City Council 2-Feb-2016: Moratorium on Final Plat Approvals N of 11800 N,

Over 50 people attended the council meeting. We held an executive work session prior to this meeting.

Council Meeting AGENDA / MINUTES

City Council 05-Jan-2016: 11800 N Intersection Study, Utility Rate Study

Brian Braithwaite	Tim Irwin	Ed Dennis

Brian Braithwaite, Tim Irwin and Ed Dennnis were sworn in for their third, second and first terms respectively prior to the start of the council meeting. Please note, I lost my notes from the meeting and so won’t have as much detailed information as usual.

Council Meeting AGENDA / MINUTES

City Council 01-Dec-2015: Family Cemeteries, Blackstone, and Murdoch Connector

I was out of town for this meeting. I would normally have participated via phone but in this case I elected not to do so. I knew there would be a lot of discussion on two items (cemeteries and Blackstone) and thought that it would be best if those voting were full participants. I have participated twice via phone but found it difficult to provide input to discussions over the phone. This was Jessie Schoenfeld’s last council meeting. She has been an great asset to the city and has made many positive contributions to the city, especially in serving on the beautification, economic development and Highland Fling committees. She is a get it done person who puts in the time to make things happen. We often shared treats during long council meetings to prolong our tipping point. I will miss serving with you.

Council Meeting AGENDA / MINUTES

Little Compromises for Happiness by William George Jordan

This is a chapter from William George Jordan’s book Little Problems of Married Life. A book he wrote in 1910 at the age of 46. He did not marry until 1922. His insights on marriage are perhaps a function of having a close relationship to his family and being someone who truly cared about others. Once again his words demonstrate a keen insight to human nature.

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Little Compromises for Happiness

This life of ours is a constant series of compromises, of concessions, of surrenders of what we hold dearest, and acceptances of what seems second best. That for which we have nobly struggled may fail us and we find what consolation we can among the wreckage of our hope. We make sacrifices of our desires on the altar of expediency; we pocket our pride in the interest of our purse; we smile over present loss in the hope of possible future gain. We travel along the line of ambition by slow freight when we had fondly dreamed of whizzing through on the “limited.” We surrender at the Waterloo of a hope and bravely look to regaining at the next battle. We bow to custom while we inwardly rebel at the obeisance. We play at battledore (a game, from which badminton was developed) between fear of the world on the one hand and approval of conscience on the other.

Hire JJ? Notes from a conversation with gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Johnson.

I recently had a one hour conversation with Jonathan Johnson who is running against Governor Gary Herbert to be the 2016 Republican nominee for Governor. I was invited to ask him anything regarding his run for office. Before I get into details I want to note that I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation. He was gracious, candid, and very likeable. I enjoyed getting to know him. As I thought about what I would ask him I reviewed two posts I’ve written on selecting candidates for office: “Questions for Candidates that Won't be Asked in a Debate” and “Selecting Candidates for Political Office.”

City Council 17-Nov-2015: Family Cemeteries, Park Bond Refinance, Final Election Result Certification

We had over 40 scouts from various units plus 12 interested residents attend the meeting. We had healthy discussions about most items but concluded with unanimous votes on the final outcomes. The next council meeting (Dec 1)should be interesting. We will make a final decision on whether or not to allow family cemeteries on private land. This issue was discussed in an article in the Provo Herald and in two news segments on ABC4 (this was the top news story – it must have been as slow news day) and Fox13. Since then the city has had some calls from residents on this issue. The responses have been split. My experience has been an initial negative response but after talking about it a little most people say yes, I wouldn’t do it, but if someone else wants to I don’t really care.

