City Council Minutes 10-3-17

TREMONTON CITY CORPORATION
CITY COUNCIL MEETING

OCTOBER 3, 2017

Members Present:
Lyle Holmgren
Jeff Reese
Bret Rohde
Lyle Vance
Roger Fridal, Mayor
Shawn Warnke, City Manager
Linsey Nessen, City Recorder

CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP

Mayor Fridal called the October 3, 2017 City Council Workshop to order at 6:00 p.m. The meeting was held in the City Council Meeting Room at 102 South Tremont Street, Tremonton, Utah. Those in attendance were Mayor Fridal, Councilmembers Holmgren, Reese, Rohde, and Vance, City Manager Warnke, and City Recorder Nessen. The following Department Heads were also present: Public Works Director Paul Fulgham, Police Chief David Nance, and Treasurer Sharri Oyler (arrived at 6:33 p.m.). Councilmember Doutre was excused.

The following items were discussed out of order.

1. Discussion regarding creating a Tremonton City Mission Statement – Bret Rohde, City Councilmember

Councilmember Rohde said he wanted to talk to the Council about considering making some changes to our operation system or our management model. We find ourselves reacting to problems and not really looking to proactively take care of them before they hit us. This change would support our City Council because we are pretty progressive. In Tremonton, we have some major players who have great management models (Intertape Polymer Group (IPG), POST, the hospital, Autoliv, etc.) they all use awesome systems to manage their companies and are known throughout the country for that. The City can learn some lessons from what they do.

According to the International City and County Management Association, in the existing model, most local government’s role is to criticize and fix. Residents come in, they gripe and the local government believes those issues must be fixed. We react and get caught in this model as a local government even though neither the residents nor we like it. However, each group gets enough out of the model to keep from changing it. Not wanting to lose control over solving problems, government officials think they have the right answers and accept the belief that they must fix everything. Residents are not willing to accept and share accountability in government. Councilmember Rohde said that is obvious by how many people show up to City meetings. He continued, under this assumption, it says that local government is responsible for quality of life in the community, must solve people’s problems, requires little of the residents, and places barriers. Elected officials are elected to fix all problems it seems. Residents act and feel as though they should be treated like customers and local government and managers make all the above happen.

Under our new model, we would partner with residents. The difficult challenges that local governments face will only be solved in partnership with residents acting like citizens. Residents must assist government to develop solutions to problems. This model does not mean to imply that the City expects residents to help pave streets, trim trees or hire employees—it is about taking accountability for the government and City. Local government cannot solve all problems alone and never could. We are partially, but not completely, responsible for the quality of life and need to partner with the public to remove barriers, while elected officials set priorities and allocate resources for the most pressing issues. Residents need to act more like citizens, taking shared responsibly for the quality of life in their neighborhoods. The local government manager facilitates cooperative problem solving rather than always solving problems themselves.

Councilmember Rohde asked what is most important to the City. Councilmember Vance said we keep talking about economic growth, while Councilmember Holmgren said quality of life. Councilmember Rohde said the point is, do we really know what is most important to the City. We all have our opinions, but don’t really know. How do we engage the community, staff and leaders, especially if we do not know what is most important to us as a City. Mayor Fridal said it is difficult to say this is the most important because we have a myriad of important things and he would have a hard time saying this is what we need to focus on.

Councilmember Rohde asked how we visualize what is important to the City and if we are performing to that expectation. He then showed a model he has worked on for discussion sake. The roof should be our mission statement. There are also pillars that help hold that roof up. Those are the things that are important to us as a City. He used safety as an example, but suggested safety should be a pillar in any industry. Next is a true north statement, then a visual indicator so they know if they are moving in the right direction or not. Then through strategy, the front line staff would drive the City toward their mission statement and goals. He said a mission statement is a short statement of the organization’s purpose and then gave a few examples. It can be one sentence—it does not need to be long. A vision is a statement that is a declaration of an organization’s objectives and gave some examples. Mayor Fridal said he does not care for those that claim to be the best place. Tremonton is a great place to work and live and we need to emphasize that. Councilmember Rohde said nothing is set in stone. As a Council and Mayor we would discuss these things and come up with something that gives us focus. Afterward, we can add the values that are expected of the Council, employees and everyone in the organization.

