City Council

Thursday, March 25,2004
Minutes



ST. GEORGE CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING
MARCH 25, 2004, 4:00 P.M.
ADMINISTRATION CONFERENCE ROOM

PRESENT:
Mayor Daniel McArthur
Council Member Rod Orton
Council Member Suzanne Allen
Council Member Larry Gardner
City Manager Gary Esplin
City Attorney Shawn Guzman
City Recorder Gay Cragun

EXCUSED:
Council Member Bob Whatcott

OPENING:
Mayor McArthur called the meeting to order and welcomed all present. The pledge of allegiance was led by Council Member Orton and the invocation was offered by Council Member Allen.

RESOLUTION:
Consider adoption of a resolution supplementing a parameters resolution adopted March 4, 2004, authorizing the issuance and sale of not more than $12,500,000 General Obligation Refunding Bonds, Series 2004 of the City of St. George, Washington County, Utah (the ?Issuer?), to refund and retire the Issuer?s outstanding General Obligation Park and Recreation Bonds, Series 1996; prescribing the form of bonds; providing for the manner of execution and delivery of said bonds; providing for the use of the proceeds thereof and how payment of said bonds will be made; authorizing the taking of all other actions necessary for the consummation of the transaction contemplated by this resolution; and related matters.

City Manager Gary Esplin explained that the City is refunding bonds to take advantage of the market. Action is needed to authorize the refunding of the bonds with interest costs at 3.9347%. The savings to the City will be significant.

A motion was made by Council Member Gardner and seconded by Council Member Allen to approve the resolution. Mayor McArthur called for a roll call vote, as follows:

Council Member Gardner - aye
Council Member Allen -aye
Council Member Orton - aye

The vote was unanimous and the motion carried.

AGREEMENT:
Consider approval of the Indian Hills access improvement agreement, modification to Heritage Lane Subdivision.
City Manager Gary Esplin explained that finishing touches are being made to the project. Reconfiguration of access into the subdivision was going to be part of the contract with Interstate Rock, but because of the inconvenience to the residents of the subdivision during the project, staff is recommending that this be pulled from the contracted work and Gerry Brown be authorized to do it. Mr. Brown owns property on the corner and is contributing $20,000 toward the cost of the project. The City will save $30,000 by having Mr. Brown do this based on the bids received from Interstate. This will also allow a connection to be made now for the residents while making changes on the connection road to the bridge. Estimated cost is $132,576.79, less the $20,000 that Mr. Brown is contributing to the project.

A motion was made by Council Member Gardner and seconded by Council Member Orton to approve the agreement. Mayor McArthur called for a vote, and all voted aye. The motion carried.

DISCUSSION RE ST. GEORGE BLVD. IMPROVEMENTS:
Discussion concerning St. George Blvd. planned improvements and related requirements.



St. George City Council Minutes
March 25, 2004
Page Two

City Manager Gary Esplin advised that UDOT has made suggestions with regard to U-turns on St. George Blvd., and staff would like to present possible lighting enhancements within the Historic District.

Marc Mortensen explained that at a federal highway meeting, UDOT accepted the City?s amendments to its sign ordinance and addressed several encroachments into UDOT right-of-way. These will be addressed in a later City Council meeting, as well as other issues relating to raised medians. UDOT was asked to look at every possible intersection along the Blvd. to see where it could be widened or U-turn right-of-way purchased to extend the turning radius. UDOT?s recommendations are contained in a hand-out, which he then distributed and reviewed.

Mr. Mortensen then distributed a hand-out showing street lighting options. UDOT will allow the City to install break-away street lights 18" in back of the curb along the Blvd. Staff is also exploring the possibility of installing street lights in the medians. He then reviewed the different options.

DISCUSSION RE PLANNING FEES:
City Manager Gary Esplin advised that the fee schedule previously adopted does not have a cap on the fees with regard to acreage. Staff is recommending that the amount of the fees be capped somewhere around 50-100 acres.

Mayor McArthur commented that the City must cover its costs.

Council Member Orton commented that the fees approved were consistent with those of other communities.

Carol Sapp expressed concern that no one knew what costs were being incurred by the City, and there needed to be some kind of nexus between the cost and what is being charged. She stated she would like to see planning fees directly applied as close as possible to where they are being utilized. She inquired if an analysis had been done to see what was required with regard to a general plan amendment and what costs actually are before implementation of the fee schedule.

