PUBLIC NOTICE
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT THE VERNON TOWN COUCIL Public Regular Meeting on February 6,2025 at 7:00 PM at the Vernon Fire Station 325 South Main Street Vernon UT 84080.
FIRST PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE
- Pledge Of Allegiance.- Lead By John Olson
- Consideration of comments concerning amendments to Title ORDINANCE NUMBER 2025-02 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 16, SUBDIVISION REGULATIONS, OFTHE VERNON LAND USE MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT CODE.- John asked Rob to fill the council in on what this is. John stated that this was all sent to the council for review. Rob stated that the changes are pursuant to state law. The state wanted to make them more streamlined and more administrative. A lot of municipalities have more red tape so to speak and the state wanted to make it illegal to have so much red tape. Basically now you are only allowed to have one public hearing for the minor subdivision. Rob stated that under our code that Public hearing will take place with the Planning and Zoning commission. The reason why is so that the public comments can be heard on the front end of that so that changes and stipulations could be made at that time. The requirements would be that they have to follow all of those laws but they would be more administrative on the back end. Rob stated that it is the Clerk, Attorney, and the Engineer that will ensure that everything is done the way it is supposed to be done. Rob stated that there are time periods and all of those thing but he does not remember all of those directly. This puts us into compliance with the state law. John stated that as he reads it. The applicant would come to the town clerk and get the application/paperwork. Once they submit that the attorney, engineer and the clerk would look it over. Then they would pass it over to Planning commission then if they approve it they would give it to the subdivision review committee. John asked is that the town Council? Rob stated he does not believe so. John stated the town council is suppose to serve as the appeal board. Nicole stated how she understood it is that it would go to Planning and Zoning First and then it would go to the clerk, attorney and engineer would be the last ones to sign off on it. John asked so they would be the review committee? Nicole stated yes that is correct. John then moved to post approval actions. The only thing that town council would in is if it is not approved by planning and zoning and the applicant wants to appeal that decision. John stated that his only concern on that is how does the Town Council know what is going on? If we are not passing it or anything only our one member who is over planning and zoning would know what is happening. Rob stated that the member would come and report it. Rob stated it would be similar to the member who is over the water. Rob stated you all don’t go to those meeting either. As town council members you are able to show up to the public hearings. Rob stated that if you are that interested in what is happening you can always attend those meetings. John asked are there any comments or questions. Rob was asked “ In Santaquin the town council has the final approval on what the planning and zoning have done or they can deny it so they do have final say in whatever it is.” Rob stated that it depends on what it is. If they are passing an ordinance then yes the Town Council has final say. In this scenario there is supposed to be one body who actually does it and this is just for minor subdivisions. John stated this is not for rezoning just for minor subdivisions. Rob stated so generally speaking yes the town council has final say but forever reason the legislature zeroed in on this and said they want to streamline the minor subdivisions. John stated that one thing that was a concern was the ones who were making the decisions were all of the sudden the appeals board as well. No Further Discussion.
- Consideration of Chapter 2 Definitions. Rob stated that the definitions are to accommodate the wording in the new code. It adds the Definitions and then renumbers everything.
- Public Comments. No public comments
- Adjourn- John Closed the Public hearing.
Public Meeting
- Approval of Meeting Minutes January 9, 2025- Motion made by Mike Cheatham. Seconded By Scott Livingston. All in favor Non opposed.
- Approval of Public Hearing Meeting Minutes January 9, 2025. Motion Made by Scott Livingston. Seconded by Tai Lauti. All in favor non opposed.
- Public Comments- No Comments.
- Sheriff Report- Nothing to report.
- Joe Mannino (Fire)- Not Present. Training went well in St George. Ice rescue was at the Vernon Reservoir it went very well. John stated that somehow the town is involved in an agreement with the DNR and every year we do fire Prevention things in the town we keep record of that. We add values to those hours, then it is taken off of a fee. The fee is $5,700.00. Tai mentioned that Shar is the one who would do that. John stated that we got notice last fall that this report had not been done. John called Joe and Joe didn’t know anything about it. John went in to talk to Bucky Whitehouse and Bucky stated that Shar has done that report in the past. Shar should know what it is. John stated that we just need to know what to do. Shar mentioned to John he needed to sign something but he is not going to sign anything until he knows what he is signing. We need a better explanation on to what this is. John asked Tai to figure out what this is and report back to him. John stated that if people mow their own weeds and lawn debris that can count towards this. John stated that he doesn’t understand that we pay someone money so that the spark from a car or a chain doesn’t start a fire. To me that sounds like that should count as fire prevention.
