City Council Minutes 9-18-18

TREMONTON CITY CORPORATION
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
SEPTEMBER 18, 2018

Members Present:
Diana Doutre
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 September 18, 2018 City Council Workshop to order at 6:02 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 Doutre, Holmgren, Reese, Rohde, and Vance, City Manager Warnke, and City Recorder Nessen. The following Department Heads were also present: Community Services Director Marc Christensen, Police Chief Kurt Fertig, and Treasurer Sharri Oyler.

1. Discussion of goals attributed to the vision statement, mission statement, values, and pillars for Tremonton City- Councilmember Rohde

Councilmember Rohde showed Brigham City’s plan, which is similar to what he thinks we ought to be working on. Their departments are involved in the process and each member of the city council is responsible for goals inside those pillars. He said for vibrancy we need a five-year goal, which could include revitalization, creating a sense of place, public art, public gathering places, restaurants and historical preservation. Revitalization of downtown could be a five-year goal, which is a pretty aggressive goal and asked what we want to do in this year. Councilmember Vance said we need a way to help storefronts, maybe through facade grants. Councilmember Reese said we have to find other ways to finance that and asked where we can pull funds from to help. Councilmember Rohde said in the first four months, we could develop a plan and afterward come up with financial ways to accomplish that. Councilmember Reese said part of that plan depends on what we want on Main Street. Councilmember Vance said that depends on zoning and what we want it to look and feel like. Councilmember Rohde said it is hard because we do not have a plan, but it is time to button it down and say this is where we are going.

Manager Warnke said we have had some difficulties with our current contractor—Community Studios—who are working on a downtown plan. They had several deliverables, including design standards for streetscapes, gateways and entry signage. We are trying to get those deliverables done, but the main consultant took a job elsewhere. We might want to invite him to a City Council meeting to give a report. We can stop the contract, but we will not get the same value out of it unless he finishes. He can hand it over to someone, but they would start over and we would take a step back. We have brought up the idea of doing a future land use plan that creates the vision for the zones. Physical improvement of Main Street is just one aspect to making a successful downtown. We also need to have commerce, businesses and activities. We need a land use plan that looks at the zoning and creates a vision for the districts and what are complimentary uses. In talking to Finance Director Roberts, we should have about $900,000 that we can transfer to different capital projects funds. If we want to focus on the downtown area, then we can setup a financial plan based upon some of these transfers. In the long run, we hope to get reimbursement from tax increment.

Councilmember Rohde said the next pillar is development, which includes being a center of retail for Bear River Valley, economic opportunities, transportation and land use planning. For a one-year goal, we could develop a long-term land use and zoning plan. It would take awhile to develop, but we could get the Planning Commission and department heads involved. Councilmember Holmgren said for development we have to look into resources and natural resources. The secondary water plan has to be a function of development. Our natural resources are going to play an important part in how successful we are. Councilmember Rohde said there is no reason we cannot use the secondary water as one of our goals for development of our City or even under Stewardship where it talks about infrastructure and utility management. It needs to be in this system, we just need to decide which pillar is belongs in. Mayor Fridal said it needs to be in development because without secondary water we cannot develop. The Council agreed. Councilmember Rohde said water in general would be a good five-year goal. We have to have enough water to sustain our City. The one-year goal would be a secondary water system plan, which is in the works with zones 1 through 3. Other zones could be added a year after that. We could plan to have it done in five years.

Councilmember Rohde said safety would be ensuring a commitment to safety and health to reduce injuries to our City employees, residents and visitors. Councilmember Reese said they are doing well with that, but it needs to be ongoing. Councilmember Rohde suggested this year all departments would establish a safety plan to support this goal and set different parameters. Each department would have a different plan and they could gage their success. As this develops we would have a progress report to see how we are doing toward those goals. He suggested bringing someone in to do a training or workshop for a day to teach department heads the process. He suggested the Council ponder on the stewardship pillar and bring back some ideas for their next meeting, along with what areas they would like to be responsible for.

Councilmember Rohde said under the quality pillar, we could develop this management model for the whole City. Within five years we want this up and running at 100% so what are our plans over the next year? Mayor Fridal said everyone needs to be involved because we have good people with expertise that can contribute. Councilmember Rohde agreed that each department needs to be involved in all five pillars. We as a Council need to come up with the high level goals, but Manager Warnke could talk to City staff and bring us ideas and how departments plan to establish goals.

