Town of Daniel
Daniel Town Council Meeting
February 1, 2010
Wasatch County Services building
Room 132
55 South 500 East
Heber City, Utah
5:30 PM
Quorum present: Mayor Michael Duggin, Council members Kasey Bateman, Jon Blotter, Eric Bunker, and Lance “Chip” Turner were present. Recorder Merry Duggin was present to record the minutes.
Mayor Duggin called the regularly scheduled meeting to order at 5:30 PM.
Members of the public in attendance: Lambert Deegan, Boyd Hooper, Paul Washburn, Simon Timms, Gary Hooper, Mike Hooper, Bill Fairbanks, Kraig Powell, Ed Pressgrove, Gary Weight, and Shelly Bunker.
1) PUBLIC COMMENT.
No person came forward when Mayor Duggin asked for public comment.
2) SUNDANCE ACADEMY—INFORMATION PRESENTATION BY PAUL WASHBURN AND BOYD HOOPER
Mr. Washburn and Mr. Hooper, representing Sundance Academy, a proposed boarding school for young women ages 13-17 with learning disabilities but with no drug or behavior problems, informed the Town Council that they would like to establish a home for disabilities at the William Fairbanks property at 1766 E. Little Sweden Rd., Daniel, UT 84032. Council member Bunker explained that a home for disabilities according to our current ordinances.(Daniel Municipal Code 8.21.17) is allowed in any residential zone, limited to 8 residents, and must be a mile away from any other similar homes in Daniel. Mr. Washburn asked what would happen if there were more than 8 residents. Mayor Duggin responded that for now the number is 8, and an increase would require a zone change. (Recorder notes that Mayor Duggin may have meant to say a “code” change rather than “zone” change.) This change could be requested in July and would be acted upon by November according to our current procedures. Council member Bunker further explained that the home would require a business license from Town of Daniel, licensing by the State of Utah, and must be approved by the Wasatch County Health Department and Fire Department. Mayor Duggin emphasized that the school would have to comply with all state regulations governing such homes and/or schools, and he suggested that the school representatives would want to present their proposal before the Daniel Planning Commission.
Though not on the agenda, Mayor Duggin recognized Representative Kraig Powell and asked him if he would like to address the meeting. Rep. Powell represents our District 54 in the Utah State Legislature, and he highlighted a few pending bills that might be of interest to our local governments. Council member Turner commended Rep. Powell for his efforts to communicate with his constituents, and he asked if there were any efforts to assist small business. Rep. Powell felt that the best way that the legislature could help business was an effort to keep all forms of taxation as low as possible. In concluding his remarks, Rep. Powell distributed his business card with his contact information and encouraged everyone present to communicate with him at every opportunity.
3) NOMINATION AND APPOINTMENT FOR THE DANIEL TOWN CLERK/RECORDER POSITION BY MAYOR DUGGIN AND TOWN COUNCIL
Mayor Duggin indicated that he would like to reappoint Merry Duggin, the current Recorder to the position of Clerk/ Recorder. Council member Bunker moved to approve this nomination, and Council member Turner seconded the motion. The Council voted unanimously to reappoint Merry Duggin as the Clerk/ Recorder for Town of Daniel.
4) APPROVAL OF MINUTS FOR THE JANUARY 4, 2010 MEETING
Council member Bunker moved to approve the minutes as presented. Council member Turner seconded the motion, and the Council approved the minutes by a unanimous vote.
5) NOMINATION AND APPOINTMENT OF DEPUTY TREASURER BY MAYOR DUGGIN AND TOWN COUNCIL
Current treasurer Dan Harvath has indicated that he would like to resign and has requested that a deputy treasurer be appointed to train with him for the treasurer position. Town of Daniel received two resumes from prospective candidates which were provided to the Council members prior to the meeting for their review. After discussion, Mayor Duggin indicated that he would like to nominate candidate Sherri Price. Council member Blotter began to make a motion, but he then deferred to Council member Turner who moved to offer the position to Sherri Price based on her experience as indicated by her resume. Council member Bateman seconded the motion. Mayor Duggin called for a vote. Duggin, aye; Bunker, aye; Blotter, aye; Turner, aye; Bateman, abstain. The deputy treasurer at will training position will be offered to Sherri Price. It was agreed that the $400.00 per month stipend paid to the Treasurer would be split between the current treasurer and the deputy treasurer.
6) CONSIDERATION OF FLOOD DAMAGE PREVENTION ORDINANCE AND RESOLUTION TO COOOPERATE WITH THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY IN THE AREAS OF FLOOD HAZARD MANAGEMENT WITHIN THE TOWN OF DANIEL
This issue had come before the Planning Commission in January 2010, but the Planning Commission was not ready to make a recommendation. As this matter will affect a number of property owners in Town of Daniel, the Planning commission Council member Bunker felt that it would be a good idea to hold a public hearing so that residents would be allowed more input. The public hearing will be held at the next Planning Commission meeting of February 17, 2010.
Gary Weight noted that our current Daniel Code accepts the FEMA flood map and wondered if we actually needed to do anything further. Ryan Taylor of Epic Engineering took the podium to give the Council his analysis of the FEMA flood ordinance as follows: Adoption of this ordinance by the Town Council will allow property owners in the flood designated plain to purchase flood insurance at reduced rates, and the insurance rates will be transferable if the property is sold. He could see no reason not to adopt this proposed ordinance except that the ordinance asks the Town to appoint a flood manager and applications for permits in the flood plain areas will require more steps than applications not in the flood plain areas. But these would be things that good engineering would require anyway.