- Consideration of Letters of interest for Town Council Vacancy. – Motion was made to temporarily close the meeting. It was closed and seconded. Closed for private meeting for discussion. John Opened the public meeting again. John congratulated Jamison Richey on being chosen for the Council Seat. He will be sworn in at the march meeting. John asked him to listen to the reports tonight and see what he would be interesting in.
- Consideration of adopting ORDINANCE NUMBER 2025-02 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 16, SUBDIVISION REGULATIONS, OFTHE VERNON LAND USE MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT CODE and Chapter 2 Definitions. – Motion made by Mike Cheatham. Seconded by Scott Livingston All in Favor Non opposed.
- Consideration of Town Surplus- Nicole stated that there are a few items. 5 4 drawer filling cabinets. Condition is used. John asked do we need to put a value on the item? Or can we just say first come first serve on these items. Rob stated that he doesn’t have the ordinance Infront of him. Rob stated that he thinks if it is under $100.00 then you can do what you want with it. John stated so if we put the value under $100.00 then we can do with it what we want. Scott Mentioned that Vernon Water works would like 2 of them. John stated then we can just give it away? Rob stated exactly. John asked Nicole do you think any of these items would be worth $100.00? Nicole stated honestly the only one I would say would be the water heater. It was brand new in the box at the time of the flood. Mike asked if it was electric or gas? Nicole stated she was not sure on that. John stated that it is electric. John valued the Property at $100.00. The fridge that is listed on the surplus works great it was donated to the town. We will put first come first serve on that item as well. John stated the 2 filing cabinets that are good we will give to the water company. The other 3 can be first come first serve.
- Discussion of Town Council 2025 Goals- Mike stated that his goals were for the roads get sharp road sealed, and see what other paving projects will come out of the grants we applied for. John stated that we will not be getting that money because the grant was not submitted on time. John stated that he was called at 7:00PM on the night of the 31st and was told I didn’t get it in. He had spoken with her through out the day and because she had waited until the last day it was not completed. Paint the speed bumps is the next goal, make sure signs are in place. Get a dump bed for the plow truck. John asked how much a dump trailer? Mike stated they range from $3,500- $12,000. The one that Dan has is usually on KSL for around $6,000-$7,000.00 used. John stated that with the money we saved on the truck we could get something like that. Mike stated that when he was looking at dump bed trucks there were a few that were just selling the dump bed for the truck. John stated that we could take the rest of the money from the truck and spend it on that. John stated that he thought it would be nice to be able to use it during the summer to work on the roads. John stated that he wants to get the rest of Harker road and Yates road done before the spring. Mike asked do you think it would be better to have a trailer or a dump bed on the truck? John asked the council what their thoughts were. Scott stated that the trailer they had on the ranch was very beneficial because you can do what you want it. You still have to pay attention to what you put into it but you can take it anywhere you want, then you don’t have another piece of equipment that you have to take care of a motor in. Tai stated that he feels like whatever Mike thinks. Mike stated that he has always just used a Dump Trailer he has never used the beds so he doesn’t know how they work. Jamison stated that you are limited to Gross weight on the truck verses the Trailer. He thinks that a dump Trailer would be a much better way to go. John stated lets go that route then. John asked Mike to start looking into the Dump Trailers. Scott was concerned on the roof in the fire station. There is no insulation at all in the building above the meeting room. Scott thinks that is where a lot of our heat is going. John asked Nicole is our heat bill more expensive this year. She stated yes, it is almost double this year. Scott Mentioned that he thought that would have been part of the remodel but it was not done. Mike stated we have to think about that for cooling in the summer too. Scott mentioned that when we get to the point that we need to fix the insulation in the fire station bays this is something to consider as well. Scott asked Nicole do you have an estimate how much we are spending in the propane costs. Nicole stated that they come out and top it off every time they have an order close by They had to completely fill it last month. They filled it in October and then again in January. Nicole stated it is costing almost $1500.00 when they have to come out and fill it. John stated that we don’t always have the heat on in this building. Nicole stated in the bays we have it on all the time. Nicole asked about the thermoset where it is inside the meeting room if it kicks off the heat to the bay. Mike stated that the Bay has its own thermostat so it will not turn the heat off in there if we turn it off in the meeting room. Mike stated that all we have to do in the bay is keep it above freezing so