Town of Daniel
Town Council Meeting and Public Hearing Minutes
February 2, 2009
Wasatch County Services building
Room 132
55 South 500 East
Heber City, Utah
5:30 PM
This regularly scheduled meeting was called to order by Mayor Michael Duggin at 5:35 PM.
Quorum present: Mayor Mike Duggin, Council members Heather Bateman, Jon Blotter, Eric Bunker, and Gary Walton. Recorder Merry Duggin was present to record the minutes.
Members of the public signing as being in attendance: Lambert Deegan, Jeff Pitts, Clair Averett, Kim Norris, Kipp Bangerter, Darwin McGuire, Gary Weight, Mike Averett, R. Hinckley. The Recorder noted others present who did not sign the roster.
1) BUSINESS LICENSE APPLICANTS
Jeff Pitts requested a license for his business JTP Consulting located at 3052 S. Daniels Rd. He performs personality testing for law enforcement agencies and other job applicants. He will operate a home office, but the work will be done off site at other business locations. Mr. Pitts will work under his partner’s professional license which he promised to provide to the Council. Mayor Duggin moved that this business license request be approved. Council member Blotter seconded the motion, and the Council voted unanimously to approve the license. The license was given to Mr. Pitts by Council member Bunker.
2) INFORMATIONAL PRESENTATION ON WINDMILL POWER BY DANIEL RESIDENT JIM MCCLEARY of 2649 S. Teancum Court. Mr. McCleary passed out pamphlets and pictures to those present depicting a wind turbine for home use. According to Mr. McCleary the recommended tower height would be 65-85 feet, and the windmill would produce about enough energy for one home. Additional power, if any, could be sold to the power grid. This is a small unit which is not too visible from far away, with virtually no noise, plugs into the house, and is held in place by 4 guy-wires. Mr. McCleary stated that this system is probably not cost efficient (at approximately $40,000), but it is clean and without any impact to the environment with little visual impact to the valley. He also suggested that in today’s environment perhaps we should all be looking at energy conservation and “green” power.
Mayor Duggin noted that our municipal code allows structures only up to 35’ (in the RA 5 zone), and this could be an issue for the Planning Commission to review. He stated that he had seen this sort of windmill and had observed that it is remarkably quiet. He also thought that it would be desirable to be looking toward “green” forms of energy for our residents.
Lambert Deegan stated that our town would be prestigious to have the first wind producing capacity in the county, but the windmill’s location must not be a problem visually or affect anyone else’s property. Boots Crisler was concerned that if we allowed windmills, we might have them all over, but Claire Averett pointed out that the cost and inconsistency of wind speed would be a problem for most residents.
Council member Bunker stated that our general plan speaks to “green” energy, and we should send this issue to the Planning Commission. Council member Walton moved that we should ask the Planning Commission to look at renewable energy for Daniel residents. The motion was seconded by Council member Bateman, and the Council voted unanimously to send this issue to the Planning Commission for review and recommendation to the Daniel Town Council.
3) CULINARY WATER CAPITAL FACILITY PLAN prepared by Epic Engineering for the Town of Daniel dated January 2009. Mr. Ryan Taylor of Epic Engineering looked at the existing Daniel Municipal culinary water system and its needs for the future. The system currently owns two springs, two storage tanks, one pump station, and moves the water from the lower tank to the upper tank for distribution to approximately 155 connections. There is a possibility of adding other private systems to the Municipal system in the future, and this is considered in the plan. Mr. Taylor praised the efforts of the Daniel Domestic company personnel in keeping this system operational with minimal problems over the years, but he predicted that as the system ages, it will become more difficult to maintain. The current storage capacity of 130,000 gallons is not adequate to meet the needs of the system for peak demand and fire flow. The system should currently have 430,000 gallon storage to meet the minimum requirements. Future growth of Daniel is predicted to be possibly 550-600 connections at final build out.
Mr. Taylor’s recommendations for phase one of the plan include: 1) a new pump station to provide redundancy in case of equipment problems, 2) a well to provide storage for excess water and redundancy in case a problem should develop with the springs, 3) a new 800,000 gallon storage tank to meet future demand and fire flows. The cost estimation of these improvements including upgrading existing pipelines would be $4.3 million.
