Daniel Town Council Meeting
Monday, December 3, 2012 at 5:30 PM
Wasatch County Services Building, Room 126
55 South 500 East, Heber City, UT
Quorum present: Mayor Michael Duggin, Council members Eric Bunker, Chip Turner, and Jon Blotter were present at 5:31 PM when Mayor Duggin called the meeting to order. Recorder Merry Duggin was present to record the minutes. Council member
Kasey Bateman was absent. Treasurer Sherri Price was present.
Members of the public in attendance: Lambert Deegan, Kim Norris, Ryan Starks, John Glodowski, Gary Walton, Mark Davis, Josh Bean, and Ryan Taylor.
1) PUBLIC COMMENT CONCERNING ANY ISSUE NOT ON THE AGENDA
There were no comments from the public.
2) BUSINESS LICENSES
No new applicants were present, but Council member Bunker informed the Council that he had received a renewal application from American Soda Stripping. This application will be handled administratively.
3) APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR NOVEMBER 5, 2012 MEETING
Council member Turner moved to approve the November 5, 2012 minutes as presented. Mayor Duggin seconded the motion, and the minutes were approved by “aye” votes by Council members Turner, Bunker, and Mayor Duggin. Council member Blotter did not vote because he was absent from the November meeting. Council member Bateman was absent from this meeting and thus did not vote.
4) RYAN STARKS, WASATCH COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR, DISCUSSION AND CONSIDERATION OF RENEWAL OF ENTERPRISE ZONES WITHIN TOWN OF DANIEL
Council member Bunker reported to the Council that the Daniel Planning Commission recommended that the Enterprise Zone previously established in 2007 should be renewed with the same boundaries. Council member Turner asked if any property owners’ in these designated areas had given comment to the Planning Commission. Mr. Bunker replied that no owners had commented, but they had not been contacted for comment.
Council member Turner expressed his opinion to Mr. Starks that the “enterprise zone” designation really doesn’t provide much benefit to a business owner and that the state should realize this is just a “token at best”. He hoped that someone at the state level would find a way to provide more assistance to businesses.
When there was no more discussion, Mayor Duggin asked for a motion. Council member Blotter moved to accept Resolution 2012-12-03 renewing the Enterprise Zone designation within the boundaries established in 2007. Council member Bunker seconded the motion, and the motion passed by the following vote: Duggin, aye; Bunker, aye; Blotter, aye; Turner, aye. Council member Bateman was absent.
5) DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE REFUND OF PERMIT FEES PAID BY MIKE ASHBY FOR RADIO TOWER
This agenda item was initiated by Mayor Duggin. After attending several emergency preparedness meetings hosted by Wasatch County, Homeland Security, and FEMA, Mayor Duggin has realized that in the event of an emergency, communications may be reduced or become non existent by ordinary means. Having a ham radio operator and tower in our town would be of enormous benefit to all of the residents. He suggested that the Town might consider refunding part or all of the permitting fees that Mr. Mike Ashby has paid to the Town. Mayor Duggin emphasized that Mr. Ashby did not request this benefit, and in fact, Mr. Ashby did not know that Mayor Duggin was making this suggestion to the Council.
Mr. John Glodowski thought that it would be fair to refund any portion of the fees deposited but not spent. Council member Turner also thought this to be an excellent idea since Mr. Ashby’s radio and skills would be a great public beneficial use in an emergency.
Council member Bunker asked how much of the $500 fee deposit had been spent. Recorder Merry Duggin replied that the charges have come to $327.25. Mr. Ryan Taylor also informed the Council that Mr. Ashby is allowed to install one more radio tower under his current permit, but he has not yet done so. Council member Bunker stated that since the work may not be completed, he felt that this discussion was premature. Mayor Duggin agreed that the Council should wait until a later date to consider any refund of fees.
6) CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ADOPTION OF DANIEL ORDINANCE 2012-12-03 ESTABLISHING MEETING SCHEDULES FOR PUBLIC MEETINGS FOR 2013
After examining the proposed 2013 meeting schedule, Council member Bunker suggested that the Council consider changing the Town Council meeting time from 5:30PM to 6:00 PM. He then moved to adopt the schedule with the meeting time change to 6:00 PM. Council member Turner seconded the motion, and the ordinance was approved by the following vote: Bunker, aye; Turner, aye; Duggin, aye; Blotter, opposed. Council member Bateman was absent.