Council member Bateman noted that 99% of the Storm Haven neighborhood is in the flood plain area.
7) CONSIDERATION OF AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING POLICY AND PROCEDURE FOR APPROVAL OF WRITTEN MINUTES FOR PUBLIC MEETINGS OF DANIEL TOWN CONTINUED FROM JANUARY 4, 2010
Because Utah State Code now requires that a municipality establish procedures for approval of written minutes, Recorder Merry Duggin had brought this proposed ordinance before the Town Council at the January 4, 2010 meeting. Council member Bunker asked her to clarify 2 issues in the proposed ordinance. At the February meeting Ms. Duggin returned with the clarifications: 1) the ordinance allows for appointed persons other than the recorder to record minutes, and 2) the state statute does not define a time frame for minutes to be made available to the public other than “a reasonable time after the end of the meeting”. Ms. Duggin went on to remind the Council that the proposed ordinance was sent to the Recorder by the Utah League of Cities and Towns and has some provisions that are not required by the Open and Public Meeting Act statues, (UCA 52-4-203). Ms. Duggin read a number of the state code sections to illustrate and answer questions presented to her. At the end of the discussion, Council member Bunker still had a number of issues that he wanted to address in the proposed ordinance. Ms. Duggin suggested that we schedule the statutorily required annual Open and Public Meeting Act training session for the February 17 Planning Commission meeting and consider the proposed ordinance after that training has been held. Planning Commissioner Gary Weight requested that the proposed ordinance be presented to the Planning Commission since the ordinance would also govern the handling of the minutes of their meetings as well.
Council member Blotter moved that the ordinance be tabled. Council member Turner seconded the motion, and the Council voted unanimously to table the ordinance. The Open and Public Meeting Act training will be held at a combined Council/Commission meeting at the regularly scheduled Planning Commission meeting time of 7 PM on February 17, 2010.
Lambert Deegan made comments about his frustrations of requesting public information under the GRAMA provisions.
8) DISCUSSION LED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ERIC BUNKER CONCERNING WATER ISSUES, LONG TERM GOALS, AND AMERICAN WATER WORKS ASSOCIATION (AWWA) STANDARDS
Council member Bunker explained that he believed we are at a pivotal point with our water department and presented the Council with a list of standards and issues that he believes we should be addressing with the water department service. Council member Blotter responded that we might be not doing some of the things on the list, and he thought it was a good idea to have someone on the Town Council that would be responsible for overseeing the water department. He also believes that it would be good to hire someone now as the new system is being constructed to move things forward. Mayor Duggin believes that by next year we should have all these items in place, but in the long term we will have to hire someone to manage the water department as it should be managed.
Gary Weight suggested a manager job description would be a good place to start so that the manager knows what he needs to be doing. Lambert Deegan suggested that we must decide what we can afford to pay and what level of skills are needed for the manager position. Shelly Bunker commented that the Council needs someone to be accountable and come before the Council to report what is going on with the water department. Ryan Taylor informed the Council that he believes that in the course of surveying for the new system, the old system is being mapped, and we are moving forward in documenting things.
Council member Bunker emphasized that we want to “stay with the process—not the people” and “conductive improvement—slowly going forward”. Quoting from Council member Bunker’s handout: “With regards to the water company, I think it is the correct time to hire a manager that will have the resources available including the vision, and carry out a plan for the water company and for the Town that will take the water municipality well into the future.”
9) COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Daniel Municipal Water: Ryan Taylor reported that the well is at 370’, and it hopefully will be completed by Feb. 19. Snow removal has been a problem with the tank construction, and Gordon Construction plans to get back to work in mid February or early March. The pump station work should begin in early March. And the Daniel waterline work can begin soon after the foundation for the pump station has been dug. We have 2 options for the pressure reducing vault, and we will decide which option to take soon. Surveyors have completed the survey for replacing the water lines on Little Sweden, 3000 South, Mill Rd., and Daniel Road and have identified water line valves and gas lines.
Planning: Council member Bunker read a letter that he has sent to Mr. Greg Belt concerning his request for a rebuild letter as a requirement for the refinancing of his property at 4776 Cove Lane in Storm Haven. Mr. Bunker has determined that he will not issue a rebuild letter unless he is directed to do so by the Town Council for a number of reasons indicated in his letter because he believes it would be a liability to the Town. Council member Bateman agreed that we have to follow our codes, but he hoped that we could use our ordinances to assist people in this Storm Haven area so that they can refinance. He pointed out that our code does not have ordinances for small acreages such as in Storm Haven, and he hoped that the Council could work together to get some things done. Council member Turner suggested that the Board of Appeals might be able to decide some of these problem issues. Council member Bunker pointed out that Planning cannot grant a variance. Variances must be granted by the Board of Appeals.
CDBG: The presentation for our grant proposal will be made before the committee on February 2 at 6:45 PM.
10) RECORDER’S OFFICE REPORT:
Recorder Merry Duggin announced that the financial compilation report has been completed and submitted to the Utah State Auditor. A copy can be viewed at the office of the recorder. Warrants for the month were presented and explained.
11) ADJOURN
Council member Turner moved to adjourn. The motion was seconded by Council member Bunker/Bateman/Blotter. The Council voted unanimously to adjourn at 8:30 PM.
Merry Duggin,
Recorder