SOUTH JORDAN CITY
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
May 3, 2011
Present: Mayor Kent Money, Council Member Brian Butters, Council Member Kathie Johnson, Council Member Larry Short, Council Member Aleta Taylor, Council Member Leona Winger, City Attorney Rob Wall, ACM Laurie Johnson, ACM Gary Whatcott, Police Chief Lindsay Shepherd, Director of Business Services Jon Day, City Council Secretary MaryAnn Dean
Others: R.J. Coles, Danielle Loose, Steve Barnes, Becky Pickle, Lori Jencks, Paul Jencks, Tiffany Jencks, Stephanie Jencks, Bonnie Greenwood, Janeen Anderson, Mark Murdock, David Murdock
6:00 P.M.
COUNCIL CHAMBERS
REGULAR MEETING
I. GENERAL BUSINESS
A. Welcome and Roll Call
Mayor Money welcomed everyone present. All members of the City Council were present.
B. Opening Ceremony
1. Invocation
Council Member Taylor offered the invocation.
2. Pledge of Allegiance
Ryan Lever, led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.
C. Motion to Approve Amended Agenda Items, If Any
ACM Laurie Tanner said it was recommended that they move the items that they did not discuss in the work session to the presentation section (item II.) on the City Council agenda.
Council Member Winger made a motion to approve the agenda, as amended. Council Member Butters seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous in favor.
D. Minute Approval
1. April 19, 2011
Council Member Taylor made a change to page 9 of the minutes.
Council Member Winger made a motion to approve the April 19, 2011 City Council minutes, as amended. Council Member Butters seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous in favor.
II. AWARDS, PRESENTATIONS
A. Presentation of Proclamation for “Teacher Appreciation Week”
Mayor Money recognized the teachers present at the meeting. He read a proclamation recognizing 2011 National Teacher Appreciation Week. He presented the Proclamation to Bingham High Principal Hicks.
Mayor Money also read a letter to Principal Hicks thanking him and the high school staff for their good work and cooperation with the City.
B. Bingham High School Student Body President Ryan Lever and PTSA Officer Tiffany Jencks Presenting PTSA Teacher Appreciation Survey Results
Tiffany Jencks, Youth Council Mayor, thanked Mayor Money and the City Council for honoring the teachers and staff at the high school. She said South Jordan is blessed to have great schools. She discussed a project that the student body recently did. The entire student body filled out a survey and comments of appreciation to the school staff. They received over 6000 comments. They put together the comments in a book entitled “This is Bingham”.
Ryan Lever, student body officer, read some comments from the book. He concurred that the teachers taught him to be the person he is today. He gave the City a copy of the book “This is Bingham”. It was noted that a copy of the book will also be given to the Jordan School District and the State Office of Education.
C. Over-Lay Zone Presentation and Discussion (Held over from work meeting)
Community Development Director Shaw referred to a survey done in the City. One question was regarding residential infill. He discussed the results of that survey. He said there are orphan parcels against major streets; these lots are not big enough to put a new street into the property and make it developable. With major road widenings that have occurred in the City, more of these lots have been created that are marginally developable.
Mayor Money said they have to be careful how they pick and choose what they allow in these neighborhoods. This is a situation where, in all cases, they need to hear the residents surrounding these lots to see how they feel about anything that the city might impose. He feels this is an issue for the City Council to address.
Council Member Johnson asked if the Mayor would like to see this done as a conditional use? Mayor Money said rather than doing an overlay, they should look at the lots individually, have public hearings and get neighborhood input, and have the City Council look at the issues. Director Shaw said the only other way to do this is to look at each parcel individually and change the land use designation and consider a density change on those parcels. Mayor Money said he is okay doing that, as long as they have neighborhood input on the issue. He said they should look at each issue carefully and they should be very open in the notification of the neighbors. He said the public hearing and decision should be made by the City Council.
Director Shaw explained that the proposed code would be similar to a form based code where they decide on the development standards up front. He said if the City Council wants more control, it would be better to go back to a standard rezone.
