Daniel Town Council Meeting
Monday, March 2, 2015
Wasatch County Services Building, Room 126
55 South 500 East, Heber City, UT
Quorum present: Council members Kasey Bateman, Eric Bunker, and John Glodowski were present when Mayor Turner called the meeting to order at 6:03 PM. Council member Blotter arrived at 6:05 PM. Recorder Lynne Shindurling was present to record the minutes and Treasurer Sherri Price was also present.
Members of the public in attendance were: Bill and Trudy Brereton, Brandon and Marla Larson, Kim Norris, Eric Bennett, Adam Knight, Mark McAllister, Amy Tudderham, Shawn Morrow, and Jaq Shindurling.
- PUBLIC COMMENT CONCERNING ANY ISSUE NOT ON THE AGENDA
No comment was made.
2) PRESENTATION BY HEBER VALLEY MEDICAL CENTER ON HOSPITAL STRATEGIC PLAN
Administrator of Heber Valley Medical Center, Shawn Morrow, and regional communications director, Amy Tuddenham, used a PowerPoint presentation to update those in attendance on the long-term plan for new services and growth at the hospital, an Intermountain Healthcare facility. Mr. Morrow stated the mission of the hospital is to provide services to the local residents to live the healthiest life possible, making this a health system rather than a healthcare system.
The original hospital building is about 15 years old. In the next five years there will be a new emergency department built out, an additional operating room, a café in the front of the hospital to replace the current rather small cafeteria, and other updates to provide better service to those in need. The hospital in approximately one more month will be a trauma level 5 facility. The changes are scheduled to take place in four phases beginning March 15th. Park City’s hospital located on Highway 40 is a sister hospital to the Heber hospital. Some of the physicians from Park City will begin providing services in Heber as well, and several new physicians will be coming on board to provide services solely in Heber, some of which have specialties currently lacking here in the Heber Valley. The hope long term is to change the current hospital from being a rural hospital to a community-based hospital. The non-profit hospital also engages in charity care, having provided $1.5 million in these services in 2014.
3) BUSINESS LICENSE APPLICANTS
Planning Director Bunker reported having received renewal applications for the following businesses: Timberline Lumber, Smitty’s Small Engine Repair, Phil’s TV & Appliance, BMCI Electric and CCH20. Five new businesses submitted applications for home occupation businesses within the Town of Daniel and appeared before the Council to answer any questions.
First is Adam Knight Plumbing. Mr. Knight stated he moved to Daniel from Midway, Utah, and would like a business license to continue operation of his plumbing business. He reported some of the equipment currently at his home is borrowed for specific projects and will not always be there.
Next was Larson Ground Maintenance. Brandon Larson appeared and reported he does construction and landscaping in Wasatch and Summit Counties, for cities and UDOT, and has a shop on Airport Road in Heber City as well as a small shop at his home located in Storm Haven.
The third new business applying for a business license was JM Trucking located on 3000 South in Daniel. Mark McAllister stated he has recently relocated to Daniel and would like to obtain a license for a home occupation trucking business.
Next appeared Bill and Trudy Brereton who run an electrical business out of their home off of 3000 South called Action Performance Electric. He previously had a license in Heber City and would now like to obtain a home occupation license in Daniel.
The last new business license application was for a company called MVC Construction whose principal is Mark Lloyd. His wife, Phyllis, had brought the application and accompanying fee to Clerk Shindurling stating her husband would not be able to attend the meeting on March 2nd but would like the application to be considered by the Council. Their Daniel home is their principal location for operation of the business, though no equipment is stored there.
With no further discussion, all renewal applications and the 5 new business license applications were approved by the Council.
Brandon Larson inquired if the Storm Haven water system was going to be discussed as an agenda item this evening, having been listed on the agenda as a possible closed session. Mayor Turner replied there would be an update later in the meeting, but not a lot of new information was available at this time.
4) PLANNING DEPARTMENT REPORT
First off Director Bunker reported he had spent 20.25 hours on Blue Stakes-related work during the month of February and 86.75 hours on planning-related matters.
Mr. Bunker then produced a draft of a letter he had written to send to Charles Schultz regarding the buildability of his lot at 815 West 3000 South in Daniel. The Council reviewed the letter in its entirety and discussion was had regarding specific language in the letter. The letter as written cites the Daniel Code relied upon in making the determination. After finalization of the language, a decision was made by the Council to have Mr. Bunker send the letter as the Planning Director acting in an administrative function, since the issue should be a matter before the Planning Commission, rather than from the Council and the Mayor’s Office, as it is an administrative function. Mr. Bunker will prepare it in its final form and send it to Mr. Schultz.
5) DANIEL MUNICIPAL WATER MATTERS AS NECESSARY
Council member Bunker presented a new version of the Daniel Municipal Water Application and Agreement. The Planning Staff had reviewed the document in its monthly Planning meeting and added some verbiage to paragraph 5 and a newly numbered paragraph 10. Ryan Taylor helped prepare some of the language and asked that the Council review it to make sure it is acceptable. Kim Norris, on behalf of the water company, explained the additions. Both paragraph 5 and 10 address various locations on a property which are acceptable for placement of a meter and prevents the cementing of a meter into a driveway. Mayor Turner asked Mr. Norris if this is the document that should be offered to DMW users. He explained the Planning Commission had spent a great deal of time on the verbiage and felt satisfied with the language.