Councilmember Rohde then explained that the true north statement could change with future legislative members. When we have a different legislative body, they can change those—they are not obligated by what we do today. He gave an example of using safety as a pillar and said it could say something along the lines of, “cause zero harm to our employees and provide a safe place for our citizens.” That is our goal in this community as far as safety, but that can be anything we set.

They would also have a performance indicator that would show their goal for this year as well as in five years from now. This would help gauge progress and help the City evaluate. It could even be done on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis to develop strategies on how to accomplish those goals by front line staff. This will show us if we are moving toward that common goal and we would have tools to accomplish the system.

Councilmember Rohde then talked about lean government, which is not about cutting jobs, but about eliminating waste and doing things more efficiently. We need to deliver and improve value added services to customers at a lower cost. We need to identify key processes for how they are performing and apply tools to make improvements in reducing cost waste and enhancing revenues. People are the business and there needs to be a high respect for people. There needs to be a constant search for how to improve and reduce errors versus who is responsible for the error. A lean government increases internal capacity to do more without adding people, reducing the cost of government services, increases customer satisfaction, substantially shrinks the time it takes to get things done, provides a means to fundamentally rethink what is done and how it is done, applies a more enhanced system than thinking approach and could be implemented to sustain smaller cost than alternative approaches. It is not an expensive program to run and the returns on investment are quite large. A major misconception is that with less people service suffers and that is not necessarily the case. People working in processes that have gone through lean will be working on more value added activities—it is a change in the way things are looked at and done.

So if we wanted to do this where would we go from here, Councilmember Rohde asked. We would develop a mission statement, vision and values—it is up to us how we do it. We would put together an implementation and strategy plan, which could take years to layout, because we need a good framework. We need to set objectives and pillars, set true north statements and indicators, and start training our City Manager and Department Heads on how this system works and then we would train the staff. He said it is an amazing system when the whole thing falls together and it gives us common pillars to focus on when having discussions.

Councilmember Vance said it would be great if we could all come to some type of consensus on a mission statement, the values and the pillars. When things come up for Council approval, we can see if it fits our pillar and that can help us decide which way to manage our funds and put them where they need to go. We can focus on our goals rather than just ideas that are coming through and hitting us. Councilmember Vance said it is a good idea and he would like to see something like this happen.

Councilmember Rohde added that by having something in place, such as safety, then departments are able to be more proactive and find issues before they occur. It drives people to look for those improvements in the City. The other thing good about it is it should drive the citizens to be more active in our government through that partnership.

Mayor Fridal asked how they could make it happen. Councilmember Rohde said the first thing is for each of them to think about it and come back with ideas, along with a mission statement—we cannot do anything until we come up with that.

Manager Warnke said it is a journey and something we need to do, but we need to do it slowly, progressively, and methodically. As a staff we are committed to doing our best and improving the City so we would be in line with that, we just need to implement it in a simplistic way and do it over time. Councilmember Rohde said that is part of the plan—here is the strategy and in five years this is where we want to be. We have to get pieces started now like a mission statement and the pillars to help guide where we are headed, then we can take a slow journey toward that. Mayor Fridal agreed they need to proceed, be proactive, and plan for the future.

2. Review of agenda items on the 7:00 p.m. City Council Meeting

Electric Vehicle Charging Stations. Councilmember Reese asked about the figures. We only need $1,800, but the charging unit costs $30,000. Manager Warnke said no, he showed the contrast of the two different options. The rapid charge station has a lot more capacity and costs $30k, but we are proposing the simplistic approach and the option that is cheaper upfront. However, there is no way to collect money for the charge that people receive and we are not charging the user electricity under that scenario. This is a slow charge (level 2). Mayor Fridal asked how long it takes to charge the vehicle, which is about four hours. Councilmember Vance asked how much it would cost the City for a slow charger. Manager Warnke said one is free, but they are proposing four charging connections for the Council’s consideration, which will cost about $2,000. They propose that two be at the Civic Center and two at Jeanie Stevens Park. Manager Warnke said Jeanie Stevens Park was a good location because it is close to electricity and functions as a carpool commuter area. The Civic Center is close to the downtown area, as well as electricity and the panel they would connect from. Mayor Fridal asked if vandalism would be a risk at Jeanie Stevens Park. Manager Warnke said there is always that risk, but there are cameras. He said the stations would be pretty durable and safe—there is not threat of someone getting shocked.

