Public Comment:
I did not note down any public comments.
MOTION: Approval of Meeting Minutes for City Council Regular Session – October 21, 2014. Approved unanimously with minor changes
MOTION: Ratifying the Mayor’s Appointments to the Highland City Economic Development Committee – Jennifer Frampton and Brent Reed. Approved unanimously.
“UNHAPPINESS IS THE HUNGER TO GET; HAPPINESS IS THE HUNGER TO GIVE.”1
There were about 25 people in attendance. Many were present to share their views on the appraisal process used to establish a value of the open space land which has been approved to sell to adjoining residents.
The city recorder asked each councilman to share their concerns (if any) prior to the upcoming city council meeting (2-Dec-2014), where this will be discussed. If you have a viewpoint on this issue please attend and share it with the council.
Here is a copy of the email I sent:
William George Jordan, was a strong advocate of changing the focus of education. In 1891 at the age of 27 he left his position as editor of Current Literature in NYC to lecture on “Mental Training” in Chicago. He had developed a series of 10 lectures on educating the mind:
The Indescribable and Analysis 
Thirty residents attended the council meeting. Fifteen were scout affiliated (youth, leaders, parents), thirteen were there to discuss the Ashford Care Center north wall, one about the Dry Creek trail closing, and one good friend (thanks Mike) came for moral support.
The following is the 2nd chapter from William George Jordan’s first book, The Kingship of Self-Control, 1898. After elections are over, I often wish everyone had read this before the campaigns started. Oh well, I’m sharing it now. It is a great read anytime.
The second most deadly instrument of destruction is the gun—the first is the human tongue. The gun merely kills bodies; the tongue kills reputations and, ofttimes, ruins characters. Each gun works alone; each loaded tongue has a hundred accomplices. The havoc of the gun is visible at once. The full evil of the tongue lives through all the years; even the eye of Omniscience might grow tired in tracing it to its finality.
Fourteen residents attended the meeting. Most were either residents of the Ashford assisted living center or are associated with the facility (e.g. have relatives that live there or work there). Note, I particularly enjoy the interactivity that the mayor allows us to have with attendees. I believe it allows residents to feel that their voice is heard and provides us with the opportunity to learn.
Public Comment:
The public comment time was used exclusively by the Ashford contingent. All comments (5) were requests that the council revise the code associated with the Senior Care and Assisted Living Overlay (SCALO) to allow a wrought iron fence to be built on the north side of the property (see yellow line on the image above) rather than a 6’ wall. The wall is required by code and has already been built on the east side of the property. The owner posted a bond in December of 2013 to build a wall on the N side in order to obtain a certification of occupancy from the city. Their comments included the following:
The City Council and the Mayor heard from several residents of the City concerning the amount of traffic and the speed of the traffic on the east and west sides of Country Club Drive. The roads under discussion are highlighted in the map below.
Here are the meeting notes courtesy of council member Jessie Schoenfeld:
I was his nominal “boss”. However, I received more counsel and advice from him than I gave. Bob was a master of asking good questions and using them as a gentle teaching tool.
I really can’t recall a time when he was critical of anyone. He may have thought something could have been done different but he never turned that into a negative comment about an individual.
The Power of Truth was written by William George Jordan and first published in 1902. My father encouraged me to read it for years and when I finally did I wondered why I had not read it earlier. It affirms what most of us believe but don’t articulate. It offers insights into human nature that provides comfort and can inspire us to become the kind of people God would have us be. It is on my must read list. This is one of the few books that you can turn to any page, put your finger anywhere on the page and find a quotable quote in the paragraph that your finger is on.The Power of Truth was Jordan’s third book. The Kingship of Self-Control (1898) and The Majesty of Calmness(1900) preceded it. In typical Jordan style the name of the book is also the title of the first chapter.
Eighteen people attended the council meeting. Most (14) were from Windsor and were there to add their voice to the discussion on park usage policy. One resident stayed through to the end. A fair amount of emails had been sent to council members prior to the meeting regarding the development of a park usage policy. Specifically, these message voice their opposition to using Windsor Meadows Park for any organized sport activities. I had expected this to be a contentious meeting but it was not. Although people had divergent views everyone was respectful. I would count this as one of the better council meetings. Thanks to all who attended.
Windsor Meadows Park, 4.2 acres, pavilion, basketball court, playground
“A prisoner was attempting to escape from a tower. He found a rope in his cell that was half as long enough to permit him to reach the ground safely. He divided the rope in half, tied the two parts together, and escaped. How could he have done this?”
