Highland City Council Preview for July 7, 2020

In this preview of the 7-Jul-2020 Highland City council meeting agenda, in my view, the most interesting items are:

1. The Natura Solve presentation on an organic solution that can be added to our pressurized irrigation system that has the potential to reduce water requirements by 20% to 50% and fertilizer needs by 30% to 50% and
2. The 3 open space maintenance agreements (items 4-6).
3. The presentation by our library director where she will discuss fund raising goals.

An abbreviated agenda for the meeting is shown below along with my video preview. This meeting will again be held at city hall. 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!

Why I Support Spencer Cox for Governor

First let me say that I believe that we would be well served by any of the primary candidates for governor. I have listened to each in small group settings and have been impressed by them; both as individuals as well as the policies and ideas they espouse. Each candidate has supporters who I respect and whose judgement I value.

Council Preview for June 16, 2020

The 2020-21 Budget will be approved at the meeting because we have a statutory obligation approve it. We will be dipping into to reserves a little to make the budget whole. That said, we were able to mitigate the negative impact the COVID related economic slowdown is having by putting a hold on wage increases and putting limits on non-essential project. We anticipate reviewing the budget on a quarterly basis as we better understand the impact of COVID on the city.

Our first presentation will be an overview of the city survey results which I always find interesting. If you missed this on the live broadcast I believe it will be worth watching on our YouTube channel.

An abbreviated agenda for the meeting is shown below along with my video preview. This meeting will again be held at city hall. 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!

Council Preview for June 2, 2020

Prior to talking about Tuesday’s agenda I would like to share with you some good news. Drum roll please! On Friday May 29th we received a schedule for the construction of the East-West Connector. Work will run from first week of June (next week) to the end of November.  The schedule is aggressive and relies on weather conducive to road work in November. If all goes as planned the road will be substantively completed by the end of November. Otherwise will it be completed in late spring of 2021.

An abbreviated agenda for the June 2nd City Council meeting is shown below along with my video preview. This meeting will again be held at city hall. 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!

Letter to 2020 High School Graduates

My best wishes to all 2020 High School graduates. Highland City students who graduated from American Fork, Lone Peak, and Skyridge High Schools this year received the following letter from the mayor. Much of it is relevant to all of us, especially me.

City Council Preview for May 19, 2020

Below is the agenda for our May 19th City Council Meeting along with my video preview. This meeting will be held at city hall. There will be limited space because of distancing requirements. We will also stream it on our YouTube channel (click here to watch).  If you want to provide comments in open comment (unscheduled public appearances) portion of the meeting or for any specific agenda item and are not physically present please call 346-248-7799 and use the meeting ID 839 5020 414. You can also send an email to council@highlandcity.org prior to the meeting. Staff will read your comments during the meeting at the appropriate time.

Note, individuals, especially those in a high-risk category, are strongly encouraged to participate in the meeting virtually!

City Council Preview for May 5, 2020

Below is the agenda for our May 5th City Council Meeting along with my video preview. This will be a virtual/electronic meeting. We will stream it on our YouTube channel (click here to watch).  If you want to provide comments in open comment (unscheduled public appearances) portion of the meeting or for any specific agenda item please call in (253-215-8782) during the unscheduled public appearances portion of the meeting or send an email to council@highlandcity.org prior to the meeting. Staff will read your comments during the meeting at the appropriate time.

City Council Preview for April 21, 2020

Below is the agenda for our April 21, 2020 City Council Meeting along with my video preview. This will be a virtual/electronic meeting. We will stream it on our YouTube channel (click here to watch).  If you want to provide comments in open comment (unscheduled public appearances) portion of the meeting or for any specific agenda item please send an email to council@highlandcity.org prior to the meeting. Staff will read your comments during the meeting at the appropriate time.

2020: A Year of Hope – A Highland City Proclamation

Everyone has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic to one degree or another. During what can seem like a dark time, Highland City wanted to bring hope to the community via a proclamation “2020: A Year of Hope” and an accompanying video.  I  hope you find it inspirational. We all hope for a brighter tomorrow and thanks to your efforts we will.

A special thanks to my wife Suzanne who was the inspiration behind the proclamation, Scott Hart who produced the accompanying video, and the city council for sharing their thoughts.

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Mayor’s Message for April 2020: Silver Linings

Along with the rest of the world, we are going through a challenging time, but there are always silver linings. In this case we have a chance to develop creative solutions. Jeff Dyer, a Highland resident, co-authored The Innovator’s DNA with Clayton Christensen and Hal Gregersen. In the book they describe different exercises that can be used to develop creative solutions. One such exercise is to define a problem and then put constraints on the solution. According to Marissa Mayer, former Google executive, “creativity, in fact, thrives best when constrained.” Clearly constraints have been put on much of our life, giving us the opportunity to address many of life’s challenges in new ways. New solutions to problems will be found that will benefit all of us going forward.