we usually set it to 50-55 degrees. John stated that we do have to do some insulation and get the bays fixed. Joe did mention the no insulation above the meeting room as well. John then gave Scott the phone number for Charlie McNeil. He is the contractor who did all of the remodel. John mentioned that he came over with the Plumber and they were able to get waterflow back to the sink and did a cleaning cycle on the water heater. John called Charlie about the new door to the fire station. He said he was going out of town and once he gets back he will come out and give them a bid. Tai has no goals for this upcoming year. John stated that as far as the Cemetery goes his goals are still the Conex or shed. Also get a new software to take over the records because we do not have a up to date software on that. The software is no longer serviced.
- Clerk Report- Nicole stated that all of the 1099s have went out to the employees of the town. There are 3 seats up for election this year. One mayor and 2 councilmen. John stated that he will probably run again. Scott asked how long are the terms? Nicole stated they are 4 year terms. John stated that the hard part for him is that if I decided to run and then all of the sudden I have to vacancies to fill again that is one of the hardest things I have to do. Nicole stated that she really needs to push the fact that everything that must be placed on the agenda must go through the mayor and then come to me from him. Nicole stated that there is an open Vacancy on the planning and zoning. Helen has officially stepped down. Ryan Loder is the Chair and Jessica Loder is the Vice Chair this was voted on at the Planning and Zoning meeting last month. Nicole stated that she is in preparing to post the town clerk position and it should read that it is no more then 100 hours a month after tracking hours for the last 2 years it is around 25 hours a week. John stated so lets post it $25/hr and up to 100 hours a month. Nicole stated that this month of February is going to be the busiest month and will it be over the 100 hours with all of the public hearings and different deadlines that we have to meet the month of February. John asked are we going to post the planning and Zoning and the town clerk together. Nicole stated that she feels that it would be best to have them be the same person since so much of those jobs go hand and hand with each other that it is easier for it to be one person. Nicole stated that the pay for the planning and zoning is $200.00 a month flat rate no matter what you do for planning and zoning. When Printing the checks they do come out of 2 separate budgets so we do print out 2 different checks. Nicole stated that she is a phone call away to help with any questions that the new hire may have. Nicole asked how do you want the vacancy advertised? Do you want it strictly local or do you want me to push it out to Tooele County and see what comes of that? John stated he feels very strongly that it needs to be someone in the area even Faust, Lofgreen or just outside of the town limits. John asked Rob his opinion on this. Rob stated that it would be up to you and the council how you wanted to hire for this. Rob stated that he sees the value in having someone close by especially if you are expecting them to be here that is going to have to be a concession by whoever it is. John stated they are going to have to have so many hours they will have to be in this building. Rob stated that you do not want to limit yourself. John suggested that at least up to 20 hours a week be at the office some months more then that some months maybe less then that. But you can say on average Rob stated that he would advertise it as part time and then once they come in that is when you can talk to them about some months it will be more then the 80 hours but that they will also be compensated for those hours it goes over. John asked Nicole will you send that posting to Myself and Rob so we can review it before you post it. Nicole stated the last thing is do you have any idea who will be taking over the grants? We will have some reporting coming due for the grants we have received. Stephaine stated that she will still be able to do that. John stated but he isn’t to thrilled on the last little episode that happened. It just seemed like she is ready to be done. John stated that she did talk to Melinda about it and she may be willing to do a little bit of it. John stated that they will have someone on the council that will be over grant writing. They may want to do some of that themselves or they may want to talk to Melinda or Stephaine and see if they can help with that. Mike asked how hard is it to get the rep from the state to write the grant? John and Nicole both stated that the Rep from the state will not write the grants they will look the applications over but will not write it for us. Nicole mentioned that now that Stephaine is no longer on the council, she will gather all of the town items from her. John mentioned that He gave her the town Computer and she uses the Vernon town council 1 email. John asked if we can start all over again with new emails for the council. Nicole stated that we need to stop sending emails to personal email address. We need to sent to council email addresses only. John stated that once we get Jay sworn in, we can get the town computers and figure out who everyone is and get new email address for each person.