Council Member Johnson asked what would be the appeal process if this Ordinance was passed? Director Shaw said if the appeal was regarding Title 16, it would come back to the City Council. If it was regarding Title 17, it would be appealed to the hearing officer.
Council Member Winger said her concern is respecting the rights of and being fair to the citizens, and that South Jordan standards be kept.
Director Shaw said in the General Plan, the City has said that they don’t want any large scale PUD high density. If they want approval case by case, they should take each property individually. They would need to relook at the R-M zone. He said some positives of the floating zone is that to get the higher density, it would require certain upgrades such as front porches, tree lined streets, and architectural control beyond what we have now. He said they would need to relook at the R-M zone because he can’t get the quality in the existing R-M zone that he could get in this proposed zone.
Council Member Taylor said the purpose of the infill zone is to give them the ability to control certain standards. If they tie the lots into the other zones, they could end up in a situation where the lots don’t meet those requirements. Council Member Johnson said they may also allow more things in the other zones, and they may end up with a product that they don’t want. Mayor Money said his concern is that they are giving an entitlement to the property. That is a concern to him if the neighborhood doesn’t want it. He said they can do what staff is recommending, but address it on an individual basis with an open process. He said he doesn’t want to give entitlement on a property that they might be sorry about.
Council Member Johnson expressed concern about the empty lots on 104th and what will happen to those lots over time if no one can use them. Council Member Winger said they are trying to keep a consistent policy.
Mayor Money said South Jordan is known for its openness. The more open they can keep the streets would be preferred, rather than boxing it in with houses that don’t fit. He said he is not opposed to infill, but he is opposed to a blanket approach. He would like to take it on a case by case basis.
ACM Whatcott said UDOT is preparing to market and sell the unused lots on 104th. He said the residential zones that are on the lots now will be non-conforming. He said the best idea is to assemble the lots so they get something that makes sense. He said they don’t want all the lots along 104th to have a single family home facing the street with individual accesses. Mayor Money asked if UDOT would allow that? ACM Whatcott said they don’t want it, but how would they sell a lot with no access?
Council Member Taylor asked if they can create a floating infill zone, but choose whether or not to use it as they look at the sites individually? Director Shaw said floating zones are not site specific but they can narrow it down to certain zones or specific situations. With the current zones, they have the potential of being forced to grant undesirable things. He said they would have to look at the individual zones and see if they can put the standards from the floating zone into those zones. It was noted that the neighbors would have input in the floating zone too, but it would not be the same as the standard zones.
Council Member Johnson asked if there is a way to have the proposed zone, but include the process to require neighborhood hearings. Director Shaw said it would be cleaner and easier to put the “beefed up” requirements in the RM zone.
Council Member Butters asked what are the benefits and specific areas that the floating zone fits best? Director Shaw referred to development standards that are in the proposed zone that do not exist in the current zones. He said it would allow them to require a higher quality. He said they would need to look at those standards and put them in the RM zone. He said the multi family zones need to be amended anyway. He said if a person comes in with a multi family project and it meets the zone, he won’t be able to stop it. Council Member Winger said they could look at authorizing staff not to approve those type of developments while this issue is under review. Director Shaw said the problem is not with the current zoning as much as people wanting to rezone lots in the future for multi family housing. He said the City Council should take an objective view of where density could go. He said these lots will stay vacant if all they want to do is 1/3 acre residential lots.
Director Shaw said he would look at the RM zone to see if there is an easier or more practical way to do this. Mayor Money said there may be areas where this will work. There are a lot of areas that neighborhoods will come out if they try to put density next to 1/3 acre lot homes.
Council Member Johnson asked if they can look at the issue closer. She said they may be considering smaller homes, but she does not feel there will be large areas with high density. Mayor Money said there may be areas where this will work.
Director Shaw said he would take a closer look at the other zones and see if he can get the tools he needs some other way.
D. Secondary Water for Parks Presentation and Discussion (held over from work meeting)
Colby Hill, Parks Manager, reviewed a handout regarding secondary water for parks (Attachment A).