Council Meeting AGENDA / MINUTES

Ponderize: “Nearer My God to Thee”

I attended a funeral this weekend of a wonderful young employee of Highland City who passed away far too young (Jill Ballamis). The opening hymn was Nearer My God to Thee. As we sang I was struck by the lyrics

E'en though it be a cross
That raiseth me.
Still all my song shall be

Perhaps it was the nature of the event but I had never considered these words as I sang this hymn or their irony – if we want to be lifted up and nearer to God it often means we need to endure hard things such as being raised up on a cross. When teaching the 5,000 he fed with with 5 loaves and 2 fishes. Christ said:

City Council 20-Oct-2015: Town Center Work Session, Dry Creek Trail, Private Cemeteries

We held our 3rd meeting regarding Town Center Zoning. Our conclusion was that the simplest approach we to rezone the property for non-residential use only and that is what we asked staff to work on for discussion at a future council meeting. It is sad for me that we have had no resident input at these meeting. I imagine that the same drop in interest occurred after Toscana was approved. Yet that was the time to relook at zoning — not after a developer (e.g. Handcrafted Homes and the Blackstone project) filed for a conditional use permit.

Council Meeting

Curious about the 2015 Election in Highland?

There were no local burning issues and no mayoral contest but there was a county sales tax increase on the ballot. We had a 20.1% voter turnout this municipal election as opposed to 2013 when we had a 32.8% turnout. That means that each voter who turned out represented not only themselves but four other Highland voters. Historically, municipal elections with mayoral races draw a bigger turnout than city council only ones. Also,  there is a long term decline in voter turnout in Utah and across the nation. Below is a charts the shows the long term trend for congressional and presidential elections in Utah.

Selecting Candidates for Political Office

I occasionally feel like Mr. Bean looks when it comes to deciding whose box to check on the ballot. Let me share some thoughts on what I believe is important based on having served nearly two years on the Highland City council.

Elections are about selecting candidates for office who have both good character and sound judgment. It is less about how a particular candidate stands on a specific issue. When I ran there were a couple of things I was concerned about:

Ponderize: “… we are the children of God”

I have been “ponderizing” the following scripture for two weeks. I believe one could write and entire book on the topics it touches.

“16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."—Romans 8:16-17

Meet the Candidates Event – 22-Oct-2015: Video links and brief summary

We had an excellent turnout. Well over 60 people showed up to listen to the candidates talk about why they were running and respond to questions. I thought all candidates did an excellent job communicating their message and I thought the residents asked excellent questions. Examples include:

• You say you want to encourage additional business to come to Highland. What specifically would you do?
• Do you have a position on Sunday closing?
• Why was nothing done to revise the town center development code after Toscana was built?
• Why aren’t the bad roads being repaired?
• How much debt does the city have?
• Where do you stand on Prop 1 (county 1/4% sales tax increase for transportation)?

Scott Hart recorded this event (applause please).  Here is what I like about each of the candidates along links to their videos:

Is Utah County Prop 1 Good or Bad for Highland?

On November 3rd, 2015 the final votes will be cast on Utah County Proposition 1 which reads:

"Shall Utah County, Utah, be allowed to impose a quarter-of-one-percent (0.25% or the equivalent of 1 cent for every $4 spent) sales use tax for the specific purpose of transportation improvements such as roads, trails, sidewalks, maintenance, bus and rail service, and traffic and pedestrian safety features, with the revenue divided among the county, cities and towns, and the public transit provider within the County."

City Council 6-Oct-2015: Open Space Prop Sale, Mass Notification System, Town Center Work Session

After our last couple of meeting that had very full agendas and went late it was nice to have a limited agenda meeting that ended before 9 pm.

We did hold a short work session (less than 1 hour) prior to the council meeting to discuss potential town center changes. The discussion basically centered on presenting a summary of our discussion from last time and then outlining possible directions for moving forward on Town Center Zoning (click here to see the presentation). The initial conclusion from the 1st meeting is that:

Ponderize: “Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom … and abundance of idleness …”

“Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.” Ezekiel: 16:49

The prophet Ezekiel in urging Israel to repent compares the sins of Sodom to those of Jerusalem. As I read this, the phrase which popped out for me was “abundance of idleness.” Benjamin Franklin discussed this topic in Poor Richard’s Alamanac, 1758.

