DANIEL TOWN COUNCIL MINUTES
MONDAY, MAY 1, 2017 AT 6:00 PM
WASATCH COUNTY SERVICES BUILDING, ROOM 126
55 SOUTH 500 EAST, HEBER CITY, UTAH
Quorum present: Council members Bunker, Glodowski, and Bateman were present when Mayor Turner called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM. Council member Blotter was excused.
Treasurer Sherri Price was present, as was Clerk Lynne Shindurling to record the minutes.
Members of the public in attendance were: Shelly Bunker, Jaye Binkerd, Debbie Walsh, Jaq Shindurling, Jim and Stephanie Woolstenhulme, Rick Walsh, Jesse and Mayloni Mair, Stefanie Grady, Lou Giles, Jamie and Mark McAllister, Justin McAllister, Tricia Steiner, Terry Fabrizio, Misty Giles, Ryan Webb, Tim Bethers, Tamy Weiling, and Ryan Taylor with GDA Engineers.
1) PUBLIC COMMENT CONCERNING ANY ISSUE NOT ON THE AGENDA
No comments were made.
2) DISCUSSION OF ZONE CHANGE AT 2850 S. HIGHWAY 40 ON WHICH PUBLIC HEARING HAS BEEN HELD
Mayor Turner explained this is an agenda item following the public hearing as letters and email had been sent to Planner Bunker and the Council wanted to offer the opportunity for further comments from persons who may not have been able to attend the public hearing.
Jaye Binkerd stated she has looked at the permitted uses in the Daniel Code commercial zone and is concerned about some of the uses listed there if the subject property was to be zoned commercial. She said traffic could become an issue depending on the type of business located thereon. She encouraged those interested to read the code found on the Town’s website danielutah.org.
Lou Giles asked if, by zoning the property in question commercial, the Town would zone the entire length of Highway 40 south to Storm Haven as commercial, or would each piece have to petition the Council to do so. Mayor Turner stated he has heard comment made for and against commercial zoning along the highway corridor. Council member Bunker stated when Daniel incorporated, Wasatch County had already dedicated a 300’ width as commercial but Daniel Town had not rezoned properties on its own. The process in Daniel is application driven by the owners of each parcel.
3) DISCUSSION OF THE PROCESS FOR HANDLING LAND USE VERIFICATION INQUIRIES FROM THE PUBLIC AS BETWEEN THE PLANNER AND ENGINEER
Planner Bunker stated he does use verification and has Ryan Taylor assist in researching particular lots to see when a lot was created and if the result was a legally created lot. Questions are often fielded from real estate agents and potential buyers of property by both men. Planner Bunker stated he has been involved in planning since 2000.
Mr. Taylor said he does not see a more efficient way to handle inquires than having one of these two individuals field the questions, since they are the most knowledgeable.
4) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT WITH THE UTAH DIVISION OF FORESTRY, FIRE AND STATE LANDS, POSSIBLE RESOLUTION
Mayor Turner mentioned he had had discussion with Troy Morgan who stated several local municipalities had the same question on first responder for wildland fires. Mr. Morgan stated the County fire personnel would be the first responders. Mayor Turner also said questions had arisen regarding Section 65A-8-203 in State code in reviewing the cooperative agreement and was told by Mr. Morgan an explanatory letter would be forthcoming from the County in an attempt to answer these questions. His recommendation is that the Town sign the agreement so it does not become liable for the entire cost of fighting a fire.
Council member Bunker expressed concern over several code sections enumerated in the agreement, particularly in regard to the Town having trained personnel on staff. He would like further clarification from the County Fire Marshal and/or a legal opinion from the Town’s attorney.
Lou Giles clarified the section on trained personnel only refers to municipalities which have a firefighting unit set up in the Town, which Daniel does not have a participating entity as referred to in the agreement; therefore, the onus would fall on the County for fire protection.
Council member Bunker is also concerned that the State legislature has not agreed on who will approve the participation and what will qualify. Lou Giles suggested contacting the State Fire Warden and/or Ernie Giles at Wasatch County to get more clarification on what is expected of the participating municipalities.
Council member Bunker moved to continue the discussion on this item until the June meeting. The motion was seconded by Council member Bateman. In further discussion Council member Bunker asked who will contact persons to get questions answered. Mayor Turner stated he will contact Mr. Morgan and would like other Council members to forward questions to him to get the issues clarified. The vote was unanimous to continue the discussion on the cooperative agreement in June.
5) DISCUSSION OF WATER IMPACT FEES AND THE SURRENDER OF WATER SHARES DEALING WITH BUILDING PERMITS
Ryan Taylor, who provided the Culinary Water Impact Fee Facility Plan which was adopted in November 2014, stated the buy-in fee and surrender of water right is spelled out therein. The impact fee is $10,767 and a water right sufficient to support the connection being applied for, which means water will be pumped out of the Daniel Town well rather than the property owner’s well, or diversion of one irrigation water right. Mayor Turner asked if any water right within the state can be transferred or if it must be located within the same drainage. Mr. Taylor explained the water right transfer must be approved by the State engineer and would encompass shares from any irrigation system in the Heber Valley, which equates to .45 acre-feet for indoor use, which is one share of Daniel Irrigation water, or two shares, amounting to approximately .9 acre-feet, if there is outdoor use as well, which is most often surrendered at the time of building a new residence.
Kim Norris asked about the dollar value of a well share which is commonly not listed as to value. Individuals have asked if extra money could be paid over the $10,767 if they do not have a water right connected with the property. Mr. Taylor said the Town has not established a dollar amount and asked if the Town would like to set a market value.