Although this scenario would not generate revenues, Manager Warnke said they could always upgrade to a station that would. If it is successful and there is a lot of usage or we are realizing a lot of electricity being used, we can change that station. He has talked to a representative from BRAG, who said they could use Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) federal funding for a charging station. The City is in the process of some CMAQ projects with turn lanes. Rather than going to that expense, we can just do something simple until we see if there is a need, if it generates people into the area or if people start purchasing electric vehicles. At that point, we could always transition to a more sophisticated system or look to partner with a business in town such as a car dealership, which would house a charging station. Manager Warnke said this is a simple way to test it while providing another amenity.

Councilmember Reese said the problem right now is that electric vehicles are too expensive and people cannot afford them even if they do save on fuel. He also thought the tax credits and incentives were cut off, but Manager Warnke said those types of questions would be answered in the presentation.

Councilmember Vance asked why not just put two at the Civic Center to see if there is a demand before spending money to add two at Jeanie Stevens Park. Manager Warnke said we could, but there are two different situations and dynamics per site. Director Fulgham said we looked at places that were easy to get power to because this does not take any kind of a power main upgrade. At Jeanie Stevens you do have the carpoolers. We would sign that area to where it is used for carpoolers during the week, but on weekends and nights it is open to people who might come to an event at the park. A lot of these vehicles have a 70 to 100 mile range and then have to charge, which takes about four hours. He said he does not know of any City employees who have an electric car, but said they seem to think if you build it they will come. Manager Warnke showed them what the stations look like and said they run off a 220 30-amp breaker. If they did have someone charge for eight hours a day it would cost the city about $2 a day.

August Warrant Register. Mayor Fridal asked about gym memberships and wondered why the City does that. Recorder Nessen said the gym gives employees a discounted membership because they know they are going to get paid every month. Payroll just withholds the amount from an employee’s paycheck and pays it to the gym. Councilmember Vance asked how the commercial card is working. Recorder Nessen said we do not use it as much as we should but it is good. We just need to hit up our vendors and see who will allow us to pay by credit card.

Ordinance No. 17-13. Manager Warnke said this is a change to our existing ordinance that would remove the residency requirement and expand the possibility of allowing firefighters onto the Fire Department that live in a five-mile radius of the fire station. The language that has been added is based on a conversation City staff had with the Fire Department’s Captains and Battalion Chiefs. He explained that originally they suggested a five-mile drive, but those on the Fire Department recommended that be changed to a five-mile radius from the station. Councilmember Vance asked if the City is short on volunteers. Manager Warnke said there are times when they are paging that they need more fire fighters, but they see the dynamics changing a bit and think this could help. He said the volume of calls in the daytime and nighttime are pretty close to the same. We anticipate we will need to continue to be watchful on the issue and make changes in the future.

Discussion to cancel the November 7, 2017 General Municipal Election for Tremonton City. Recorder Nessen said the time has passed for write-in candidates, which were due by September 8. We now have between September 9 and 20 days before the general election to cancel the election or we would still have to run the election even though no one is running opposed for office. Mayor Fridal asked if there is any reason they should have an election. Recorder Nessen said no because there are no propositions or anything else people can vote on.

Discussion on Secondary Water System. Manager Warnke said they would provide a quick update on what they have done. Director Fulgham said he put together a document to address some of the Council’s concerns about advancing the culinary system or looking at a secondary system. He said if they had more questions he would be happy to meet with them or find more information if needed. Manager Warnke has started working on the timeline, but Engineer Breinholt will add more hard fast dates when they are decided. Director Fulgham said he likes the layout, which is similar to a major construction project. It has timelines and provides goals, with the ability to block out tasks as they are completed or to color-code them. This will help us see where we are going in the future and is a work in progress.

