City Council Recap

JAN

Jan 27, 2022

January 26, 2022 | General Meeting

Voting

5-0 approving the Consent Agenda, which includes the following:

City Council meeting minutes for August 9 and September 15, 2021
Monthly financial summary
Appointing the board of trustees of the Herriman City Fire Safety Area
Cooperative agreement with Herriman City Fire Service Area
New Planning Commissioner appointment (Heather Garcia)
Approval of volunteer citizen boards and committees appointments
ARPA project list
Appointment of Mayor Palmer as the City's representative on the Council of Governments board
Appointment of Councilmember Hodges as the City's representative on the South Valley Sewer District board

5-0 approving the purchase of two parcels (18 acres) in coordination with Camp Williams
5-0 approving an amendment to the City budget (notes below)

General Meeting

Councilmember Recognitions
Councilmember Ohrn recognized the recent passing of Marion Millett, a former city councilmember and key member of the Herriman community—especially in helping Herriman incorporate as a city.

Councilmember Shields noted the strong representatives that serve Herriman in the state legislature. Councilmember Hodges added that with the legislative session in progress that residents should reach out to elected officials with any needs or desires.

Public hearing - Budget amendment
A public hearing was opened and closed without comment regarding the amendment of the City budget for the current fiscal year. Following the hearing, the Council approved the proposed changes:

Mayor salary—$10,000 from the General Fund - raising the Mayor's salary to reinstate the standard amount that was reduced by the City Council in the last few years
Hidden Oaks electrical connection—$196,119.21 from the Capital Projects Fund - when the budget was approved, the cost for this project was not known. The amount has now been determined.
Hamilton Well Repair and Redevelopment—$607,883 from the Water Enterprise Fund - in November, the Council approved a construction contract, which needs to be funded with a budget amendment.

City Council board and committee reports
Councilmember Ohrn, reporting from the Wasatch Front Waste and Recycling District board, noted that users are recycling less than before. She encouraged residents to use the blue cans for their purpose and take a moment to sort out their waste.

Councilmember Shields, reporting from the Wasatch Front Regional Council's Regional Growth Committee, noted that Mayor Palmer has been nominated for the board and that he (Councilmember Shields) has been invited to stay on in a non-voting role. This will give Herriman two voices among the WFRC's Regional Growth Committee.

Mayor Palmer reported recent efforts in the legislative session and upcoming efforts and bills as the session moves along. Residents are encouraged to reach out to legislators and bill sponsors for any bills that they are concerned with or support.

Jordan School District report
Administrative representatives of the Jordan School District presented the annual report for the school district. Superintendent Anthony Godfrey noted that the school district is a secondary support to families and communities in educating the city's youth. Successful focuses of the district have been early literacy and health/wellness. Also mentioned was that the last time the district bonded, several schools were promised. All those schools have been built, constructed under budget, and opened on time. The district also works closely with the City to manage and plan for growth.

Work Meeting

State of the local economy
The Human Resources manager presented an update of the local economy regarding increased inflation and rising costs of living. It was also noted that Utah's unemployment is approximately 1.9-2.1%, which creates competition for companies to hire employees. The HR Department, City Council, and City administration will continue to evaluate the market situation to assess any recommendations for changes to City employee wages.

Encroachments on City property
There are 84 identified encroachments into City property that range from 100 sq. ft. to over 12,000 sq. ft. The Council discussed how to handle these cases to best preserve public lands in a way that's fair to all. Some encroachments may be small and inadvertent while others appear to be willful encroachments. City staff will prioritize some encroachments and work to abate them and will return to report progress in a later meeting.

Sky Ranch Zoning and General Plan map amendments

The owner of The Reserve at Sky Ranch has requested a rezone of some property meant to be in the third phase of the subdivision from residential to agricultural to ensure that the final phase will include the same animal rights as the first couple phases. The Council is generally amenable to the changes but will vote in a future meeting.

C-1 Commercial zone amendment
The Council discussed adding "churches" as an allowed use within the C-1 commercial zone. Some councilmembers expressed concern about changing zoning rules for a single applicant. However, it was noted that there are currently no undeveloped C-1 properties in the City. The change would only be relevant because if the change was to be approved, it's anticipated the applicant will apply for a rezone of property (along Herriman Blvd.) from mixed residential and C-2 commercial all to C-1 commercial. The property is expected to be the future home of LifeStone Church with a daycare. City staff also proposed removing "personal service warehouse" from permitted uses in the C-1 zone. The Council will vote on the change in a future meeting.

Permitted land use of "medical services"
The Council discussed a drafted amendment of City code to allow "medical services" as a permitted use in C-2 commercial zones. The text change will also adjust parking requirements. The Council agreed that six required stalls per doctor office is too many to require, but the proposal of 1 stall per 200 square feet of floor area may be too little. The proposal will be re-evaluated and potentially undergo a study.

New committee ideas
The Council discussed the idea of forming a pair of new committees within the City—specifically 1) an economic reputation-focused committee to help share positive stories and news from local businesses and 2) a diversity/inclusion/opportunity committee. Framework for the potential committees will be formed and brought back to a future work meeting.

The following two meetings are of boards that are technically different than the City Council, but the members of each board are the members of the City Council.

Community Development and Renewal Agency of Herriman City

Voting

5-0 approving the appointment of an executive director (Mayor Palmer)
5-0 approving forming a working group to finalize a participation agreement for the Auto Mall development
5-0 approving meeting minutes for November 10, 2021
5-0 approving a process to approve meeting minutes for the current meeting