Co-Chairman Dennis called the Planning Commission Meeting to order at 5:32 p.m. The meeting was held June 25, 2024 in the City Council Meeting Room at 102 South Tremont Street, Tremonton, Utah. Co-Chairman Dennis, Commission Members Grover, Thompson and Van Tassell, City Councilmember Rohde, City Planner Jeff Seedall, and Deputy Recorder Nelson were in attendance. Chairman Capener was excused.

1. Approval of agenda:

Motion by Commission Member Thompson to approve the June 25, 2024 agenda. Motion seconded by Commission Member Kaden. Vote: Co-Chairman Dennis – aye, Chairman Capener – excused, Commission Member Grover – aye, Commission Member Thompson – aye, Commission Member Van Tassell – aye. Motion approved.

2. Declaration of Conflict of Interest: None

3. Public Comment: None

4. Approval of minutes—No minutes to approve at this time.

5. New Business:

a. Discussion and consideration of the 2024 Water Conservation Plan

Mr. Taylor said this is a new chapter that will become part of the General Plan. Here is an overview of what it is supposed to accomplish to meet State legislation. It looks at the effect of development on water demand and infrastructure and ways to reduce that demand for future development. It also identifies opportunities for municipal operations to conserve water and the recommended division of water resources goals. It also addresses principles of sustainable landscaping. Here is an analysis of what Tremonton has done historically. There are also goals and policies with this implementation matrix. That outlines the implementation strategies and how you might move forward. Planner Seedall said my focus is making sure the implementation strategies discussed in the matrix is what the Commission would like to see go forward. We need to know if there is any kind of change in direction that needs to be prioritized. Commission Member Thompson said I liked the way it is laid out and all the information that is given. Commission Member Grover said I liked that it covers not just infrastructure, but education and the physical system as well. It seemed to cover most things I would have thought to put in there. It is pretty comprehensive. Mr. Taylor said it is intended to be a living document, so it can be tweaked if there are challenges or things that are not working out. Things could be added later. It can all be revised.

Mr. Taylor said one of the first things is to hire or designate a water conservation coordinator. Planner Seedall said I talked with City Manager Bill Cobabe about having one of the more experienced water people from Public Works take it over. This could be the role of an assistant city manager. Mr. Taylor said I will take what is here and look through City ordinances and make updates to help the code reflect the changes that we want to see. Commission Member Thompson suggested partnering with USU for the landscaping. Planner Seedall said USU has a preferred planting list that we would reference in the landscape ordinance. That is a great resource to point people to. We are trying to use USU more as a reference. There are other policies in here that we would like to get their input on, dealing with water wise and landscaping techniques. Mr. Taylor said I think they would be a great resource to consult with on a number of these, not just from the education piece. Commission Member Dennis said it would be nice to put on a link on the City site for USU’s preferred planting list.

Motion by Commission Member Thompson to approve the water conservation plan. Motion seconded by Commission Member Kaden. Vote: Co-Chairman Dennis – aye, Chairman Capener – excused, Commission Member Grover – aye, Commission Member Thompson – aye, Commission Member Van Tassell – aye. Motion approved.

b. Training on Impact Fees

Planner Seedall played a training video to educate the Commission on impact fees.

Planner Seedall said as part of the Capital Facilities Plan, there are two plans the City requests be done before impact fees. First is the Impact Fee Facilities Plan, which is the analysis of what the City’s current level of service is. That analysis puts a quantity to that level of service based on a single-family or multi-family home. This identifies excess capacity, future demands and costs to attached to the system. The facilities plan goes first and then the analysis comes second. It quantifies it and then it will break that down for culinary, secondary, wastewater treatment and sewer service. That gets updated every five years. They can redo that as needed to make sure our impact fees are still accurately representing our current level of service.

Commission Member Dennis asked what came of their discussion on Accessory Dwelling Units? Are we doing an impact fees on those? Planner Seedall said we are going to pass a resolution with the RDA in July to work on waiving impact fees for both ADUs and moderate-income housing. Once both of those reports are done, that will go through City Council, we will hold a public hearing to receive input and then pass those impact fees.

6. Planning commission comments/reports

Commission Member Van Tassell said I hear a lot about the concern to maintain our agricultural land. Councilmember Rohde said the mayor said something that was eye-opening. He said we need to remember that if we allow growth to take place within the annexation of the City that should help preserve a lot of the land in the County. If we are stingy and do not allow growth to happen then all of a sudden, we get these offshoots that start taking a lot of our agricultural land for houses. By bringing things closer to the City we are doing our part to preserve agricultural land outside in the County.

7. Adjournment

Motion by Commission Member Van Tassell to adjourn the meeting. Motion seconded by consensus of the Board. The meeting adjourned at 6:14 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 of the Planning Commission held on the above referenced date. Minutes were prepared by Jessica Tanner.

Dated this 13 day of August, 2024.

______________________________
Linsey Nessen, CITY RECORDER

*Utah Code 52-4-202, (6) allows for a topic to be raised by the public and discussed by the public body even though it was not included in the agenda or advance public notice given; however, no final action will be taken.