COVID-19 Comments for Today

As Mayor of Highland City I would like to briefly discuss our present circumstances.

The Majesty of Calmness – William George Jordan

The following is the first chapter in William George Jordan’s first book, The Majesty of Calmness. It is very apropos for the circumstances the world find’s itself in today.

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almness is the rarest quality in human life. It is the poise of a great nature, in harmony with itself and its ideals. It is the moral atmosphere of a life self-centred, self-reliant, and self-controlled. Calmness is singleness of purpose, absolute confidence, and conscious power―ready to be focused in an instant to meet any crisis.

Highland City 2019 Review

If you haven’t filled out the 2020 city survey which is due by the end of March please take a few minutes to do so. It is  where you can help assess how the city is doing and provide input on priorities going forward. When looking ahead it is often helpful to look at what progress has been made in the past. Here is a summary of 2019 from a city perspective.

Let’s start with Highland in the news. We were covered in all major local and state news media as well as out of state and national publications. In all we appeared in print and video over 45 times during the year. Below are links to most of the coverage.

Utopia Fiber and Highland

(435) 200-4051.  Pin: 5500

On February 4th, 2020 Roger Timmerman, executive director of Utopia Fiber, reviewed with the city council Utopia Fiber’s program for installing and running “Municipal Open Access” fiber in Highland (video, copy of slides). The short version of their proposal is:

2019 Road Projects Review

We completed 2.2 miles of rehabilitation (orange on map below) and 5.8 miles of preservation projects (yellow)) during 2019 at a cost of ~$1M. Five rehabilitation and one preservation projects were delayed for one year (red). Some of the money from those projects was applied to twelve preservation projects previously scheduled for 2020 which we were able to complete early. The remaining money was held to help fund 2020 projects. Note, 22 other preservation projects originally scheduled for 2019 were completed in prior years.

Wimbleton Trail Referendum: Comments on the Do Not Sign the Petition Flyer

On December 3rd 2019 the city council agreed to sell trails and adjacent open space property in the Wimbleton subdivision to neighboring land owners. The map below shows trails in the vicinity. The yellow ones are those that the council agreed to sell.

I read with some interest the flyer I received today from the “Neighbors and Friends of the Wimbleton Subdivision.” The subject of the flyer was a referendum that was filed to overturn the city council’s decision to sell the trails and adjacent open space in the Wimbleton subdivision. The flyer states “You will soon be asked to sign a referendum to reverse the wise decision to sell this property.” Was it a “wise” decision?  Let’s begin by reviewing their questions and answers.

2019 Highland Living Magazine Mayor’s Messages

The following are my messages in the Highland Living magazine for 2019. Occasionally the editors shortened my message or revised it slightly. What I’ve included below is the message that was originally submitted. Most Highland residents now receive the publication at no charge. We were able to get the parent company to add over 500 additional households to the original delivery list which did not include a significant number of households.

January 2019 Highland Living Magazine

In the foreword of the 2008 edition of the Power of Positive Thinking, Pastor Robert Schuller shares a story from 1957 when he introduced its author, Norman Vincent Peale, a guest Speaker to his congregation.

It was time to introduce our guest. Before I knew what I was saying, I heard the following words come out of my mouth. “We have with us today the greatest positive thinker who has ever lived. His words have been heard and read by millions of people all over the world. He has changed more lives than can be counted. The greatest positive thinker who ever lived is here—with us—today!. In person! His name is … Jesus Christ! and here to tell us all about him is Dr. Norman Vincent Peale.”

2019 Highland City Newsletter Mayor’s Messages

Below are my city newsletter messages from 2019. Let me know if there are items you’d like me to cover in 2020 and if you have any suggestions for other content in our monthly newsletter. You can find city newsletters on our website by clicking here.

Highland Trails–Eagle Project Improves Trails In N. Canterbury

One of the strengths of our community is unselfishness and service. For example, earlier this year one of our youth, Jonathan Daniels, organized a trail maintenance Eagle project on 1 mile of trail in the Canterbury North neighborhood (this represents about 6% of  the city trails in Highland).

Highland City Trail Use–Freedom Elementary

Here is the latest data from the trail use survey and two trail counts that were run in the area. We’ve just started using a trail counter to measure trail use and so have limited data to compare. To get daily trail use estimates from the survey for households that said they used the trail:

• 1 or more times a week we assumed they used the trails 2.5 times per week
• 1 or more times a month we assumed they used the trails 2 times per month
• 1 more more times a year we assumed they used the trails 4 times per year.