2. Discussion on credit card fees

Councilmember Reese said he does not want to lose $14,000 to this. Manager Warnke said he would hate to see us do that, but the idea was to try and find a replacement for that money. This would be a service and we could incrementally increase fees to some degree. We could make some changes to utilities to increase fees. We have never charged a fee for ambulance payments, but could start. That was done to get people to pay because there is always bad debt associated with that fund. Councilmember Reese asked if how we are charging credit card fees is legal. Manager Warnke said we researched what the rules were and followed them as best as we could. The way around some of the issues was a convenience fee for an alternative payment channel. Payment Tech helped us through the process and that is the reason we ended up with them and Xpress Bill Pay as the gateway with our software. They were really well versed in the rules and we felt like we had good information. Part of this fee we instituted was supposed to recover our costs and they are not quite doing that. Manager Warnke asked if we want to find an alternative funding source and not charge a fee to use credit cards. Councilmember Reese said he struggles with that because someone is going to pay for it and it comes to the City. Treasurer Oyler said not that many people say anything about it. We tell them up front there is a 3% fee and most are okay with it. Manager Warnke said the two services that are advantageous for the City to make sure they allow credit cards is the courts and the ambulance systems in order to make it easier to get payment. Utilities are easy because we can incrementally increase the fee. The general fund also includes Recreation. Any other fee that we allow for credit cards is where it becomes trickier to find an alternative revenue source. I believe we should look at increasing property tax and going through the truth in taxation process because we always lose out on property tax due to inflation. We have not adjusted it for 20 years. However, we have had project areas that increase our taxable value.

Councilmember Rohde said the future is that people pay with their cards and in the next five years they will pay with their phone. If we keep charging fees, we are outdated and $14,000 is not that much when we made $900,000 this year. Increasing property tax could help take care of some of that and is not a bad idea. We need to make it convenient for residents to pay. Councilmember Reese said he can see where Councilmember Rohde is coming from, but why would we dump $14,000. That would pay for a trainer and all this other stuff we want to do. One of Tremonton’s standards has been to go with the certified tax rate. It would be a first and there would be some unhappy campers. Manager Warnke agreed, but sometimes it is better to do it incrementally rather than holding off and doing nothing for 25 years and then making the rates jump. Cities are better off when they take the small incremental approach every three to five years. Councilmember Holmgren said most people just accept it. If there was a lot of push, maybe we could change it. Let us just see what happens for another year. Councilmember Vance said if people are using this, they ought to subsidize the fees to do it.

3. Discussion and review of agenda items on the 7:00 pm City Council Meeting Agenda

The Council discussed the Warner Sign standards and a tattoo business as a permitted use. Manager Warnke said these are individual applications that have been initiated by the applicant to propose changes to our Land Use Code. Manager Warnke said his recommendation is different than the Planning Commissions. These are legislative decisions and valid if they can be reasonably debated on what is in the best interest of the City and promotes general welfare. I suggest taking a look at both of these issues through a land use planning process that creates a vision for each zoning district. We need to look at land uses within each and identify complimentary land uses that are consistent with the vision signage, as well as densities and a transportation plan to coordinate future land uses and come up with a comprehensive plan. I get concerned when decisions are made incrementally when there is no plan or vision in place. Councilmember Reese asked if we are allowing more for these guys than the rest of our merchants for signage. Manager Warnke said some zones have 60 to 70 foot tall signs. These are decisions the Council needs to make to promote the general welfare of the City. Councilmember Reese said he has no problem with them advertising as long as we are not giving one merchant more than another. It needs to be fair. Manager Warnke said if a business is in a certain proximity of the interstate or within that zoning district (commercial highway) they are allowed a certain sign type. This is what the Planning Commission grappled with. What is being proposed here is an overlay zone that would apply to this individual business only. As a group, the Planning Commission wants to look at the entire corridor of I-15 and I-84 to come up with a plan and be more uniform in what is allowed. That is a great approach, but it would be beneficial to add some vision to that discussion and really think about what we want instead of fairness as the only guiding principal.