Manager Warnke said if the Council likes the format, then we just need to add more content and continue to become more detailed in the steps. Councilmember Rohde said it would help if they could be sorted by month, quarter, or however they would like to see it. Manager Warnke said the Council could go down the columns and sort it that way for a visual approach. Councilmember Rohde said he made his own by adding number values, which he sent to Manager Warnke for his review.

Manager Warnke said the significant finding based off the information Director Fulgham provided is the cost, which he was asked to discuss. Director Fulgham said the dates in the chart came from our Culinary Water Master Plan from 2013. He clarified that outdoor water use is the same as secondary water. This will take us through 2070, basically the next 50 years, and what it would cost us to do secondary versus expanding our culinary system in order to handle growth, including indoor and outdoor use. He summarized, over the next 50 years if we continue to use the culinary system for outdoor use, we are going to be spending upwards of about $30.5 million, which does not include source development. Those types of sources have to have water rights and they will have to be acquired somehow. So that would drive that cost up to between $33 million and $34 million within the next 50 years in Tremonton to keep up with the growth. If we keep the culinary water system as is for indoor use and develop a secondary system to handle growth and all the outdoor use, then we are in the range of about $17 million from what the study says. That number does include acquiring water shares.

Councilmember Reese said if we bring this secondary water system in, and agreed that is what makes sense, but every home is going to have to change their sprinkler systems on their own money and will be nothing to do with the City. It will cost every home quite a bit of money to change that for this secondary system. Director Fulgham said not every home will have to because not everyone has a sprinkler system. Councilmember Reese said anybody who wants to water their lawn is going to have to do so. His concern is that we are putting the burden on the residents right off the bat. Councilmember Rohde received confirmation that this water would be okay to use on all outdoor watering, including flowerbeds and gardens—unlike a well. Councilmember Vance said Councilmember Reese brings up a good point. In order to talk to constituents, we need to know what this is going to cost our citizenry. Director Fulgham said he could look into that. Councilmember Reese said not only the sprinkler heads will need to be replaced, but so will the valves. He talked to Sprinkler World who said they have some that are more forgiving than others while others get beat up no matter what filter is in place. Parts will wear out quick with the sediment and he does not want to spin it off to someone else to make it look good for us. Councilmember Vance said it needs to be part of the education when they explain why the City is looking at secondary water. Director Fulgham said he helped install a sprinkler system in the River Valley Subdivision below 10th North, which uses secondary water from the canal, and they used regular valves. It has been running since 2004 so he suggested talking to those people. Councilmember Reese said we have to educate citizens on why we are going to charge them so much each month and what it is going to cost to change their systems. We also need to tell them how much it is going to cost if we do not do it—we have to show them the whole picture.

Director Fulgham said we have kicked this can down the road since 2004. He brought this to the attention of the City Council then and said this is something that needs to be done. They voted it down and we tried to get a well in 2010, which did not pay off. Councilmember Reese said he is not disagreeing—we just have to educate the public. We need to show them why it is a cost benefit to go with secondary water. Director Fulgham said some will say it is not a cost benefit and they do not care if any more homes are built in town. We have to do something whether it is secondary or culinary. Councilmember Vance said we all have the notion we are going to be doing secondary water and we need to position ourselves and be prepared to talk to those who come at us angrily. We need to understand and be able to explain, with numbers, how to sell everybody on a secondary system.

Manager Warnke said we want to give the Council talking points and are happy to answer questions. One thing Mayor Fridal brought to Manager Warnke’s attention is that we are not alone in this. We have talked about water being harder and harder to secure in the future. The Bear River Water Conservancy District put together graphs showing a 10-year period with cities that are going to need water. Manager Warnke said we are going to max out our existing system in 2020, which is shown on the graph in red. The next line is 2030, which stays about the same and for 10 years everyone is pretty good. We are ahead of the issue, which is good in the sense that we can start to get our issue taken care of ahead of these other entities. Councilmember Reese said all of this is great, but everybody has to see it and asked what can be done if someone wants to stay on culinary and pay the price. Manager Warnke said the Council will need to make a policy decision on some of these issues, like if the City will require everyone to hook into the secondary system. Councilmember Reese said if we are going to get out of the red, everybody should probably go to the secondary system.

