TREMONTON CITY CORPORATION
LAND USE AUTHORITY BOARD
DECEMBER 6, 2017

Members Present:
Steve Bench, Chairman/Zoning Administrator
Chris Breinholt, City Engineer
Marc Christensen, Parks & Recreation Director—excused
Paul Fulgham, Public Works Director—excused
Shawn Warnke, City Manager
Cynthia Nelson, Deputy Recorder

Chairman Bench called the Land Use Authority Board Meeting to order at 9:08 a.m. The meeting was held December 6, 2017 in the City Council Meeting Room at 102 South Tremont Street, Tremonton, Utah. Chairman Steve Bench, Engineer Chris Breinholt, City Manager Shawn Warnke, and Deputy Recorder Cynthia Nelson were in attendance. Director Fulgham and Director Christensen were excused.

1. Approval of agenda:

Motion by Engineer Breinholt to approve the December 6, 2017 agenda. Motion seconded by Administrator Bench. Vote: Chairman Bench – aye, Engineer Breinholt – aye, Manager Warnke – aye. Motion approved.

2. Approval of minutes: November 29, 2017

Engineer Breinholt said their discussion on the right of ways was a bit confusing and he would like the two accesses to be clarified within the minutes. Administrator Bench said he would make those changes.

Motion by Breinholt to approve the minutes of November 29, 2017 with the clarification of the two accesses. Motion seconded by Manager Warnke. Vote: Chairman Bench – aye, Engineer Breinholt – aye, Manager Warnke – aye. Motion approved.

3. New Business:

a. Preliminary Review for Spring Acres Estates, Phase 6—Ben Johnston

Mr. Johnston said originally they had the sewer coming all the way up, but they were unsure of which phases they were going to do. In the last phase they took it out to the road. He showed the Board where they will go with it and where they are ending the sewer. He also showed where the water has already been stubbed. They will connect into the two and run about 300 feet of sewer.

Engineer Breinholt said he did not finish the cul-de-sac. Mr. Johnson said he just did part because he wants to get the road continued through so it is not a weird turnaround. Engineer Breinholt said he liked doing that, but did not know why Mr. Johnston is not doing the whole thing. It does not matter from our standpoint because that intersection is already built.

Manager Warnke brought up the fact that the City has enacted an ordinance for extraction of water shares. He also asked about the secondary distribution system in this location. Mr. Johnston showed them where and Engineer Breinholt said those lines could be wet next summer. Manager Warnke said the only issue would be getting the water shares. Mr. Johnston asked about the required water shares. They talked about streetlights (one somewhere on lot 80), sidewalks and curb. Mr. Johnston said he made his own addresses and Administrator Bench said they look good. Administrator Bench also mentioned several notes, including sanitary sewer, fill drains and high water.

Manager Warnke asked about the overlay protection and capital lots. Administrator Bench said there are eight lots with a total acreage of 3.08. Engineer Breinholt said that is roughly 1.56 shares, which equates to a half a share per acre. It came in just like we thought. The chart for water shares was reviewed by the City Council. The Board explained to Mr. Johnston they would need to dedicate a share and a half to the City before recording this subdivision. That would need to be done prior to approval of the subdivision. Mr. Johnston asked how they are supposed to come up with their water shares. Manager Warnke said through the open market if they do not have them already. The City is in the same predicament of rounding up our shares for our deficiencies, but they are out there. It would be nice if the City was in a position of having more water than it required and could sell it to developers. We are not in that position now, but we could get to that point. Engineer Breinholt said hopefully it is not too far out.

Mr. Johnston asked if the water impact fees would go down. Manager Warnke said I think our impact fees did not include source development like this. Engineer Breinholt said in the next five years or so we will have to update our impact fees studies. First culinary water will probably go down, but we will introduce a secondary water impact fee, but I doubt it will change much overall. When asked about the cost of water shares, Manager Warnke said between $3,000 and $4,000. Mr. Johnston said their development cost goes up 15%. Engineer Breinholt said you have eight lots sharing ground—that is not per lot—it is about $1,000 a lot. Manager Warnke said we are deficient right now. We are trying to get our water too—we are all in this together. We are active if you know people who want to sell shares. Mr. Johnston gave an example of needing 25 water shares to develop a 50 lot subdivision and said farmers will not sell the shares and will tell the other farmers not to sell if they do not want a subdivision in their area—you could really hold a developer hostage for developing. Engineer Breinholt said here is what I think will happen. You have a lot of ground that is farmland with shares on them. When you develop you only irrigate about half of it (about half a share per acre) so that leaves you with another half a share per acre that is no longer going to be used on that land, that is associated with it and that could be sold. The demand will create the market. People know developers are looking for water shares and people will start giving them up. However, the price will probably go up. I think the shares will be there when things start moving, especially when these farmlands start developing and they have to give up half their shares. Manager Warnke said we are at a point where it is either that or we do not develop. Engineer Breinholt said Mark Allred is on the frontend of this thing because he is one of the first subdivisions that have been approved with these secondary water requirements.

Manager Warnke asked Mr. Johnston if the parcel of property still notches. He said yes and explained it—stating that it has a different tax entity number. There was a lot down here that was included as part of the subdivision. They signed off on it and a little piece is what is left. Manager Warnke asked how that other parcel is going to be developed and if it would create problems in the future with development and access. Mr. Johnston showed the area it is a part of and said there are storage sheds back there which he owns. He further explained how it connects to the lots. Administrator Bench said they all split the 15 feet and have their side lot touch the road. They confirmed that there is property that is developable and there is access to it.

