City Council 2-Dec-2014: Park Bond Refinance, Vote By Mail, Park Maintenance Building

Appearances

1. Public Comment:
   I did not note down any public comments.

Consent Items

2. MOTION: Approval of Meeting Minutes for City Council Regular Session – October 21, 2014. Approved unanimously with minor changes

3. MOTION: Ratifying the Mayor’s Appointments to the Highland City Economic Development Committee – Jennifer Frampton and Brent Reed. Approved unanimously.

4. MOTION: City Council Meetings – 2015 Meeting Schedule:
   January 6 & 20
   February 3 &17
   March 3 & 17
   April 7 & 21
   May 5 & 19
   June 2 & 16
   July 21
   August 4 & 18
   September 1 & 15
   October 6 & 20
   November 17
   December 1
   Approved Unanimously

ACTION ITEMS

5. ORDINANCE: Amending section 13.48 of the Highland Municipal Code - Cemetery Headstones – Approved unanimously

MAYOR/ CITY COUNCIL & STAFF COMMUNICATION ITEMS

6. Park Maintenance Building – Discussion
   The state approved an option to build a building near the west entrance to Highland Glenn Park. The council agreed to put this location on the short list as well as the land to the southeast of the police station and land by the community center. My personal preference for the location of the new building is the west entrance to Highland Glen. It is near our largest parks, is away from a main road, and has ample space.
   
   For those that don’t remember, we need to build a new storage building for park maintenance equipment because we sold the land where the current building is (one the west side of the Meir’s parking lot).
   
   
   
   
   
   

7. Park Bond Refinance – Discussion
   Council agreed to proceed with the paperwork and notifications required to refinance the bond. This would allow us to refinance early next year if we agree that this is the right approach.  Depending on the option we take the city could save $170,000 to $200,000 without extending the term of the current bond.

8. New Phone System - Discussion and Direction
   Our current Cisco phone system is no longer supported by Cisco. In the event it fails our service cost to fix it would be significant. The council approved looking into moving to an upgraded Cisco System or going with a new vendor.

9. Vote by Mail – Discussion and Direction
   After a presentation by the city recorder which included a cost estimate for the upcoming election that was a little more than the cost of the previous municipal election the council on a 3/2 basis recommended that we not use vote by mail only for the next municipal election. I was not in favor of this for a variety of reasons (refer to my post on Vote By Mail Only).  One resident Mike Olson spoke against vote by mail only. His primary concern was the right of secret ballot which would be eliminated in a vote my mail only scenario. In the end it was this argument that tipped the scales. Mike came late to the meeting due to other commitments but was allowed to address the council when this issue came up. One person can make a difference.

Description	Requested by / Owner	Due Date	Status
Certified Impact Fee – Completed Report	City Council Nathan Crane	1st quarter of 2015	Zion's Bank approved – report in progress
Impact Facilities Plan	City Council	1st qtr. 2015	In Progress
Road Capital Improvement Plan for FY 15-16 Prioritize and Communicate to Residents	City Council	January	November – emailed for clarification.
Determine Park Use For Recreation	City Council	1st qtr. 2015	Staff to make recommendations
HW Bldg. – PW Storage Status	City Council Mayor/PW	Dec 2, 2014	See notes above