Lou Giles asked if Daniel water could be taken out of the Daniel service area and transferred to Lake Creek to serve a home in Lake Creek. Mr. Taylor responded the local irrigation companies have protested that type of transfer, but the State engineer has overridden their protests and allowed the transfers to take place. Ryan said Daniel Irrigation would not serve a customer out of their service area, but a well could be drilled using the transferred share for a home out of the service area. Mr. Giles suggested Daniel Town should fight to maintain all of their shares within the Daniel service area, as Lake Creek has been successful in their protests to the State and has not transferred their shares outside of their service area. That being said, Mr. Taylor suggested the Town should get legal clarification on moving shares out of their own service area and what shares could be accepted from other services areas.
Council member Bunker asked if the Council wanted to establish a price for well shares, or would “market value” be stated leaving it open-ended, and who would establish the market value. Ryan stated he can research the subject of moving shares out of one service into another and will also look at the process for establishing values. If a value can be established, a resolution could be adopted by the Council. Mayor Turner asked that this be included on the June 5th agenda.
6) BUSINESS LICENSE APPLICANTS
Planner Bunker stated Bart Wilde land Jolley Electric had both applied for renewals. He did not bring the new licenses to the meeting but will forward them to the clerk to enter into the license renewal records. Both were approved by the Council
7) DANIEL MUNICIPAL WATER MATTERS AS NECESSARY, OVERUSE RATES DESIGNED TO PROMOTE CONSERVATION and
8) STORM HAVEN WATER ISSUES AS NEEDED, OVERUSE RATES DISCUSSED
Mr. Norris stated he had researched whether the tiered overuse charges were being added to the Storm Haven customer bills and found they were not being applied correctly. Therefore, communication was had with the software company to institute overuse charges as adopted in Resolution 2015-11-02B. These figures will be used for water bills going out beginning in May and thereafter. He encourages people to be conservative in water use, as this is an area the state and federal loan programs assess when making monetary awards.
9) PLANNING DEPARTMENT REPORT, VIOLATIONS AND ENFORCEMENT
Planning Director Bunker produced his monthly planning report and reviewed several of the listed items, including a letter he had written to the Daniel Irrigation Company. He mentioned the request for condensed housing on a parcel at Daniels Road and Wheeler Road in Heber, the road cut on Highway 189 on the east side of Deer Creek Reservoir scheduled for completion in three years, the county-wide trail system drawn up by the County, a visitors center at the base of Memorial Hill. Local government officials are concerned about taxing EMS services and others with numerous events occurring at the same time throughout the summer which attract large numbers of people.
Mark McAllister asked about properties to be included in the trail system as it goes through Daniel. As there are currently no established routes, the Mayor has stated no one is willing to give up part of their private property to accommodate such an endeavor through Daniel Town.
Planner Bunker further stated shoulder work in Daniels Canyon has begun which will restrict traffic to one lane at times through the summer. Also, the bypass road is still in the planning stage and lands have been acquired and are still being purchased to accommodate the road in the future.
10) DISCUSSION OF DETAILS OF ONLINE BILL PAY OPTIONS FOR WATER CUSTOMERS
Though a number of water customers have expressed an interest in the ability to pay water bills online, the costs at this time have proved to be prohibitive with only the one utility being paid this way, and the Council does not want to institute an online bill pay program yet.
11) APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF APRIL 3, 2017
Council member Bunker moved to approve the minutes as written, which was seconded by Council member Bateman. The motion passed unanimously.
12) PRESENTATION OF THE 2017-2018 TENTATIVE BUDGETS BY LYNNE SHINDURLING AND POSSIBLE AMENDMENT BY THE COUNCIL, SETTING OF PUBLIC HEARING DATE FOR ADOPTION OF FINAL BUDGETS FOR NEXT FISCAL YEAR. REVIEW BY THE CLERK RE DUTIES AND SALARY
The clerk presented the Council with the tentative budget for Storm Haven Water first. Council member Bunker asked to have the engineer’s time spent taking water samples for testing be broken out of the GDA Engineers invoices for both water companies each month.
Second tentative budget presented was for Daniel Municipal Water fund, and the Council had no questions or comments. Lastly, the general fund tentative budget was reviewed with the Council line by line. Some additional line items included in the new software which produces this budget format are included which Daniel Town has not broken out separately beforehand, so this budget has a different appearance from that used in the past. A question arose regarding Workers’ Comp costs, which are included in the insurance policy from the ULGT. This will be researched by the clerk and treasurer. Council member Bunker mentioned the County can be contracted with by individual homeowners to do weed control on their properties, which was not permitted in the past.
Because preliminary figures showed more revenue than expenses, Council member Bunker suggested increasing the budgeted legal expense and the salary expense. After doing this, the tentative budget balanced.
The Council adopted the tentative budgets and set June 5, 2017, the next Council meeting date, as the date for Public Hearing to adopt the 2017-2018 fiscal year’s budgets and amend the current fiscal year’s budgets.
The clerk, at the Mayor’s request, prepared a list of duties performed by the clerk/ recorder for the Town of Daniel. A discussion needs to begin amongst Council members in considering a new person for the clerk’s position and a salary commensurate with the duties performed and time spent in doing so.
13) RECORDER’S OFFICE: WARRANT APPROVAL, ANNOUNCEMENTS, ETC.
The monthly warrants were presented for approval of the Council to pay the bills.
Council member Bateman moved to accept the warrants as presented, which motion was seconded by Council member Glodowski. The motion passed unanimously.
14) ADJOURN
Council member Glodowski moved to adjourn the meeting, which was seconded by Council member Bateman and passed unanimously. Mayor Turner adjourned the meeting at 7:58 PM.
Lynne Shindurling
Clerk/Recorder