“… I will tell thee My Friend, what Poor Richard says, Employ thy Time well if thou meanest to gain Leisure; and, since thou art not sure of a Minute, throw not away an Hour. Leisure is Time for doing something useful; this Leisure the diligent man will obtain, but the lazy man never; so that, as Poor Richard says, a Life of Leisure and a Life of Laziness are two Things. Do you imagine that Sloth will afford you more Comfort than Labour? No, for as Poor Richard says, Trouble springs from Idleness,and grievous Toil from needless Ease.”

When I consider the time I spend in idle pursuits I certainly have room to improve. As I considered Ezekiel’s call to repentance this week I made an extra effort to spend time on activities that benefit others rather than my own entertainment. As the week closes I can truthfully say I feel spiritually richer.

Just a quick note, I certainly don’t feel that having plenty (a fulness of bread) is bad. It is, however, when it leads to pride and idleness. If we don’t change voluntarily we’ll be encouraged to change by the negative impacts these traits have on society and our economic well being over the long term. We only have to read history to see this.

Worry, the Great American Disease by William George Jordan

There is much in the world to be concerned about. However, worry can paralyze us. We’ve all been there. The weight of the world is on our shoulders and there are so many problems that we just can’t seem to get started on anything. Jordan’s short treatise on “Worry” doesn’t necessarily tell us anything we don’t know but can strengthen our resolve to find peace and take action. I hope you enjoy this. It is a chapter from his book The Kingship of Self-Control. Links to downloadable versions of this book and Jordan’s others can be found in my post Books by William George Jordan.

Ponderize: “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?”

At the concluding session of General Conference today Elder Devin Durrant invited us to “ponderize” a scripture on a weekly basis. By “ponderize” he meant to select a scripture each week, place a copy of it somewhere where you can see it and then think about it several times each day. In doing so “words and phrases will be written on your hearts … and mind.”

Suzanne and I agreed to take up the challenge. I was immediately drawn to these verses in Acts (Act 1:10-11) as my first scripture, but resisted as it was not immediately apparent why:

Issues and Information: Meet the Candidates 10-Sep-2015

On September 10, 2015 we held a Meet the Candidates event in the multi-purpose room of city hall. Each candidate met with the audience separately for about 25 minutes each. Audience members made each mini-meeting a totally difference experience by the questions they asked. Audience members all agreed it was a very informative evening.

Below is a quick poll to get your sense of what the key issues are that candidates need to address.

What is the most important issue/question that Highland City Council candidates need to address during the campaign.

Road Maintenance

Zoning and land use planning

Increasing city revenue

Park and trail maintenance

Why the candidate is running

Other

Please Specify:

Poll Maker

Add your own answer by selecting "Other" and then typing in your response. You can see what others have added by looking at the results first.

I will give a brief description of each meeting but you really had to be there to benefit from it. On that note, we are holding one more of these on Thursday October 22nd at 7 PM in the city council room at city hall (5400 Town Center W, Highland, UT 84003).

City Council 15-Sep-2015: Blackstone, Dry Creek Track, Highland Blvd and 11800 N Intersection

This meeting and the lead up to it provided me with a lot of food for thought. It was well attended ~90. The Blackstone town home project and the Highland Blvd / 11800 N intersection were the key issues which brought interested residents to the meeting. Interestingly enough, this is the first time I can remember that Toscana residents have added their voice to the discussion. Below are some of my thoughts on this issue.

City Council 1-Sep-2015: Public Works Heroes, Blackstone, Highland Oaks, Highland Blvd-11800 N Intersection

The council chambers were full again (~100 residents). The Blackstone and Highland Oaks project brought the most attendees. A few very dedicated residents stayed until after midnight to hear the Operational Safety Report regarding the Highland Blvd / 11800 N intersection. The meeting adjourned around 1 AM. What  I was impressed with is that despite the duration of the meeting, the emotions around some of the issues, and the opposing viewpoints held by council members and residents, by and large we were all able to disagree without being disagreeable.