Council member Glodowski moved that the Council accept and adopt the new application as presented, which was seconded by Council member Blotter. The motion passed with unanimous “aye” votes by the Council.
It was noted by Clerk Shindurling that during the Planning Commission meeting, mention was made that in the transfer of ownership of property the documents specified another reading of the meter to bill the past and current owner an appropriate amount. Mr. Norris stated he had had discussion with Gary Walton, the water manager, about the subject and they agree since the meters are read each month, an additional reading would not be necessary, but felt the language stated in the document is fine.
Jaq Shindurling suggested having all new owners of property fill out an application with the water agency, as he had run into a problem in Sandy City upon purchase of a property where he had not been instructed to do so and it created a problem in the water service. Council member Glodowski opined each current water user should receive an application and agreement to fill out and sign so it is on file with DMW in case of future problems. After further discussion it was agreed by the Council to have this application sent out with the April water billing statements and a file maintained with the returned signed documents, hoping to someday have one for each metered residence. The Clerk will have conversation with Joyce Anderson to initiate this process.
Council member Bunker inquired if water service is paid in advance, is it usual practice to not send a bill each month informing the customer how much water usage was recorded on their account. Mr. Norris stated the company would not send anything until the advanced monies have been expended, at which time the customer would then receive a new bill for monies now due.
Kim Norris then asked a question regarding the acquisition of Storm Haven water system, specifically addressed to Council member Bateman, as he lives in the affected area. How much money are the residents able and willing to pay for the upgrade of the system if the Town assumes operation of the system. As the discussion continued, the Clerk felt this fell under item 7 and will be reflected as such in these minutes, though out of order.
7) UPDATE ON STORM HAVEN WATER (POSSIBLE CLOSED SESSION)
Council member Blotter inquired of Mr. Norris if he had a suggestion how the transition should be handled. Council member Bateman expressed his frustration at the suggestion by Mr. Norris that the take-over of the Storm Haven water system has been an undue burden on the residents living within Daniel who are not on that system. He explained that the benefits coming from the additional water shares and upgraded system outweigh the initial costs of the upgrade and is very beneficial to the Town. Mayor Turner explained the Town has applied for grant monies and is hopeful we’ll have other resources to use.
Council member Glodowski asked about the type of meters being used in the Storm Haven area versus the DMW meters, and it was explained the proposed plan is to change to the same auto-read meters DMW has to be more time efficient. In reference to the grant monies which have been applied for, Ryan Taylor commented that the Town qualifies for the monies where a private water company does not. The plan is to NOT put the burden on the DMW personnel to do this work in trying to better the system for a minority of residents. As with the Daniel Municipal water system, the intent is to ultimately fund the improvements in such a way that the system is self-sustaining in the long run with grants and bond repayment, if necessary.
Council member Blotter inquired about the public hearing process when the system has been evaluated and an improvement plan is ready to put into place. Mr. Taylor responded there will be a public hearing in which Town residents can participate to have the plan explained and get any questions answered they might have. Council member Bunker commented the standards are the same here as they were previously, and the State is impressed with the Town of Daniel’s track record in terms of the DMW water system rebuild. They are complimentary of the fact in the end, Town of Daniel has the intention to have one newly built water system to serve its residents.
6) APPROVAL OF COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 2, 2015
Council member Bunker moved to accept the minutes as presented. Council member Bateman made note of a misspelling of Mr. Beeman’s name at one point in the minutes, which will be corrected by the clerk. Council member Glodowski seconded the motion.
At this point Clerk Shindurling commented approval of the warrants was not included in the agenda for the meeting, and to facilitate payment of the Town’s monthly bills, Council member Glodowski moved that the council approve the minutes and accept presentation of the warrants produced during the month of February, which was seconded by Council member Bunker and passed with unanimous “aye” votes.
Clerk Shindurling presented February’s bills for payment explaining the billing from Fabian & Clendenin law firm was for an audit review, which this should be the last time two law firms need to be involved in the review. She then explained for accounting purposes a new category for Storm Haven water will be set up, coming out of the general fund but noted as expenses for engineering, etc., on the water system. There were several overdue balances from Epic Engineering which had not been paid and these were explained to the Council for their approval.
Chris Anderson has set up a dropbox for backup of the Town files for the Recorder’s office and Planning department, the charge being paid for with the Town credit card. There was also purchase of a new printer for Joyce Anderson who handles the water company billing charged on the credit card. As far as archiving documents, the Town is currently using schedules set up by the State and Clerk Shindurling will research if formal adoption of the retention schedules needs to be done by the Town.
Council member Blotter moved to approve the warrants as presented and explained, with a second being made by Council member Bateman. They were approved unanimously by the council.
Mayor Turner added to the discussion on item 7 stating the Town’s attorney, Dale Gardiner, is working on finalizing the contract with Susanne Goodfellow for the acquisition of the Storm Haven water system.
8) ADJOURN
Council member Glodowski moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Council member Bateman. Having passed with unanimous “aye” votes, the Mayor adjourned the meeting at 8:07 PM.
Lynne Shindurling
Clerk/Recorder