The City Council discussed how these projects could be funded? ACM Johnson said they would have to look at their capital funds and prioritize these projects with the other projects. It would not be taken out of an enterprise or utility fund.
Mr. Hill discussed the quality of water and the impact that would have on the park. He said that would need to be monitored. He said staff feels West Riverfront Park would be the easiest and quickest park to change to secondary water. He said staff is recommending that they do that project and monitor that for a year to see what impact that water has on the vegetation in the park. They discussed what notification would be needed to the public that secondary water is being used. City Attorney Wall said signage would not legally be required, but it would be a good public service. Mayor Money said they don’t have the funding for all of these projects. If funding is available, they should go forward with these projects. Council Member Johnson said for future parks, they need to consider plants that are hearty enough to handle secondary water. Mayor Money said his understanding is that they can’t spray the trees in the heat of the day with secondary water. They can water the roots of the trees with secondary water.
The City Council discussed Daybreak using secondary water for parks larger than one acre. Mr. Hill said they have not seen a lot of impact from their water, but it is different water. It was noted that Daybreak uses water from their lake, and they treat their water. He said the costs are similar to culinary water costs. It was noted that the culinary water rates will continue to increase.
Mr. Hill said staff has started to retrofit the West Riverfront Park for secondary water. Mayor Money said this item should be included in the budget process.
III. CITIZEN COMMENT
Gary Garner, 1568 W. Lawrence Cir., expressed concern about the storm drain rate increase. He said taxes and fees are one in the same. He said he is bothered that the fee is slated to increase a certain amount each year. He asked if sufficient engineering studies have been done to know what the projects will cost, how and when will they be done, and who will do the improvements?
City Engineer Klavano said the fee will pay for replacement and repair of existing lines, and to implement all of the requirements that will be mandated by the State and Federal Government. It is also paying for some projects to take care of some storm water deficiencies in the community. He recommended that Mr. Garner meet with staff to discuss specific concerns.
Mayor Money said this was not easy for the City Council. They tried to be conservative in their fees. He noted that the culinary water rate increase to the City was 6 percent. That was absorbed by the City this year. He said this is an ongoing situation. He said for storm drainage, the rates were too low. They could not support the requirements being placed on the City with the old rates. He said they probably should have started increasing the rate incrementally 5 years ago.
Council Member Johnson said with a fee, it is collected for a specific project. If they did a tax increase, it goes into the general fund and it could have been lost in the shuffle. Mr. Garner said fees are easy to change.
Mr. Garner said he feels the ERU’s should be adjusted for single family homes. Mayor Money said commercial properties were charged a lot more. Council Member Taylor said there was also a change made to how ERU’s were calculated for apartments. ACM Johnson said staff would go through the details with Mr. Garner on how the ERU was calculated.
The City Council discussed doing smaller rate increases for water over time, rather than a large increase.
Becky Pickle, owner of Chick Fil A in the District, and representing the South Jordan Chamber of Commerce. She said they held their annual apple awards last week and honored 15 educators and 15 administrators in the schools. She said multiple city businesses sponsored the event and it was a success. She invited the City Council to participate in the annual Pinewood Derby contest for Country Fest. Council Member Johnson said the Chamber of Commerce did a wonderful job with their teacher appreciation event last week.
The City Council moved back to item II. At this time.
II. AWARDS, PRESENTATIONS
E. Trolley and Public Transportation Discussion – (held over from work session)
Council Member Johnson asked for an update on any plans for a trolley in the City. Council Member Winger said there is nothing in the works. They have discussed many times about the possibility of having a trolley system in the City that would transport people from Frontrunner to Trax. She said it is a planning item that they have discussed 4-5 years. Council Member Winger said it needs to be part of the plan for the front runner station. She said transportation is a key item for growth.
Mayor Money said UTA has a stake in this because the concept is to have a bus rapid transit or some type of system that would go through the community and take ridership to the trax and front runner stations. He said once those stations are complete, they need to petition UTA. He said UTA will sponsor it, if the residents will use it. Council Member Taylor said they discussed starting with a shuttle initially. Council Member Johnson asked if a study has been done? ACM Whatcott said a study was complete. Council Member Short said they also need to look at what businesses would support this, as well as schools, and shopping centers such as The District.