3. CLOSED SESSIONS: There was no closed session at this time.

a. Strategy session to discuss the purchase of real property when public discussion of the transaction would disclose the appraisal or estimated value of the property under consideration or prevent the public body from completing the transaction on the best possible terms; and/or
b. Strategy session to discuss the character, professional competence or physical or mental health of an individual; and/or
c. Strategy sessions to discuss pending or reasonably imminent litigation

The meeting adjourned at 6:54 p.m. by consensus of the Council.

CITY COUNCIL MEETING

Mayor Fridal called the October 3, 2017 City Council Meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. The meeting was held in the Tremonton City Council Meeting Room at 102 South Tremont Street, Tremonton, Utah. Those in attendance were Mayor Fridal, Councilmembers Holmgren, Reese, Rohde, and Vance, City Manager Warnke, and City Recorder Nessen. The following Department Heads were also present: Parks and Recreation Director Marc Christensen, Public Works Director Paul Fulgham, Police Chief David Nance, and Treasurer Sharri Oyler. Councilmember Doutre was excused.

1. Opening Ceremony:

Mayor Fridal informed the audience that he had received no written or oral request to participate in the Opening Ceremony. He asked anyone who may be offended by listening to a prayer to step out into the lobby for this portion of the meeting. The prayer was offered by Mayor Fridal and the Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilmember Reese.

2. Introduction of guests:

Mayor Fridal welcomed those in attendance.

3. Approval of Agenda:

Motion by Councilmember Holmgren to approve the agenda of October 3, 2017. Motion seconded by Councilmember Rohde. Vote: Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

4. Approval of minutes – September 5, 2017

Councilmember Vance asked to add the word downtown on the second page, third paragraph so the sentence reads, “Councilmember Vance asked if suggestions for Downtown Tremonton would be part of the study.”

Motion by Councilmember Vance to approve the minutes of September 5, 2017. Motion seconded by Councilmembers Reese and Rohde. Vote: Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

5. Public comments: Comments limited to three minutes.

There were no public comments.

6. Proclamation:

a. Proclamation Declaring October 2017 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month – Penny Evans, New Hope Crisis Center

Ms. Penny Evans said on behalf of the New Hope Crisis Center we are incredibly saddened by the mass shooting in Las Vegas. What we do all the time, year round is try to prevent violence in our community and we appreciate all those who partner with us. We could not do what we do without the support of individuals, businesses, and agencies. We all saw first hand in Vegas the first responders put their lives on the line for everyone. Ms. Evans said she would like to take this opportunity to thank our partners in law enforcement because they do not get thanked enough for the wonderful job they do. They are behind the scenes a lot of the times on these domestic violence calls and every time they go to one they put their lives in danger because they do not know what they are walking into, it can be very violent.

Ms. Evans said this year in Utah we have already had 28 homicides due to domestic violence. Every year about 80 Utah children witness the murder or attempted murder of a family member, which is a high number. Since the year more than 40% of all adult homicides in Utah were domestic violence related. New Hope Crisis Center serves all of Box Elder County and in the past year our staff responded to 3,415 crisis calls, served 867 women, 469 children and 126 males, who were impacted by domestic violence, child abuse, dating violence, stalking and other types of abuse. We have 19 staff members and they are on call 24/7, 365 days a year. They are there to help survivors and help them through the violence they have been through.

Councilmembers Vance and Holmgren both said they appreciate what Ms. Evans and her organization do, which was echoed by the Council. She thanked them and said we could not do it without the City’s support. She then read the proclamation declaring October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Motion by Councilmember Holmgren to declare October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Motion seconded by Councilmember Rohde. Vote: Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

Ms. Evans also invited the council to the Box Elder County walk and candlelight vigil on October 11 at 5:30 p.m., at the County building in Brigham City. She said the walk raises awareness and the vigil honors survivors and victims who have lost their lives.

7. Presentation:

a. Electric Vehicle Charging Stations- Leaders for Clean Air—Micah Kagan and Erin Strahm.