Phase two would connect other private companies in the area to Daniel Municipal. A new 300,000 gallon tank and new pipelines in the Storm Haven area could cost $2.1 million.
Phase three includes expansion of the system into areas not currently served by the Municipal system to increase fire flows to the entire town which could cost $2.2 million. Total costs of the plan could be $8.7 million which might be funded by a number of options including grants and loans, impact and connection fees, and an increase in user fees. In discussion, Council member Blotter suggested that a base rate must make sense for most families, and Mr. Taylor noted that the rates must cover the cost of running the system. Boots Crisler stated that on average 1 to 3 wells a year have been going dry in Daniel and predicted that more users would want to connect to the system. People are now being made aware of the probability that they will be paying more for less water. It was also noted that in the future, new users of the system would have to transfer water rights to the company in addition to paying higher than current connection fees.
The motion to accept the Culinary Water Capital Facility Plan was made by Council member Blotter and seconded by Council member Walton. In discussion, Council member Bunker had questions concerning fire flows and water rights. Mayor Duggin read Daniel Resolution DR 2009-02-02 to adopt the plan as a guideline but not a mandate for maintenance and development of the Municipal Water Company, and he called for a vote. The motion passed by the following vote: Bunker, nay; Walton, aye; Duggin, aye; Blotter, aye; Bateman, aye.
Though the agenda made no mention of the Jordanelle Special Service District (JSSD), this topic of discussion was raised by Jim McCleary. Mayor Duggin informed those present that the JSSD has been permitted to discharge 250,000 gallons per day of treated wastewater into the Timpanogos and Wasatch Canals as a beneficial use when it begins operations and will eventually be allowed to discharge up to one million gallons per day. His greatest concern is pharmaceuticals which cannot be removed from the water and some persistent antibiotic resistant bacteria and hormones for the long term effects that may buildup over time. No one knows what the long term effects of this will be. Council member Walton noted that the public notice concerning the JSSD did not sufficiently explain what was happening, and he stated that our irrigation water should come from the Jordanelle Reservoir, not the JSSD facility. He felt that this effluent should be used to water golf courses and landscaping in the JSSD area. Dr. Ronald Hinckley had spoken to officials from several agencies. He stated that they cannot answer all the questions about pharmaceuticals and pathogens. County Council Chair Kipp Bangerter was present and stated that he had always been told that the discharge would be to the Provo River, and he did not hear about the canal situation until he was contacted by Mayor Duggin.
4) INFORMATIONAL PRESENTATION BY MERRY DUGGIN, RECORDER, CONCERNING THE 2009 MUNICIPAL ELECTION. Ms. Duggin reminded the Council members of the election that will be held November 3 in which Daniel Town will elect a mayor and two Town Council members. She informed the Council that a primary must be held if more than two candidates file for any one office, and she believed that it would be difficult for Daniel Town to pay for a primary election. She noted that the Utah State Code (UCA§ 20A-9-404) allows a municipality to pass an ordinance to adopt a bi-partisan convention option whereby the 2 parties nominate candidates and avoid the primary election problem. She indicated that she will seek more information and ask the Council for direction on this matter in the future. No action was taken.
5) APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JANUARY 5, 2009 MEETING. This item was taken out of order. A motion to approve the minutes as presented was made by Council member Walton and seconded by Council member Bateman. Council member Bunker questioned a statement made by Mr. Harry Weyandt concerning a block wall. The recorder indicated that Mr. Weyandt had in fact made the statement. The motion passed by a unanimous vote.
6) COMMITTEE REPORTS
PLANNING. No report.
CDBG. The application has been filed, and we are waiting to hear if we will receive an award.
SNOWPLOW. Council member Walton expressed gratitude to the county for their cooperation. Equipment and personnel is a big issue. We’ve had a lot of storms, and the bill is higher than we had hoped, but it costs money to do this job.
WATER COMPANY. The water rights deed will be recorded.
RECORDER’S OFFICE. The recorder presented the Council members and Town officers with humorous t-shirts to commemorate the third birthday anniversary of Daniel Town.
7) ADJOURN. Council member Bunker made the motion to adjourn, which was seconded by Council member Walton, and the motion passed by a unanimous vote. Mayor Duggin adjourned the meeting at 7:35PM.
Merry Duggin,
Recorder