Councilmember Reese asked why the signs were not discussed when the building permit was issued. Manager Warnke said it was and we told them it was not permitted and they would have to go through the process they are going though now. Why they chose to do it now and not earlier in the process, we are not sure. Councilmember Rohde said the architect who defended that said, in all fairness to Stokes, they were led to believe it would be okay to bring it up late in the game. Councilmember Reese said he has seen what McDonalds and Wendy’s went through and this is not new. We have done this time after time and it keeps coming around the same way. I like what they have here, but I still want it to be fair for everyone. I struggle with doing one zone. Councilmember Vance asked what these signs look like compared to what is out there. Manager Warnke said they are similar in height. McDonalds was 90 feet, but is now 70 feet. They are in the Commercial Highway (CH) zone though and Stokes is in Manufacturing Distribution (MD). Councilmember Vance suggested having the same policy for both those zones. Councilmember Rohde said we gave McDonalds an overlay and that is what we keep doing. The Planning Commission said we need to fix it so everyone follows the same standard. Councilmember Vance said we are after consistency. Councilmember Reese said if it is the same height as McDonalds, then I do not see a problem. Councilmember Rohde said the Planning Commission would move forward with their suggestion of making it the same in the whole corridor. They feel very strongly about that. Councilmember Reese said I support them in that—we should have it all the same.

Manager Warnke said we need to take a step back because we are spending $30,000 to come up with a plan for Main Street revitalization. How we want Main Street to look is just as important as figuring out the right combination of land uses. If we think we are going to revitalize the City solely by doing physical improvements to streetscape, we are not looking at the big picture of what it takes to make a successful commercial zone and district. There needs to be a multifaceted approach and land uses are one of them. If we can get enough activity in a certain zone, things start to take care of themselves with private investments. We need future land use planning and to evaluate our zone districts. My recommendation is to take a step back and look at what we want to accomplish. Councilmember Rohde told the Council that the Planning Commission’s recommendation was to have tattoo parlors be a permitted use in all Commercial Highway (CH) and Commercial District (CD) zones. They feel strongly that any business is better than no businesses. We need to get more businesses downtown and start developing that area. We should not discriminate on the types of businesses that come in.

4. CLOSED SESSIONS: No closed session was held 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; and/or
d. Discussions regarding security personnel, devices or system

The meeting adjourned at 6:55 p.m. by consensus of the Council.

CITY COUNCIL MEETING

Mayor Fridal called the September 18, 2018 City Council Meeting to order at 7:00 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 Doutre, Holmgren, Reese, Rohde, and Vance, City Manager Warnke, and City Recorder Nessen. The following Department Heads were also present: Community Services Director Marc Christensen, Police Chief Kurt Fertig, and Treasurer Sharri Oyler.

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 Recorder Nessen and the Pledge of Allegiance was led by Treasurer Oyler.

2. Introduction of guests:

Mayor Fridal welcomed those in attendance.

3. Approval of Agenda:

Motion by Councilmember Doutre to approve the agenda of September 18, 2018. Motion seconded by Councilmember Vance. Vote: Councilmember Doutre – aye, Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

4. Approval of minutes – September 4, 2018

Motion by Councilmember Vance to approve the minutes of September 4, 2018. Motion seconded by Councilmember Reese. Vote: Councilmember Doutre – aye, Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

5. Employee Years of service award

a. Marc Christensen, Community Services Director – 10 Years

Mayor Fridal and the Council thanked Director Christensen for his service.

6. Public comments: Comments limited to three minutes.

There were no public comments.

7. New Council Business:

a. Discussion and consideration of approving the July Warrant Register

Motion by Councilmember Holmgren to approve the July Warrant Register. Motion seconded by Councilmember Rohde. Vote: Councilmember Doutre – aye, Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

b. Discussion and consideration of approving the July Financial Statements

Motion by Councilmember Reese to approve the July Financial Statements. Motion seconded by Councilmember Doutre. Vote: Councilmember Doutre – aye, Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

c. Discussion and consideration of adopting Ordinance No. 18-13 amending the Tremonton City Corporation Land Use Code, Title I Zoning Ordinance Chapter 1.16 Overlay Zones creating the Stokes Warner Sign Standards

Manager Warnke summarized that these are legislative decisions made by the City Council through ordinance to promote the general welfare of the community. I believe we should take a step back and do a land use planning process that looks to create a vision for each zoning district and identifies beneficial land uses and looks at the densities and residential zones and future land uses to annex into the City. We tend to react to applications, but I recommend we decide what we want to become. Zoning is organizing land uses you think are appropriate and beneficial. It is not always a clear-cut decision with these land uses, but a vision would help clarify future applications. My recommendation is different than the Planning Commission’s and I advise you to go through a planning process.