Council Member Winger discussed the humanitarian effort of University of Southern Nevada (USN) providing dental services to those in need. One question was how will they get the people to USN who do not have cars. Council Member Johnson said she heard that the trolley system was being done for USN. Council Member Winger said the idea that they discussed in January is that the line would run from Front Runner to Trax. They need to consider what stops would be advantageous.
Council Member Taylor said people will use the system if there is small timeframes and it is reliable. Council Member Short said he thinks businesses will be the driving force behind it. Mayor Money said UTA will do it, if the need is there. He said he does not see it coming about anytime soon. Council Member Taylor said the city could put together a map with high use areas where stops would be needed. Mayor Money said if they go to businesses and the schools and have people indicate that they would use such a system, it would be a good tool to take to UTA. Council Member Johnson said UTA needs to coordinate it. They discussed the possibility of a private enterprise doing the project. Mayor Money said it doesn’t work until the Trax lines are going. It was noted that Trax will be done in August and Front Runner will be done in 2012.
IV. SUMMARY ACTION CALENDAR
A. Proclamation – “Teacher Appreciation Week”
Council Member Winger made a motion to approve the Summary Action Calendar. Council Member Taylor seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous in favor.
V. SUMMARY ACTION ITEMS HELD OVER
None.
VI. PUBLIC HEARINGS AND POTENTIAL LEGISLATIVE ACTION ITEMS
None.
VII. PUBLIC HEARINGS AND POTENTIAL ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION ITEMS
None.
VIII. OTHER BUSINESS
None.
IX. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND OTHER BUSINESS
A. CALENDARING ITEMS
ACM Whatcott reminded the City Council of the Jordan River Commission meeting being held at South Jordan City Hall, May 19th from 9-11. He said a field trip along South Jordan’s part of the trail will be held.
It was noted that South Jordan University is this Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
The City Council noted the dinner honoring Senator Buttars, including spouses. It will be held May 12th starting at 6:00 p.m.
Council Member Taylor indicated that she will be in Washington DC next week lobbying for the Mosquito Abatement District. She will be meeting with all of Utah’s representatives. She offered to take any messages from the City Council to those representatives. There were comments regarding the representatives taking care of the Federal Budget so they don’t have to worry about the future.
B. COMMENTS FROM MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Council Member Winger said she recently talked to Dave Clark about a trip to China. There are over 20 cities in China that want to do business in Utah. She discussed having Mr. Clark do a briefing about those efforts in China to local businesses and any City Council members that want to attend. Economic Development Director Preece said they talked about having a meeting inviting Ultradent, Merit Medical, Mona Vie that have an interest in business with China. He said the presenter at Envision Utah was Lou Kramer. He said the idea is to create a networking opportunity and put local businesses in contact with people who can get them in contact with people in China. Mr. Preece said they should invite Mr. Kramer to the meeting. Council Member Winger suggested they also invite the person that handles international business for Go-Ed.
Council Member Johnson asked if the Chamber of Commerce should be involved in the organization of the event? Council Member Winger said she feels there are only small parts of the Chamber of Commerce that would be interested in this. She said they could extend the invitation to those businesses who have an interest in it. Mayor Money said it would be well for the City to create a relationship with China. Council Member Taylor said they should invite all businesses that have overseas connection. Council Member Winger said Coca-Cola in Draper also does business in China.
Council Member Short said some businesses are not happy when businessmen from China come over and take pictures and copy what is being done here. There are no patents in China. There is no law that prohibits the Chinese from taking their ideas. They should make the businesses aware of those risks. Mr. Preece said he would look into the possibility of that meeting and report back to the City Council.
C. CITY MANAGER BUSINESS
ACM Johnson handed out the 2011-2012 budget. She said she feels good about the budget. The public hearing will be held June 7th.
