Mannkind Perspectives: Highland City Council Agenda Preview for 16-Mar-2021

Once again Utah’s Highlander put together an excellent summary of our previous meeting.The title of the video is “Pooh Minute Tuesday.” It is worth watching. If you missed last weeks “Meet with the Mayor” you can watch below. I review the results of the January Community Center feasibility survey and begin responding to comments in completed city surveys. The video lasts over an hour. The Utah’s Highlander video is definitely more enjoyable and only lasts a few minutes.

While there are a number of items on the agenda for me the most interesting is the last item (8). “Manor Drive Plan.” While it does not directly affect a large number of residents is representative of the type of decision the council faces on a regular basis that can be very difficult. You can see my comments below.

Note, the first item the agenda is a closed session (i.e. a discussion that is not open to the public). This will begin at 6 PM. The regular meeting will start at 7 PM.

This meeting will be held at city hall but there will be limited space because of distancing requirements. We will also stream it on our YouTube channel (click here to watch). Note, individuals, especially those in a high-risk category, are strongly encouraged to participate in the meeting virtually!

You can find an abbreviated meeting agenda together with my thoughts below. The complete agenda (103 pages) which includes the staff reports associated with each item can be accessed by clicking here.

Highland City Council Agenda
Tuesday, March 16, 2021 at 6:00 PM council meeting

Virtual Participation

YouTube Live
Zoom: Call 1-346-248-7799 Meeting ID: 838 5047 0458
Email comments prior to meeting: council@highlandcity.org

The time and duration listed at the end of agenda items is my guess as to the start time of this item and how long it will run..

CLOSED SESSION 6:00 (60 minutes)
Unscheduled Public Appearances 7:05 (15 minutes)
Time has been set aside for the public to express their ideas, concerns, and comments. Comments are limited to 3 minutes.
PRESENTATIONS 7:15 (45 minutes)

Community Center Feasibility Study Survey Report
Library Director Donna Cardon will present the results from the recent Community Center Feasibility Study survey.
Utah County Elections Office
Josh Daniels from the Utah County Elections Office will provide an overview of the scope of work performed by the County Elections Office to facilitate municipal elections, as well as the associated costs. We asked the county to visit with us because they increased there cost of the election to the city by 70% over the previous municipal elections. At this point in time we don’t really have an option to run our own elections due to the state’s vote-by-mail only policy coupled its decision not to give cities access to its signature verification tools.

CONSENT ITEMS 8:00 PM (5 minutes)
Items on the consent agenda are of a routine nature or have been previously studied by the City Council. They are intended to be acted upon in one motion. Council members may pull items from consent if they would like them considered separately.

Resolution: Public Treasurer’s Investment Fund Access Legislative
The City Council will consider providing authorization for Tyler Bahr and Candice Linford to access and/or transact with PTIF, and allow Nathan Crane to retain his previous authorizations functioning in a back-up role capacity, as necessary
Open Space Maintenance Agreement: Chamberry Fields Plat B Lot #110 Administrative. We will need to continue this item to next week because the resident did not post a sign to notify residents of his request.

PUBLIC HEARING: PLAT AMENDMENT - CANTERBURY CIRCLE PLAT C LOT 8 Administrative. 8:05 (10 minutes)
The City Council will hold a public hearing to consider a request by Brandon Grover to amend the Canterbury Circle Subdivision to combine Lot 8 located at 5873 W Canterbury Park Circle with previously purchased property. This is a straightforward request and should be resolved quickly.
FINAL PLAT: BEACON HILL THE HIGHLANDS PLAT E PHASES 1 & 2 Administrative 8:15 (20 minutes)
Perry Homes is requesting approval of their Final Plat for Beacon Hill Plat E Phases 1 & 2, a proposed 35-lot single family subdivision located at approximately 12150 North Beacon Hill Blvd. The council had a pretty extensive discussion with the developer during preliminary plat approval. There may be one or two issues raised but this should also be resolved relatively quickly.
RESOLUTION: COUNTRY FRENCH SUBDIVISION NO BUILD POLICY AMENDMENT Legislative 8:35 (15 minutes)
The City Council will consider a request by Guy and Marilyn Masters to amend the no build resolution for the Country French Subdivision. This amendment would allow below grade and ground-level structures, such as pools and sport courts, provided there is a 42-foot setback from the rear property line. This council reviewed this issue in the last council meeting. After a somewhat lengthy discussion they decided to allow the Bull River HOA to more thoroughly consider whether they wanted to support or oppose the request. The short answer is that after review the HOA was generally support of the proposed change. This should be approved after a minimal amount of discussion.
ACTION: MANOR DRIVE PLAN Legislative 8:50 (40 minutes)
Manor Drive is a dead-end road that serves Highland Manor Estates. Highland Manor Estates was approved in the County in 1975. Manor Drive was given a variance to the Utah County development standards to allow the length to exceed the maximum length required for permanently closed cul-de-sacs. The plan for this variance was for Manor Drive to end in a cul-de-sac. The right of way for this cul-de-sac currently exists. However, when the road was constructed it was built to be a through street with the road, curb, gutter and sidewalk ending abruptly at the adjoining undeveloped property to the north.

The owner of the property to the north has started a development process and the city needs to let him know whether he needs to build a through street that connects with Manor Drive or not.

At issue is whether the city should utilize the right-of-way it inherited to construct a cul-de-sac at the end of Manor Drive, let the road remain a dead-end (really not an option in my mind), or connect the road to the development to the north.
An open house was held a few weeks ago where residents of Manor Drive came were able to review visuals of what the cul-de-sac and through street option would look like. At the time my view was that since it was planned as a cul-de-sac if the residents preferred that this is what should happen and most of the residents obviously did. Yes a through street would increase traffic on what is now a quiet road. but I have since change my mind. Here is why:
- While the subdivision was granted a variance to install cul-de-sac, the county approved the homes as built with the through street configuration. Why did the county retain the right of way for the cul-de-sac? I am not sure. It could easily have been an oversight.
- Installing a cul-de-sac would create 7 ft. set back from the home on the west side of the road and 16 ft setback on the east side. That would have a considerable negative impact on the two homes. Note, are standard setback is 30 ft.
- A current safety issue exists because the garbage and recycling trucks back out of the road since there is no turn-around available. This also applies to snow plows and perhaps larger delivery vehicles.
- Our fire chief recommends that a through street be constructed.
- Our city engineer would prefer a through street to put in to add planned infrastructure.
- When I looked at traffic data for roads that would be similar to Manor Drive connecting to the north I found they had relatively low traffic counts (235 average daily trips or 5600 N between Timp Hwy and 11200 N, and 378 for 5500 W. Local roads are designed to readily support 1,000 trips a day.
At the end of the day the council should make a decision based on what is best for the city today AND 20 years from now. For me the answer is pretty clear although I know a number of residents won’t be happy because of increased traffic.
MAYOR/COUNCIL AND STAFF COMMUNICATION ITEMS 9:05 (20 minutes)