Councilmember Holmgren asked what the timeframe would be for that. Manager Warnke said a year would be an abbreviated process—it takes time to write the scope. The Planning Commission should review and participate in that process with the City Council. We would also solicit individuals to make proposals. Councilmember Rohde said the sign and overlay is something we ought to okay, but as part of that motion we should push back to the Planning Commission and have them address Commercial Highway (CH) zoning as their very first project and come up with a zoning plan that supports taller signs along that corridor. Anyone who comes in along that zone should be able to have a tall sign with a similar look. Councilmember Vance liked that the sign was similar to others in town and said as long as we are being consistent, we ought to adopt the ordinance.

Motion by Councilmember Rohde to adopt Ordinance No. 18-13 and charge the Planning Commission to work on the Commercial Highway (CH) zone and start those discussions. Motion seconded by Councilmember Holmgren. Roll Call Vote: Councilmember Doutre – aye, Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

d. Discussion and consideration of adopting Ordinance No. 18-14 amending the Tremonton City Corporation Land Use Code, Title I Zoning Ordinance Chapter 1.08 Commercial and Industrial Zone Districts to allow Tattoo Business as a permitted use within the Commerical District (CD) and the Commerical Highway (CH) District

Manager Warnke said the Planning Commission recommended a permitted use within the Commercial District (CD), which is most of Main Street all the way out to I-84 except at a location that is within 300 feet of a residential zone. Councilmember Rohde said an apartment building would not count. The Code (when referring to smoke shops) stated there were some distance restrictions from parks, churches and residential areas. The Planning Commission decided to scratch that out because they felt a church within that district should not restrict these types of businesses along Main Street. He also mentioned that Midland Square did not exist when this area was made commercial and it is used differently than other parks. Manager Warnke asked about the State Code relative to land use with tattoos. Councilmember Rohde said there is a State Code, but it is very small and mostly talks about restrictions for tattooing minors. He said he also researched Salt Lake County Health Department’s code and regulations and asked if we are uncomfortable putting in a business like this on Main Street, where are alternative locations? Manager Warnke said maybe that could be discovered through the land use plan. A professional, along with the public process, could provide that input.

Councilmember Holmgren asked if there has been any public input on this. Councilmember Reese said it was published in the paper and there is not a soul here tonight to comment. Manager Warnke said there was a public hearing held. Whenever there is a change to the Land Use Code there is a public hearing at the Planning Commission level and it is optional for City Council. Councilmember Rohde said a lot of people attended and there was no negative. Councilmember Holmgren said he had received some. Councilmember Rohde said I believe in what the Planning Commission is trying to do, but I would like to see a little more regulation to this rather than just a permitted use. I would be more comfortable making it a conditional use and prescribe standards to evaluate applications. In developing downtown, we are looking at a year or two to get that done. Are we willing to have this discussion every time someone wants to come in? The Planning Commission is progressive and wants to see businesses stay and grow in Tremonton. Councilmember Reese said the thing that sours this for me is that the last time we had a tattoo parlor, we had nothing but pain. That does not reflect this new tattoo business, but there is a sour taste. The Council asked about a conditional use, which Manager Warnke said would allow the City to do a site-specific review against standards. It could also be turned down if it was not in the best interest of the public based on certain findings. There would be specific conditions for the City staff and applicants to review. We have some general standards in our Development Code, but for this use, the Council would want to have specific standards addressing concerns and potential conflicts we are trying to mitigate. Councilmember Rohde said the last tattoo shop that came in was under conditional use—we could draw on that as our template as well as use some of the regulations from the Salt Lake County Health Department. Manager Warnke said it would be beneficial to have a discussion with City Attorney Ericson. Councilmember Reese wondered if we could have a work session with the Planning Commission to see how they got to this point. Councilmember Vance agreed. Councilmember Rohde said they feel this is another business that should be allowed to exist like any other in town.

Councilmember Holmgren asked what some of the concerns are. Councilmember Rohde said parking is not a concern because they will have one or two clients at a time. Would it bring about an area that is unsafe for other people? What kind of clientele is it and how can we do that without categorizing people. About 30% of Americans are tattooed and many of our residents have them—do we want that business going out of town or do we want to keep it here locally? Councilmember Reese said he is against it because of the history we have had with other businesses, which is maybe not fair. I am just concerned and that is why I am more comfortable with a conditional use. Councilmember Vance said Brigham City does not allow it and I am not sure why we need to.