Mr. Kagan and Ms. Strahm talked about the benefits of electric vehicles and how the City can get involved with charging stations to support that. Mr. Kagan said along the Wasatch Front is some of the most polluted air in the country, with three sites on the top 11 list. Air pollution is something that affects us all. Things that happen in Salt Lake City affect Northern Utah because pollution knows no boarders and does not respect jurisdictions. He said 50% of pollutants in our air come from tailpipe emissions and their non-profit organization was founded to focus on that issue as a way to target clean air. He asked how we reduce tail pipe emissions while still having a functioning economy and transportation system. Ms. Strahm said the way we decided to target emissions is a direct boots-on-the-ground approach. Electric vehicle technology is a zero emissions commute that has a quantitative impact on air quality. To get into the electric vehicle market we needed to place charging stations at destinations, work places, and multi-family housing. We are going to businesses along the Wasatch Front and offering a free electric vehicle level two charger and additional chargers at cost as a pay it forward donation. Part of the reason we are doing this is to support electric vehicle infrastructure and to bring more electric vehicle growth and economy into areas as a destination and businesses as an incentive. This is happening right now in Utah. Maverik and several other entities are working together to create an I-15 corridor charging network through the national parks. There is going to be DC fast charging, which is very fast and only takes 30-40 minutes. We are looking at Tremonton as a charging destination and as a location along this trending corridor.

Mr. Kagan said the next generation of electric vehicles are going to have an impact on the market we see today. The current models have about 80 miles to the charge for a typical commuter, which that is more than enough for day-to-day life. The average American drives about 30 miles a day, here in Utah that is about 35-40 miles per day. However, there is this concept of range anxiety, the fear that the battery will stop and commuters will be stuck with no help. However, the next generation of electric cars are pushing that 80 mile range. A new Nissan Leaf has a 130-150 mile range. The Chevy Bolt is about 230. This extended range will make the consumer more comfortable about going to an electric car. He then showed the rate of growth of electric cars throughout the world and said most major manufacturers are now introducing electric models.

Ms. Strahm said a lot of the models of electric vehicles cannot be purchased in Utah and despite that, there has been a tremendous interest in electric vehicles and huge adoption in Utah, which is unprecedented. She then showed the Council the adoption curve saying they are in the early adoption phase right now. With electric vehicle models, we are expecting to see that early majority hit in the next five years so we want to make sure there is infrastructure in place right now at that early adoption phase and then cities will be prepared.

Mr. Kagan said we address a lot of different constituencies about why this is good. What is really driving growth in Utah right now is the technology industry and the City wants to attract these companies so we recommend having this amenity. If they are trying to make a location decision on where to take their company, they will go to the building that already has this infrastructure versus the building that does not. This is also a signal to your employees that you care about the air and making it possible for them to have a zero emissions commute. For people who have this available, it would make sense to purchase an electric vehicle to save on gas, health, and improve our air.

Manager Warnke said he attended a workshop with Envision Utah, an entity that looks to plan the future of Utah by taking the public aspirations and creating different growth scenarios. They did a survey on quality growth scenarios and received 50,000 throughout the state. For our zip code there were 332 responses, which came up with five planning scenarios, which involved factors such as agriculture, air quality, disaster resilience, education, and energy. Our residents selected to have these types of air quality majors implemented so these charging stations support this quality growth scenario. Mr. Kagan and Ms. Strahm are working with other cities to adopt and install these stations and we are on the leading edge of that. Tremonton became the first city in Box Elder County to start the recycling program and this would be equal in the measure as far as the City taking a leadership role and having charging stations. It would be a first step and low cost solution to provide this amenity. We can implement the four connections for about $2,000 in capital cost and then have the operational costs. Councilmember Rohde asked about the operational cost. Ms. Strahm said we had electric vehicles plugged in consistently for eight hours a day for a cost of $1.92 per day. If they are not utilized, there is no cost to the City.

