Town of Daniel
Daniel Town Council Meeting
And Public Hearing
Monday August 2, 2010 at 5:30 PM
Wasatch County Services Building, Room 126
55 South 500 East
Heber City, Utah
Quorum present: Mayor Michael Duggin, Council members Eric Bunker, Jonathan Blotter, and Chip Turner were present. Council member Kasey Bateman was absent. Recorder Merry Duggin was present to record the minutes.
Mayor Duggin called the regularly scheduled meeting to order at 5:39 PM.
Members of the public in attendance: Ryan Taylor, Darwin McGuire, Tom Rawlings, and Shelly Bunker.
1) PUBLIC COMMENT CONCERNING ANY ISSUE THAT IS NOT ON THE AGENDA
There was no public comment.
2) WASATCH COUNTY COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS MEMORANDUM AGREEMENT, DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ADOPTION BY THE DANIEL TOWN COUNCIL.
Mayor Duggin introduced the Council of Governments agreement to the Council members and explained that Wasatch County has been allowed to collect a $10 fee per vehicle per year to be used for corridor preservation. This COG (Council of Governments) sets up a body to disburse those funds. Council member Blotter commented that this seemed to take away power from the municipalities, and Council member Turner asked if these funds could be used in a way that would adversely affect the Town of Daniel. Mayor Duggin responded that if Daniel did not join COG, the Town would not have a vote in any decision made by that body which would choose projects to be funded and their priority, but no projects could be forced on the Town that would be built within the Town’s boundaries.
Council member Bunker believed that this issue has not been properly seen by the interlocal planning members, and the program has not been administered as previously promised. He went on to say that in his opinion this was not the way regional planning was intended to work since a unanimous vote of all of the municipalities in Wasatch County could be overruled by a unanimous vote of the 7 member Wasatch County Council. He also felt that COG should designate Robert’s Rules of Order to conduct meetings held by COG. Mayor Duggin agreed with Mr. Bunker that the funds have been collected and cannot be disbursed until the COG is properly established.
Mr. Darwin McGuire asked if a bypass route around Daniel would ever be established. Mayor Duggin answered that the route has been established, is contained wholly within Heber City boundaries, and this is the process to collect money and acquire property for the bypass.
Council member Turner noted that if the Town Council could not stop this process, then Daniel Town Council should be represented. When Mayor Duggin asked for a motion, no member responded. After a pause, Council member Bunker moved to approve Daniel Resolution 2010-08-02 approving Daniel Town membership in the Wasatch County Council of Governments and directing the mayor to sign the agreement after 2 corrections to the agreement were made: 1) correct spelling of Daniel by eliminating the “s” from Daniels and 2) the addition of “chairman” in the clause concerning officer election. Council member Blotter seconded the motion. The motion passed by the following vote: Council member Bunker, aye; Council member Turner, aye; Mayor Duggin, aye. Council member Blotter voted nay.
3) COMMITTEE REPORTS. ACTIONS MAY BE TAKEN IF REQUESTED BY THE DEPARTMENT HEAD AND CONSIDERED BY THE TOWN COUNCIL.
PLANNING Council member Bunker reported that people are applying for permits.
DANIEL MUNICIPAL WATER. Ryan Taylor reported that there have been some complaints about water flow decrease since the new pressure relief valve has been installed. In response the valve has been reset and hydrants flushed, but the pressure will continue to vary as long as we have any 4” lines in the system. Darwin McGuire asked about the roof of the new pump station, and Mr. Taylor explained that this roof has a skylight installed in order to facilitate any work required on the well contained inside the pump station.
Mayor Duggin discussed the Improvement Priority System Report for Daniel Municipal Water (DMW) and the high number of points received in the inspection of the old system (currently 135). Mayor Duggin pointed out that Daniel Municipal Water has acted to correct many of the deficiencies of the old system and will request a new inspection when the new system is finished. He noted that DMW has received approximately 40 points for not maintaining a cross connection protection and enforcement program. Darwin McGuire, former president of the Daniel Domestic Water System, informed the Council that backflow preventers have been installed in the system for a long time, and each time a new service hookup was performed, the Daniel Domestic staff made sure that everyone knew there was to be no cross connection.
Council member Bunker, Daniel Municipal Water operator who has attended Cross Connection training, stepped forward to conduct a public awareness presentation for those present. He distributed a copy of R309-105-12 and explained that even though a campaign by Daniel Domestic was always maintained by the staff, they neglected to document this cross connection campaign. Lack of documentation was counted against us.
He explained that Daniel Municipal Water is in compliance with R309-105-12 in most aspects, and we will comply in all aspects by establishing procedures for keeping records of our program. He went on to discuss general cross connection prevention and specific backflow preventers (such as 1) air gap, 2) atmospheric vacuum breaker, 3) check valve, 4) pressure vacuum breaker assembly, 5) reduced pressure zone device). At the end of his presentation, Ryan Taylor suggested that Daniel could require all new irrigation lines to be purple (culinary are blue) to prevent any possible incident of hooking into the wrong pipe.
Clerk/Recorder Merry Duggin volunteered to begin the paperwork for the documentation of our cross connection prevention program, noting that Daniel Town already has an ordinance in place and has provided cross connection prevention information to water service recipients on a regular basis since Town of Daniel has acquired Daniel Municipal Water. Once the documentation is complete, Daniel Municipal Water will request that those points be removed from the Improvement Priority System Report. This would significantly improve our score
Council member Bunker also brought a payment agreement draft to the Council which could be used for working with incidents of hardship in payment of water service fees. A discussion followed about whether a hardship request must come before the Town Council. Council member Blotter hoped that the water manager could make these decisions, but Council members Turner and Bunker felt that this could put undue pressure on the water manager and the decisions should be made by the Town Council. (Note: Daniel Municipal Code requires that “arrangements must be made with and approved by the Daniel Town Council”, DMC 2.02.05 B. See also 2.02.04.D.”The Town Council is hereby constituted a board of equalization of water rates to hear complaints and make corrections of any assessments deemed to be illegal, unequal, or unjust. The Council may, if they see fit, rebate all or any part of the water bill of any indigent person.”)
Council member Bunker moved to approve the payment agreement draft and policy. Council member Turner seconded the motion. The motion passed by the following vote: Council member Bunker, aye; Council member Turner, aye; Mayor Duggin, aye. Council member Blotter voted nay.
4) DISCUSSION CONCERNING POSSIBLE PRIVATE SWIMMING POOL REGULATION WITHIN THE TOWN OF DANIEL
Council member Bunker reported that Planning currently has an application for a swimming pool, and our ordinances may not be comprehensive enough in this area. Mayor Duggin asked Mr. Bunker to present this issue to the Planning Commission for their recommendation. Mr. Taylor reminded those present that the application has already been received and would need to comply with the ordinance currently in place.
5) RECORDER’S OFFICE REPORT
Recorder Merry Duggin presented the warrants for both June 2010 and July 2010. (Due to the cancellation of the July Daniel Town Council meeting, the June warrants had carried over to this meeting.) Both months were approved.
6) APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR THE JUNE 7, 2010 MEETING
Council member Turner moved to approve the minutes as presented. Council member Blotter seconded the motion, and the minutes were approved by a unanimous vote.
7) ADJOURN
There being no further public business, Council member Turner moved to adjourn. Council member Blotter made the second, and after a unanimous vote, Mayor Duggin adjourned the meeting at 7:38 PM.
Merry Duggin,
Recorder