Councilmember Rohde asked what the process is if we move forward with a conditional use. Manager Warnke said if that is what we want to consider, I would suggest coming up with specific conditions to address your issues. We need to come up with standards that are clear. A conditional use is an administrative decision and applying the ordinance. Mayor Fridal said I personally do not like tattoos, but that has nothing to do with it. We have a business that wants to come to Tremonton and to say they cannot because they have tattoos, is not right. It is a hard decision to make, but they are a legitimate business trying to provide a service to our community. Councilmember Rohde said my biggest concern is we do not know what we want to do with downtown. By bringing in businesses, we are establishing what we want without coming up with a plan. I think we do need to provide an area for them to survive in Tremonton, but I am not sure if I am comfortable with a downtown Main Street location. Councilmember Holmgren said it could take a couple weeks to look at different regulations. It is only fair we move on this and do not keep putting the business off, but we have to establish some things. The Council was advised to come up with some conditions for the next meeting to discuss and then they could decide how to move forward.

Motion by Councilmember Holmgren to table the item until the October 2 City Council meeting. The Council will come up with potential conditions by then. Motion seconded by Councilmember Rohde. Vote: Councilmember Doutre – aye, Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

e. Discussion and consideration of approving Resolution No. 18-46 adopting a wall mural artist professional services agreement between Jason Nessen and Tremonton City to paint a wall mural of the “First Grand Entry” of the 1928 Box Elder County Rodeo to be located at the Box Elder County Fairgrounds at 1200 W. Main Street Tremonton Utah

Councilmember Holmgren clarified that the first grand entry was in 1925 and not 1928. Councilmember Doutre asked why the Arts Council chose Jason Nessen. Manager Warnke said the Arts Council met and reviewed two proposals from qualified artist, including Mr. Nessen and Erik Burke. Mr. Nessen’s proposal included a stronger proposal on what he was going to do along with an actual sketch and not just the picture that was provided. With the other artist it was hard to understand what he was going to do to make that image fit on the wall. The Arts Council also felt Mr. Nessen’s artistic style better matched the composition. He has recreated a lot of older photos out of sepia tones. The Arts Council would like to consider Mr. Burke in the future. Councilmember Doutre asked when Mr. Nessen would be finished with the other mural he is currently working on. Manager Warnke said within several weeks and then will start the other mural as long as weather permits. Mayor Fridal asked if there is a timetable on this mural. Manager Warnke said the grant funding we have does contemplate it being completed by April 2019. Mr. Nessen can make some good progress in the fall, but it depends on the weather. As issues have risen on other projects relative to timing, they have been flexible and understanding.

Motion by Councilmember Holmgren to adopt the resolution and contract Jason Nessen to paint the mural in sepia tones. Motion seconded by Councilmember Rohde. Roll Call Vote: Councilmember Doutre – aye, Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

f. Discussion and consideration of changing the distance an Officer can live from the City and the time allowed for relocation of new hires (Lexipol Policy #1001)

Chief Fertig said it is difficult to recruit and hire in law enforcement. Some of the agencies around us are making changes in their distance requirements in order to expand their recruiting pools. We would like to do the same, however, we do not want to expand so far we do not have a quick response time. Right now the limit is 15 miles from Tremonton or a longer distance along I-15 to the border. It would make more sense to expand that to 25 miles and make it more of a circumference. The second thing to address would be how long an officer has to relocate here. We get lateral transfers moving from agency to agency and they are allowed 90 days, which is difficult for those who have a home and children in school. We should expand that to a year. During that timeframe they would be allowed to drive their patrol cars home.

Motion by Councilmember Reese to change the distance an officer can live from the City and time allowed for relocation of new hires. Motion seconded by Councilmember Holmgren and Councilmember Doutre. Vote: Councilmember Doutre – aye, Councilmember Holmgren – aye, Councilmember Reese – aye, Councilmember Rohde – aye, Councilmember Vance – aye. Motion approved.

8. Calendar Items and Previous Assignment

a. Review of calendar
b. Review of past assignment

9. Reports & Comments:

a. City Manager Reports and Comments
b. Land Use Report and Comments
c. City Department Head Reports and Comments
d. Council Reports and Comments

Councilmember Doutre said the league meetings were excellent.

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

The Council moved into a closed session at 7:55 p.m.

10. CLOSED SESSIONS:

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

The Council returned to open session at 8:38 p.m.

11. Adjournment.

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

The meeting adjourned at 8:38 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 2nd day of October, 2018.

Linsey Nessen, City Recorder

Follow-up items for the Council and City Staff

The Council was asked to think about the pillars and come back with ideas along with what areas they would like to be responsible for. They were also asked to think of potential conditions and standards that could be applied to the conditional use permit on tattoo parlors so they can decide how to move forward.

Archives