Manager Warnke said they have an app called Plug Share that allows people to find any open charging station across the country. Mr. Kagan said this will help those planning a road trip decide where to stop and can draw people into the community. He said along I-15, Maverik is installing these chargers with the intent of being able to drive to the Utah national parks in an electric car, with the ultimate goal of driving from Disneyland to Yellowstone, fully electric. He said Tremonton is perfectly positioned to capture people who are coming off the freeway, who have been driving for a couple of hours and want to eat or pick up a charge and can then explore the City.

Councilmember Holmgren asked how the state is going to deal with road taxes. Mr. Kagan said that is a great question, we do not have that answer and it has to be decided. Ms. Strahm said that has yet to be seen, it is too early in the adoption curve and is something we will be watching closely. A couple debates happening right now is that the environmental impact of driving an electric vehicle could be a way to help so you would not have to pay the road tax through the fuel because you are not emitting tailpipe emissions.

Manager Warnke asked if they could talk about the cost and the trend for people migrating to electric vehicles. Mr. Kagan said we have seen the price come way down. Tesla has models up to $100,000, but their model 3 is about $35,000, which is pretty competitive with a regular internal combustion engine. The Chevy Bolt is about $35,000 and the Nissan Leaf that is in that same range has some federal tax credits available ($7,500) toward the purchase price. They have significantly less maintenance than internal combustion cars because they have less moving parts. Oil does not have to be changed or coolant topped off. Wiper fluid and checking the tire pressure is about all that has to be done because it is an electric motor and not an engine. Not only are people saving time, they are saving money, maintenance, fuel, and the air. Ms. Strahm said the older generation model Leafs are offered at $20,000 because the newer generation has an extended range. They are trying to make electric vehicle technology accessible for everybody.

Councilmember Vance asked how fast they go. Mr. Kagan said as fast as a car goes. A driver puts their foot on the gas and they just go because they don’t have to wait for gears to shift. Ms. Strahm said the Bolt is being praised for its performance and acceleration—out performing gas powered vehicles across the board. Mr. Kagan explained that since they are a non-profit organization, they are able to spread favorable deals with anybody who is interested. We give the first one away for free and then we can provide the others at cost in exchange for a donation back to us so we can continue to give these away. We then make sure it works and help sign them.

Ms. Strahm showed them the charging station, which is sleek and has a universal connector so any electric vehicle can use it. She said when a charger is available at someone’s work, people are six times more likely to drive an electric vehicle.

Mayor Fridal felt it was a waste of time to have so few stations that could only service a couple cars a day. Mr. Kagan agreed, saying they should be put everywhere. Ms. Strahm said even a few charging stations make a huge difference. If there are two chargers that are able to charge four cars in a workday, that is four electric vehicles making a 30-mile commute a day. Emissions released in a 30-mile daily commute, having four electric vehicles on the road through an entire year will have a tremendous amount of CO2 and noxious tailpipe emissions that are not being released. Even having one electric vehicle in a fleet makes a measurable impact. Mr. Kagan said in the early adoption phase, our goal and strategy is to put the infrastructure in place. We want to make charging available and make it easy and free so we can encourage people to purchase an electric vehicle. This is a chance to position yourselves ahead of that curve. Councilmember Rohde said it gives us a perception of clean and does something we want to put across. It is a good investment if it is popular. Mayor Fridal said we will not know until we try it and this is an inexpensive way to find out if it will work.

8. Council Business:

a. August Warrant Register

Motion by Councilmember Vance to approve the August Warrant Register. Motion seconded by Councilmember Reese. Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

b. Discussion and consideration of installing level 2 electric vehicle charging stations at the Civic Center and Jeanie Stevens Park

Councilmember Holmgren asked if these are the two best locations. Manager Warnke said Director Fulgham, who knows their facilities and ease of access to electricity, felt those were the best places. They also thought about the Senior Center, but decided it would be more difficult as a test location. Councilmember Holmgren asked if they are looking at electric vehicles for the Senior Center to deliver food. Manager Warnke said they could over time and have considered it. Councilmember Vance said if they do not work in those locations we can move them. This is like putting our toe in the tub to see if it is going to work.