7) REPORT ON TOWN OF DANIEL’S 2012 AUDIT PERFORMED BY GILBERT & STEWART, CPA
Recorder Merry Duggin reported that the audit is almost complete and had hoped to present it to the Council at this meeting, but it will be a day or two before the documents will be delivered. Ms. Duggin will deliver the audit by email to the Council as soon as it is received.
8) PLANNING REPORT
Council member Bunker reported that the Planning Commission recommends that Daniel Town not adopt the new road specifications that have been adopted by Wasatch County at this time.
The Planning Commission also had discussed a recent annexation of land into the Charleston Water District and thought that Town of Daniel should hold a public hearing on the issue. Mayor Duggin thanked the Planning Commission for its recommendation, but the deadline for protest had already passed.
Engineer Ryan Taylor presented Mark Davis who represents a potential buyer of property on Little Sweden Rd. The property encompasses approximately 37 acres in 3 parcels, but the large southern parcel is not a lot of record and is not a buildable lot and does not have road frontage. The northern parcel has a small home built on it which the prospective owner would prefer to leave in place, and he is considering how the property may be used. After discussing the Town code, the Council offered following options were offered to Mr. Davis to discuss with his client. 1) Remove the existing home, and this would make the back acreage buildable. 2) Seek a variance from the Board of Appeals. (The Council made clear that the applicant would have very high standards to meet in order to qualify for a variance.) 3) The new owner could build a private road to Town standards to access the back property and then build a residence on the back acreage. This would be a private road to be maintained by the owner. If this option is chosen the northern parcel would also have to be increased from its current acreage up to our 5 acre minimum.
The Council indicated that they would like to work with new owners, but the Council members could not guarantee any future changes to the Town code. An applicant is always welcome to request a code change.
9) DANIEL MUNICIPAL WATER ISSUES
Kim Norris reported that the meter readings have shown at least 4 customers who used large amounts of water in November, and those customers will be billed with no discount on their over use. All users were warned in May 2012 that no discounts would be applied to this winter’s usage, and a copy of that letter has been delivered to the over users to remind them of the notice. The hope is that these customers will moderate their use for the rest of the winter months. Many users have drastically reduced their winter usage compared to last year.
It was decided by the Council that any future notices to heavy users for the winter months should be sent by certified or registered mail to provide a documentation of notice received.
Daniel Municipal’s Manager Gary Walton informed the Council that the system is considering software changes to facilitate billing. It was determined that we will use personnel and resources that are already in our system first. If necessary, Daniel Municipal will consult with Master Meter for their assistance, but cost is a significant consideration in this issue. Mr. Kim Norris felt that Master Meter’s software is already designed to work well and would have competent personnel to assist in the event of problems with the software. Mayor Duggin agrees that this is always an option.
10) RECORDER’S OFFICE: WARRANT APPROVAL, ANNOUNCEMENTS AND COURT UPDATES, ETC.
Council member Blotter moved to approve the warrants as presented. Council member Turner seconded the motion. The motion passed by the following vote: Duggin, aye; Blotter, aye; Turner, aye; Bunker, opposed. Council member Bateman was absent.
Council member Bunker asked how we keep track of the permit fee billing to see if the fees collected from the applicant cover the fees billed by Epic Engineering. Mr. Ryan Taylor of Epic Engineering replied that this accounting has been done on a yearly total basis rather than on an individual permit basis. Council member Turner felt that individual permit fee accounts would be a good piece of information to provide to the Council. Recorder Merry Duggin will add this accounting to the monthly warrant sheet for future meetings.
Council member Bunker also expressed displeasure that he (as the Planning Director) had not received information concerning some permits issued by Epic Engineering and insisted that this situation would not be tolerated. Problems in the permit issuance process will be corrected, according to Engineer Ryan Taylor.
Mayor Duggin displayed a beautiful book on the work of artist Leconte Stewart that has been presented to the Town by our Town attorney, Dale Gardiner. Mayor Duggin offered to lend the book to anyone interested in enjoying it (Mr. Lambert Deegan has borrowed the book), and the Mayor suggested that the book might eventually be donated to the Wasatch County Library for all to enjoy.
Recorder Duggin informed the Council that the Town is nearing the end of the litigation with West Daniels Land Association and hoped that the issues will be resolved by the end of 2012.
11) ADJOURN
Council member Turner moved to adjourn. After a second from Council member Blotter and a unanimous vote by the Council members present, Mayor Duggin adjourned the meeting at 7:20 PM.
Merry Duggin,
Recorder