City Council 20-Jun-2017: Final Plat approvals, Fireworks and Open Fire Restrictions

10 residents plus Scout Troop 1128 were in attendance.

APPEARANCES

• None.

CONSENT

1. MOTION: Approval of Meeting Minutes for the City Council Regular Session – June 6, 2017 Click here to view the minutes. Approved unanimously with minor changes.

2. MOTION: Final Plat Approval for a 10-lot single family residential subdivision, Stoney Brook located at 4800 West 11350 North – Israel Patterson. Click here to view background info from the agenda. Approved unanimously.



3. MOTION: Final Plat Approval of a 15-lot single family subdivision, Sienna Estates located at 5879 West 10400 North - Daniel Allphin. Click here to view background info from the agenda. unanimously.
   

ACTION ITEMS

4. ORDINANCE: Amending Highland City Municipal Code 12.28 relating to the Approval of Open Span Maintenance Agreements. Click here to view background info from the agenda. After some discussion as to whether the proposed change would create a disincentive to residents who want to go through the process the motion was tabled to give staff time to do additional research. The motion was approved 3 to 2 (Yes: Brian Braithwaite, Dennis LeBaron, Rod Mann; No: Ed Dennis, Tim Irwin).
   

5. RESOLUTION: Adopting Notice of Firework and Open Fire Restrictions. Click here to view background info from the agenda. The fire department recommended adding additional developments to the fireworks and open burning ban in Highland plus banning all private professional fireworks displays. The council ended up voting  3 to 2 (Yes: Brian Braithwaite, Ed Dennis Rod Mann; No: Dennis LeBaron, Tim Irwin) for a motion that kept the additional areas but removed the ban on professional fireworks for private events and asked staff to propose additional restrictions for private displays. A permit is currently required from the city for private event fireworks. Note, Dennis moved to adopt the ordinance as proposed by the fire dept. but did not get a second. The other council members wanted to modify the proposed amendment.
   
   Proposed Restriction:
   
   WHEREAS, The ignition and discharge of ALL fireworks is prohibited within the City of Highland in the following areas:
   Bull River Subdivision Westfield Cove Subdivision
   Hidden Oaks Subdivision Sunset Mnt. Properties
   Hunter Ridge Subdivision Chamberry Fields Subdivision
   Highland Hills Subdivision Mercer Hollow Subdivision
   Beacon Hills Subdivision Country French Subdivision
   View Point Subdivision Mouth of Am. Fork Canyon
   Highland Glen Park Skye Estates
   Dry Creek Highland Subdivision Sterling Pointe
   Highland Oaks; and
   
   WHEREAS, Open fire, camp fires and the igniting and burning in fire pits are prohibited except in landscaped yards in private residence with a hose or fire extinguisher nearby. Small portable screened fire enclosures and gas barbecues are permitted at private residences; and
   
   WHEREAS, Smoking is not permitted in city parks, campgrounds, open space or vacant lots. Discarding any smoking material, matches or other ignition sources from a vehicle is prohibited; and
   
   WHEREAS, Professional firework displays for private events within the City of Highland are prohibited at all times. [This clause was removed]
   
   

6. RESOLUTION: Adopting the Certified Tax Rate for 2017-2018 fiscal year. Click here to view background info from the agenda. Below is the certified property tax rate for 2017 which the county calculated and the council unanimously adopted:
   
   Total Tax Rate = .001428
   –General Operations = .001241
   –Library = .000187

   Expected Revenue
   –General Operations = $1,641,015
   –Library = $247,276

   In simple terms the certified tax rate is the rate that is required for the city to generate the same amount of property tax revenue as last year with the addition of any additional tax revenue due to growth that occurred during the year (e.g. new businesses or homes). For a more detailed explanation see: “What is a Certified Tax Rate.”
   

7. PUBLIC HEARING / RESOLUTION: Adopting Final Amendments to the Highland City 2016-2017 Fiscal Year Budget. Click here to view background info from the agenda. The 2016-2017 General Fund revenue budget was increased by $134,000 and expenses increased by $47,000. These biggest impact on revenue was larger than forecast sales tax revenue. The amendments were unanimously approved. Here are the details:
   

8. PUBLIC HEARING / RESOLUTION: Adopting the Highland City Comprehensive Fee Schedule. Click here to view background info from the agenda.

9. MOTION / RESOLUTION: Amend Building Use Policy and Updating the Fee Schedule. Click here to view background info from the agenda. The proposed amendment included two changes:
   
   –Business Licenses: fees waived for Home Occupation with no offsite impact.–Government Organizations renting City Buildings: $5/hr. instead of $0.
   
   The amendment was approved 4 to 1 (Yes: Brian Braithwaite, Ed Dennis, Tim Irwin, Rod Mann; No: Dennis LeBaron) with the following clarification: that the Cemetery Fee change passed earlier this year do not go into effect until July 1, 2017

10. RESOLUTION: Authorizing the Mayor to execute an Interlocal Agreement with Utah County for the Administration of the 2017 Municipal Elections. Click here to view background info from the agenda. As the primary and general elections will include selecting a congressman to replace Jason Chaffetz the county will now be running the election using a vote-by-mail only process. We need to sign an agreement with the county so they can process our municipal ballots. Their estimated cost to run the election is $28,000. We had budgeted $25,000 to run the elections ourselves.
    The resolution passed 4 to 1 (Yes: Brian Braithwaite, Ed Dennis, Dennis LeBaron, Rod Mann; No: Tim Irwin).

11. ORDINANCE: Amending the Highland City Engineering Design Criteria and Standard Drawings for Public Improvements. Click here to view background info from the agenda. Staff recommended making a change to clarify for contractors the conduit size requirements for connecting to street lights and added a requirement for contractors to crack seal all final saw cuts in the road. Dennis asked if we could start this practice immediately be doing crack seals on any cuts this year the pre-date this change. The amendment was unanimously approved.
    

MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL & STAFF COMMUNICATION ITEMS

• Pressurized irrigation Fee – Mayor Thompson. The mayor is concerned that those with large lots are unfairly bearing the burden of pumping costs for lots located in higher elevation for pressurized irrigation. Staff will continue to research the issues.
  

Links:

• Council agenda with my rough notes
• Staff presentation
• What is a Certified Tax Rate