Motion by Councilmember Holmgren to install the level 2 electric vehicles charging stations at the Civic Center and Jeanie Stevens Park. Motion seconded by Councilmember Rohde. Vote: Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

c. Discussion and consideration of adopting Ordinance No. 17-13 amending, deleting from, and clarifying and adding to Title 10: Fire Safety and Welfare, Part 10-124. Fire Department Employees of the Revised Ordinances of Tremonton City

Manager Warnke said the ordinance requires firefighters as employees to live within the City boundary but this would change that and allow them to live within a five-mile radius of the fire station.

Motion by Councilmember Rohde to adopt this ordinance as it has been read by the Mayor. Motion seconded by Councilmember Vance. Roll Call Vote: Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

d. Discussion and consideration of adopting Resolution No. 17-50 to cancel the November 7, 2017 General Municipal Election for Tremonton City

Motion by Councilmember Holmgren to adopt this resolution and cancel the November 7, 2017 General Municipal Election for Tremonton City. Motion seconded by Councilmember Vance. Vote: Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

e. Discussion of plan for the deployment of a secondary water system

Councilmember Holmgren said Director Fulgham has explained that if we keep going the way we are, we are making it tough with maxing out. We need to start looking at alternatives for water because we just about peaked out as far as our water usage goes for the City. It is important for us to find new sources of water and will be something we will have to take a hard, serious look at. Like Councilmember Reese said, the community needs to be educated, but it is a direction we are going to have to go.

9. Reports & Comments:

a. City Manager Reports and Comments
b. City Department Head Reports and Comments

Director Fulgham said the road projects are nearing completion and they will be doing some striping and catching up on the crosswalks. He asked if the Council had any comments. Councilmember Reese said he has heard a lot of good things. He also wondered if 6th north had a soft spot. Director Fulgham said it showed up after they laid the asphalt and they also had a couple leaks in their cast iron pipes due to the vibrations and compact work from the heavy rollers.

c. Council Reports and Comments

Councilmember Rohde said he would like to see a couple things added to the agenda, which would include a coordination of calendar events. He said we had this event take place honoring our veterans and none of us knew about it. We could list these items to remind us and help us coordinate with each other. It was suggested to have the written notice on the agenda along with a text reminder. He also wants to add follow-up items at the bottom of the minutes so important information is not missed or forgotten.

Councilmember Holmgren asked about the flowerpots along Main Street. Director Fulgham said they would take care of them, they just need to decide where to store them for winter. Mayor Fridal said he has heard a lot of good things on the pots this year. Councilmember Holmgren added that they looked fantastic.

Councilmember Vance said he would like to look at commercial users and their water use on potential tiered rates like residents. Director Fulgham said they did that with a flat rate. Instead of $1.13 per thousand gallons used, they now pay $1.25 per thousand gallons. Councilmember Vance said he would talk to Director Fulgham individually and see how that has increased for residential and commercial. Director Fulgham said the report he sent out will show that, but they will talk.

Mayor Fridal gave a thank you to City staff, saying we have a great City.

Motion by Councilmember Holmgren to move into closed session. Motion seconded by Councilmember Reese. Vote: Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

The Council moved into a closed session at 7:53 p.m.

10. CLOSED SESSIONS:

Motion by Councilmember Rohde to return to open session. Motion seconded by Councilmember Vance. Vote: Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

The Council returned to open session at 8:31 p.m.

11. Adjournment

Motion by Councilmember Rohde to adjourn the meeting. Motion seconded by Councilmember Vance. Vote: Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

The meeting adjourned at 8:31 p.m.

The undersigned duly acting and appointed Recorder for Tremonton City Corporation hereby certifies that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of the minutes for the City Council Meeting held on the above referenced date. Minutes were prepared by Jessica Tanner.

Dated this 17th day of October, 2017.

Linsey Nessen, City Recorder

Follow-up items for the Council and city staff

Each Councilmember, including the Mayor, have been asked to think of a mission statement and other ideas for pillars and values to help them reach potential goals.

Recorder Nessen was asked to send them a text reminding them of this assignment.

Director Fulgham said he would look into the cost of upgrading a sprinkler system to better handle water from the canal so the Council can relay that to residents, who will have to cover the cost. He will also talk to those who have been using the system to see what suggestions they might have.

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