D. NEW BUSINESS
Mayor Money discussed a recent meeting with Senator Lee. He said they discussed the Federal budget shortfalls. He said the concern is over the future of the country. He said someone has to be strong enough to reform what we have now with something we can live with. It will take a long term program. They are in for serious trouble with their current shortfalls. He said he also told Senator Lee that he doesn’t like earmarks, but if others are receiving them, we are at a disadvantage if we don’t get them. He said the earmarks should be done away with and that would be fair to everyone.
Council Member Winger asked how much money the City gets from the Federal Government? ACM Johnson said the amount is not significant. They are not nearly as dependent as other communities. They get $50,000 CDBG funds through the County and that is Federally funded. Council Member Taylor said they receive Federal money through transit and UDOT. She reiterated that she would pass along any feelings or concerns from the city to their elected officials in Washington DC. Mayor Money reiterated that he has no problem cutting earmarks, but if others are getting earmarks, cutting ours put us at a disadvantage.
Council Member Short indicated that he took the CPR training class sponsored by the city.
City Attorney Wall said they need to reaffirm the sitting members of the Legislative Policy Committee with the League of Cities and Towns. The City Council concurred for Mayor Money, Council Member Taylor and Council Member Johnson, with City Attorney Wall acting for Mayor Money in his absence to continue serving in that capacity.
City Attorney Wall indicated that he has a Proclamation for Senator Buttars that the City Council needs to sign.
City Attorney Wall reminded the Council that the document that he prepared with Dave Spatafore and gave to the City Council tonight “Redistricting Principles” presents a framework in which to start talking about the Council’s position on the redistricting issue. He said it can be edited any way that they want. The Council should come to a unanimity on the principles they feel should guide the committee. It would be even more persuasive if that unified voice can go to the other cities and coalitions on the west side. The intent is to start a conversation. He suggested the Council decides what is the message that the Council wants to send.
Council Member Butters said they need to meet and discuss this. Council Member Taylor said they need to discuss the ramifications of their decision. Mayor Money said regarding dividing the boundaries at I-15, the Legislators on the east side of I-15 already made that decision when they looked at the School District.
Council Member Johnson said there is a time element to this issue. If they are going to have a large voice, they have to move quickly. She said the Western Growth Coalition meets on the 16th. She proposed that they send this to the other cities as well. Mayor Money said he feels they need unanimity with this Council and with the various Mayors on the west side. He said he’d like to do that before it goes to the Western Growth Coalition. Council Member Johnson said each Mayor and Council will need time to address this issue.
Council Member Taylor said the redistricting meeting at the State is tomorrow. They will be working on their basic principles.
Council Member Johnson said if they take their time, it may be too far down the road. Mayor Money said he could approach Mayor Applegarth to see if he is okay with the concept. Council Member Short said the sooner they can address this, the better. They can see if there is interest in trying to keep the boundary on the west side. Council Member Johnson said even if they pass this out to the Western Growth Coalition, they will need time to discuss it and bring it back and that also gives this City Council time to discuss the issue. She feels the Western Growth Coalition is key because it includes all the Mayors on the west side, the School District, and the Chamber of Commerce. She said the larger the group that buys off on the document, the bigger chance they will have to be heard. Mayor Money said he could attend the Western Growth Coalition meeting if needed. Council Member Taylor said she feels the City Council could get a feel for their direction in one work session. Mayor Money said they will report the feelings of the Western Growth Coalition at the next City Council meeting. Council Member Johnson said West Jordan has asked to look at the document and is excited about joining the effort.
ACM Whatcott said they need to get a recommendation on the Corporate Citizen Award for next year. He asked that the City Council give their input at the next City Council meeting. He noted that Merit Medical and Ultradent have already been recognized.
Mayor Money said he thinks Don White would be an excellent candidate.
ADJOURNMENT
Council Member Winger made a motion to adjourn. Council Member Taylor seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous in favor.
The May 3, 2011 City Council meeting adjourned at 8:31 p.m.
This is a true and correct copy of the May 3, 2011 City Council meeting minutes, which were approved on May 17, 2011.
South Jordan City Recorder