- Department Reports/Commissions/Committees
(A) Mayor John Olson:
Council of Government- John stated that in the January meeting the biggest thing we do is make appointments to the different committees and choose a chair for COGG they voted me in again by acclimation. John is the chair of COGG for another year. Third quarter sells tax money was discussed. We had a meeting where we met with the state legislature who represents Tooele County. The state Senator who represents Tooele City was not in attendance. Senator Sandle Represents Tooele Valley we were able to tell him here are things going on in the valley. John stated that meeting was very Favorable we were able to talk about the frustrations and they listened to us. They talked about Mid-valley Highway and they are trying to get an easement through the Depot so they can bring it all of the way this way. But that is at least 10 years down the road.
Cemetery- Nothing to Report.
(B) Scott Livingston:
Water- Water meeting last night. President of the Rual water association came out and put on a nice presentation of our water works. Put some different thoughts on what it would take to replenish it and repay for it if things were to start breaking down. He threw out a lot of big numbers. He put it all into a book for them and it was a really good meeting. It showed them what they have and what they don’t have and showed them how to pay for it. His recommendation was to go from $55 a month to $88 a month on water rates. But this is just a recommendation.
Treasurer- Nothing new to report.
(C) ?
Planning and Zoning
Grants
(D) Tai Lauti:
Ambulance/Emergency Management
Fire Report- Nothing new to Report.
Animal Control- Tai stated that he had people calling him to register their dogs. Rabies Clinic went well.
(E) Mike Cheatham:
Roads- Mike stated that we got a snow plow. Mike asked rob now we just need to figure out legal how do we run it. As far as People Driving it. Mike stated I think we know how to license this stuff. John stated that it is a town Vehicle. Rush valley has their Council member who is over Roads also Drive their Snow Plow. Mike asked did they have to put a bid out for that or did they just assign them. Rob stated that he believes it was just assigned to him but it predated him being there so he doesn’t know how that happened. John stated that the first route to go may be calling the Jeramiah Harding and see how they did it. John asked rob what about Insurance? Is that covered under workmans comp since he is a elected official? Rob stated he will have to look. Rob asked do you have fleet insurance? Nicole stated we do for the fire trucks. Rob stated there is a difference between vehicle insurance and personal insurance. John stated we have insurance on our fire trucks couldn’t we just add this to it? Rob stated that he would assume you could. Nicole stated that the town is paying for all of the insurance on the Fleet and building insurance. We are around $7,000.00 just in Insurance a year. John stated we will have to meet with Joe on that. John mentioned that we missed out on this grant that he was told we would get if we got the application in. John stated that he would have done more but he thought it was getting done. But the town does have $200,000 for Larson hill and $67,000 to reseal Sharp Road. John stated that the biggest issue we have her is getting a company who will even bid on jobs out here. John had an idea why don’t we pay the county to come and do it? John spoke to Councilman Wardle about his idea. John stated that he seemed ok with the idea. Maybe myself and whoever is over roads can meet with Amy Welsh and someone on the county council and see if they would entertain maybe bidding on that project for us. Our Representative is Kendell Thomas. John stated he doesn’t know how that would work on the bid process. Rob stated lets see if they will entertain it and then lets go from there.
Community Relations- Rosalie is putting together a new committee for the 4th of July.
- Other Business- No other Business.
- Review and Pay Town Bills- Motion Made by Scott Seconded By Tai. All in favor non opposed.
- Adjourn- Motion made by Tai Seconded by Scott All in favor non opposed.