Mr. Johnston said he would have them sign off on the plat. He will update this, get notes and then send the construction drawings. This will then go to the Planning Commission. Engineer Breinholt said this area has a secondary water system that will be operational so I say we approve it. I feel like we need to stop new development until we have a firm plan on developing water. We are getting there, but we are not there. The Board then discussed the City Council meeting that will be held on January 2, addressing secondary water and the importance of their attendance.

Motion by Engineer Breinholt to approve the preliminary review for Spring Acres Estates, Phase 6. Motion seconded by Manager Warnke. Vote: Chairman Bench – aye, Engineer Breinholt – aye, and Manager Warnke – aye. Motion approved.

The Board then discussed a few other projects that Johnston is working on and they told him about some of their recent endeavors. Mr. Johnson said Mark Allred wants to get on their agenda next week to discuss the apartments.

Engineer Breinholt said I know we cannot make a policy here, but I do not feel comfortable continuing to approve development if it does not have secondary water. He said they need a clear plan first. Gary Madsen’s proposed subdivision does not have secondary water and I am not comfortable with adding more to the system until we know what we are doing. Administrator Bench asked what phase Madsen is in. Engineer Breinholt said he is in the far distance—one of the last ones. We could move forward with the approvals and reviews and stop short of actually allowing the connections. Manager Warnke said they are headed into winter so they are not going to start construction, but they could record and start selling it. Administrator Bench asked what the plan is for areas 1 and 2 and if that would happen this spring. Engineer Breinholt said that is what Director Fulgham has called the low hanging fruit and will service about 70 lots. The timeline is questionable at this point. He said I think we need to know that. The City has an idea for secondary water and it seems like it will happen but without a clear plan that could change. They may decide to look into more culinary sources instead. They agreed they need a plan and that financing will need to be discussed in the near future.

b. Walk ins*

Gary Madsen explained the changes for his proposed subdivision. He showed where they intent to stop the curbing and where they are moving the property line. He explained that the current house sits near the property line so they have decided to give them a little ground and the ditch. He said there is no way to move the ditch so I will just deed that to them. Manager Warnke asked if that was due to surveying errors. Mr. Madsen said it was not necessarily an error, just when the house was built they let them put it basically on the property line. We will just move over and give them the ditch so they will have some room in between the house. He showed where they would have to pipe under the road. Engineer Breinholt said you have to have a temporary turn around on that end. Mr. Madsen said we talked about a temporary hammer, which Engineer Breinholt said would need to be paved.

Engineer Breinholt asked about his timing. Mr. Madsen said I would like to get it approved, but not recorded until the first of the year for property tax purposes. Engineer Breinholt said we were just talking about the secondary water system and trying to get something started. As the engineer over the water system, I have some real heartburn right now with adding new development to the system, especially ones without secondary water and without a clear plan to move forward on alleviating that demand on the system. With that being said the Council is working toward something like that. I would think by spring we will have a plan, but I am reluctant to do any final approvals on anything until we have that plan. Mr. Madsen said he was clearly under the guidelines. Engineer Breinholt said our demand of the culinary water system is pushed to the limit right now and we need to alleviate that by constructing a secondary water system. We are getting started, but we continue to add connections without moving forward on a solution. I do not want to continue to add connections without having a clear plan to move forward on the solution. The Council is working on it. Mr. Madsen said are you saying you are not going to approve any subdivisions at all until that time? Engineer Breinholt said that is the discussion. Administrator Bench said we will still go through the motions and hopefully by then we will have a solution to add more people. The Council is moving forward with their plan and we hope to alleviate the issues. Engineer Breinholt said I think it will all come together and we will be all right, but it is a little bit of a timing issue. Mr. Madsen said you cannot hold up mine based upon me putting secondary water in. Engineer Breinholt said this is about having culinary water available. Administrator Bench clarified the secondary is not an issue on approving his—it is about the culinary water supply. Manager Warnke said we are trying to get secondary in place to clear up culinary water to service development.

The Board planned to put him on the agenda for their next meeting and to have him email the information. Mr. Madsen said if they could get the sewer to come down a little, just enough to get that up to 20 feet then he could widen the lots and make them better. He also asked about easements, but the Board said this is just the preliminary plat. Administrator Bench said to get Engineer Breinholt’s notes fixed and then send it to the County for their review. He would then come back to the Board. Mr. Madsen noted he needs to address the temporary turnaround, the interior easements, and deed some to the City. There is another ditch here, but we are going to move it out and pipe it. Engineer Breinholt said does this represent the change you made to the phase two plat? Mr. Madsen said probably not, this is just reference for this one. Administrator Bench said part of the County checklist is to reference so you may have to go back and put numbers on there.

4. Comments/Reports:

There were no comments or reports.

5. Public comments: Comments limited to five minutes.

No public comments.

6. Adjournment:

Motion by Engineer Breinholt to adjourn the meeting. Motion seconded by consensus of the Board. The meeting adjourned at 10:20 a.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 of the Land Use Authority Board Meeting held on the above referenced date. Minutes prepared by Jessica Tanner.

Dated this 13th day of December, 2017

_____________________________
Linsey Nessen, City Recorder

*Utah Code 52-4-202, (6) allows for a topic to be raised by the public and discussed by the public body even though it was not included in the agenda or advance public notice given; however, no final action will be taken.