Half the students were asked to imagine themselves as the prisoner locked inside the tower (“prisoner group”). The other half were asked to imagine someone else trapped in the prison (“imaginary group”). Forty-eight percent of those who imagined themselves trapped in the tower escaped, while sixty-eight percent of those who imagined someone else solved the dilemma (the prisoner unwound the rope and tied the strands together). Three more related experiments in the same study found that participants were more creative or had better solutions when thinking of someone else. The only variable was the switch from me to we. [p. 40-41]
In the specific experiment, students who pictured someone else being in the tower were 42% more likely to solve the problem than those who imagined themselves in the tower.
Here’s another interesting reference from Catalyst [p.46] regarding me-centric v. we-centric behavior:
Tribal Leadership coauthor Dave Logan discovered that 76 percent of company cultures are me-centered. The more me-centered the culture, the worse the company’s financial performance.
I found it comforting to know that we are wired to be more successful in solving problems when we are serving others. Could it be that Christ’s commandment to love our neighbor and serve others comes with the hidden blessing of being more creative? It makes me wonder what other hidden blessings are waiting to be “proved” with respect to these or other commandments.
The primary purpose of this meeting was to review and discuss the types of activities that would be appropriate for each city park.
North Utah County Aquifer Association Project.
The engineer involved in creating a report discussed the aquifers in N. Utah County and how they can be recharged, reviewed with us his report, and discussed a pilot recharge project being conducted in the AF debris basin. It was an interesting report.
Thirteen people attended the council meeting. Three stayed through to the end (sometimes there are none). For me the most interesting part of the council meeting were the public appearances. I was very impressed by Brandon and the follow-up he has done on dealing with complaint about the disc golf course. I especially enjoyed Devirl’s remarks after receiving his certificate. They were very positive regarding the direction the city is moving.
Public Comment: There were about 13 people in attendance. 3 stayed until the end.
In 1998 I was involved in launching a new product which fell flat in spite of a very successful start. At the time, I was the global head of marketing for a small public company. We had developed a prototype of a USB authentication token we called the iKey which, although it looks very familiar today, at that time it was a novel form factor.
I arrived at the meeting about 30 minutes late. So I missed the public comments and the award presentation to Jeremy Barlow . Please refer to the formal agenda on the city website and the meeting presentation for more complete background info all issues. All decisions made were unanimous.
Public Comment: There were about 25 people in attendance when I arrived. I expect there were 10 or 20 more there for the award presentation.
Proclamation of Appreciation – Jeremy Barlow.
PROCLAMATION
EXPRESSING APPRECIATION TO
JEREMY BARLOW
HIGHLAND CITY SEASONAL PARKS EMPLOYEE
WHEREAS, Highland City recognizes the importance of the Highland City Parks Department; and
WHEREAS, Highland City appreciates Jeremy and the time he works utilizing his qualifications, institutional knowledge and expertise for the betterment of Highland City; and
WHEREAS, Highland Glenn Park is within the boundaries of Highland City and is frequented by residence of Highland as well as visitors from surrounding cities for swimming and other recreating activities; and
WHEREAS, On August 5th 2014 Jeremy Barlow noticed a panicked father pulling his 3 year old daughter from the water in Highland Glenn Park and as while being brought to shore immediately noticed the seriousness of the situation; and
WHEREAS, Jeremy rushed to the aid of the Father and child and again immediately recognized the child not breathing initiated Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. (CPR); and after 40-50 compression revived the child.
Note all votes cast for motions were unanimous. There was a passionate discussion on Highland Urban Deer Control Program. Please refer to the formal agenda on the city website and the meeting presentation for more complete background info all issues. All decisions made were unanimous.
APPEARANCES
Public Comment: There were about 46 people in attendance.
The city administrator and mayor recently received a petition from a group of residents (98 signatories) who wish to repeal the ordinance allowing bow hunting of deer within city limits. Here is the text from the petition:
I worked on the campaign of a primary candidate a couple of years ago (made phone calls, sent e-mails, distributed signs …). It was an interesting process and although the candidate I worked for lost I would do it all again.
Note all votes cast for motions were unanimous. There was a good amount of citizen interaction on two issues: Highland’s Urban Deer Management Program and Safety and Road Condition Issues on W Country Club Drive. Thanks to those who participated: Dale Wheeler, Brian Cook, Linda Walton, Devirl Barfuss, Lynn Bullock, Dave Dorton, and Rachel Springer.