Community Development Director Bob Nicholson replied that in some cases analyses were done. Zone change costs range between $700-$900, and subdivision and site plan review fees should be tied to staff time. He suggested that a general plan amendment or rezone does not need to be tied specifically to costs as they are not mandatory burdens.

City Manager Gary Esplin commented that fees for a general plan amendment are a revenue source. The City pays thousands of dollars and spends many hours creating its general plan, and developers should have to pay to change it. This is the way every city in the state operates. The City?s fees are fair and in line with other communities in the state.

Mayor McArthur inquired if there were any studies on this issue.

Mr. Esplin replied he did not know of any.

Council Member Gardner commented that with all the services in the City, the City could be caught in a trap and have onerous taxes which are impartial and unfair. He stated a cap was needed, but the cap should be lower than 100 acres.

Carol Sapp inquired if there were rules in terms of cities generating revenue.

Mr. Esplin replied that there was no legal limitation on cities forcing them to justify fees based on costs incurred.

Ms. Sapp replied that there was on building fees.

City Attorney Shawn Guzman advised that there was nothing in the statute that requires a nexus on planning fees.

Mr. Esplin suggested the addition of a caveat allowing application for a waiver or reduction of fees in certain cases, such as when the general plan is inconsistent with the zoning.

St. George City Council Minutes
March 25, 2004
Page Three

Council Member Gardner commented that when property is annexed, it is sometimes brought in as mining and grazing as a holding zone, and then it is changed when it is developed.

Carol Sapp expressed concern that the City?s latitude and discretion could be perceived as arbitrary and capricious if different amounts are charged.

City Attorney Shawn Guzman replied that the City would have to be very specific and determine what exceptions could be made. If certain criteria is met, an exception could be made.

City Manager Gary Esplin commented that he was not opposed to reviewing the issue further, and staff can come back later with a recommendation. However, the City must cover its development-related costs, and there are services the City is providing which are not covered by fees.

Carol Sapp requested clarification of the public improvement inspection fee. She stated she has seen nothing in writing with regard to this fee.

Public Works Director Larry Bulloch replied that the public works improvement fee is calculated by taking the cost of public works improvements for road, curb, gutter, sidewalk and drainage according to the engineer?s estimate, and multiplied by 2%.

City Manager Gary Esplin stated he would like to have two weeks in order to make a better recommendation to the City Council on fees based on acreage, and also a definition of public improvements.

SUNTRAN:
City Manager Gary Esplin advised that staff would like to extend Suntran service to Saturdays and evenings, all within the existing budget.

Public Works Director Larry Bulloch explained that the proposed hours for Saturday service would be 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and evening hours would be extended to 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. This would be done on a trial basis to see if there is demand for the extended service. If not, it will be discontinued. Changing the frequency of the stops to every half hour would require the purchase of more buses, etc.

City Manager Gary Esplin stated that if the Council wants to increase the frequency of the stops in the next fiscal budget, the contribution from the Public Transportation Fund could be increased, but this would have to weighed with funds committed for other projects. Increasing the frequency will increase the cost significantly.

Mr. Bulloch advised that there were 6,600 riders a month last quarter.

Mayor McArthur suggested a free-fare day similar to the free admission day at Sand Hollow.

TRAFFIC CONCERNS:
Various traffic concerns were discussed, including a problem with people jumping the street which is closed off next to Walmart in Bloomington, and the backing up of traffic onto the freeway at the Bloomington roundabout.

ADJOURN TO EXECUTIVE SESSION:
A motion to adjourn to an executive session to discuss possible litigation was made by Council Member Allen and seconded by Council Member Gardner. Mayor McArthur called for a roll call vote, as follows:

Council Member Allen - aye
Council Member Gardner - aye
Council Member Orton - aye

The vote was unanimous and the motion carried.




St. George City Council Minutes
March 25, 2004
Page Four

RECONVENE:
A motion to reconvene was made by Council Member Allen and seconded by Council Member Orton. Mayor McArthur called for a vote, and all voted aye. The motion carried.

DOWNTOWN PLANNER:
City Manager Gary Esplin inquired of the City Council if they would like to hire a planner for the downtown core area to act as a facilitator to help implement the vision for the downtown. It was the consensus of the City Council to hire a planner.

The meeting then adjourned.



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Gay Cragun, City Recorder