Please refer to the formal agenda on the city website and the meeting presentation for more complete background info all issues.
The council received the following note from the Mayor’s office on Monday June 30th.
“Fire Chief Brad Freeman has discussed his concern regarding fire hazards due to upcoming holiday fireworks with Mayor Thompson and upon his recommendations Mayor Thompson has issued an Executive Order Restricting Firework and Open Burning for parts of Highland City.
This order will stay in effect until the Chief and the Mayor feels the circumstances improve. This order may also be increased or decreased the areas restricted during this time. For your information I have attached the order and the map showing the restricted areas. This has also been placed on the doors and front counter at city hall, on our website, distributed to the police department and Chief Freeman has provided a map to all firework stands in Highland for display. “
Below is a copy of the Executive Order:
Here is the meeting agenda with my notes in line (in italics)
APPEARANCES
Here is the meeting agenda with my notes in line
APPEARANCES
I recently learned a new lesson when reading the sermon on the mount Matthew 5-7. As I was reading I was struck by the number of times Christ referred to the Father. When I reviewed the chapters I found that there were 3 references to Him in chapter 5, 12 references in chapter 6, and 2 references in chapter 7. Here is how they break down:
Here is the agenda and my brief comments on each item:
APPEARANCES
Here are some quick bits of information:
Agenda:
Highland Fling 2014: Ron Jewett discussed the upcoming fling. He pointed out that they expect to raise significantly more funds this year than last. They are already well ahead of last year in terms of ads for the Fling Booklet (Good job Emily!). One issue is that because the Fling budget only reflects net costs (expenses less anticipated revenues) when they try to spend more than the budgeted amount difficulties arise even though there are offsetting revenues from sponsors. Our finance director will look into how this can be resolved.. Evidently public accounting practices make this less than straightforward. Here is a video from last year’s Fling that was put together by one of the sponsors.
The most interesting part of the council meeting was the Road Maintenance Presentation and Discussion, which I will discuss at the end of the post. Here is a brief summary of the votes which were taken:
| # | Description | Pass/Fail |
| 1. | Motion: Ratify the Mayors Appointment of Kristi Vick to the Open Space Committee | P |
| 2. | Motion: Ratify the Mayors Appointment of Scott Smith to the Library Board | P |
| 3. | Ordinance: Amend Municipal Code 15.04.010, Adopting State Construction Code. | P |
| 4. | Motion: Final Plat Approval for Pinnock Estates | P |
| 5. | Ordinance: Amend Chapters 12.30 & 13.31, Removal of Neighborhood Trails | P |
The meeting was very interactive and since I was involved in the meeting I was not able to take notes. Lesson learned: ask someone to be the note taker for future meetings. Here is my brief summary which includes a link to the slides I used for my presentation.
PRESENTATIONS
CALL TO ORDER – Mayor Mark Thompson
Goal Setting Work Session
ADJOURNMENT
Essentially the meeting had no agenda so each council member prepared based on their expectation of what the meeting would be like. Here is the text of an email I sent to council members prior to the meeting:
Below is the meeting agenda with my comments in italicized text.
This week’s agenda had only three motions, a presentation by Republic Garbage, and one staff report. Prior to the start of the meeting Kasey Wright gave a short presentation on Open Meetings, ethics and disclosures. He did a good job making it informative and fun.
Prior to the meeting Gary LeCheminant, city finance director, sent the council answers to questions that were raised last council meeting about the audit.
During the time allotted for council members to make comments there was an extended discussion on the changes to the minutes and agendas I requested last council meeting. We unanimously agreed that we wanted to include action items in =-the minutes as part of a summary section and to include unfinished action items in the agenda section. I volunteered to send a sample of what this would look like to the city recorder.
I attended this meeting via telephone as I was out of town on business, Prior to the formal council meeting a 30 minute work session was held to listen to a sales pitch by representatives of Dubli, an online shopping portal that offers discounts to shoppers on purchases made at linked stores.
Workshop (Dubli) Summary
Anyone can sign up for a free Dubli account and receive discounts at stores (from what I saw the discounts ranged from 1% to 26% depending on the merchant and product) and travel sites linked through Dubli’s portal. Increased discounts are available for those who sign up for one of two levels of premium membership (Premium ~$60/yr, or VIP $99/yr).
