Gunnison City Council Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, October 15, 2014, 7:00 p.m.
Gunnison City Hall, 38 West Center
Gunnison, UT 84634
Present: Mayor Bruce Blackham, City Council Members: Robert Anderson, Thayne Carlisle, Blake Donaldson and Melissa Judy, Recorder Janell Braithwaite, Land Use Hearing Officer Bruce Parker, Pool Manager Robert Sorensen, P&Z Chairman Rory Ward, Past P&Z Committee Member Rulon Ellett, Officer Tyler Donaldson, Suzanne Dean with the Sanpete Messenger and Citizen Holly Sorensen
Presiding: Mayor Bruce Blackham
Invocation: Council Member Robert Andersen
Public Comment
There were no citizens in attendance tonight requesting public comment.
Present Plaque for Planning & Zoning Services to Rulon Ellett
Mayor Blackham thanked Rulon Ellett for his attendance, and turned the time to Zoning Administrator Rod Taylor for his presentation. Administrator Taylor presented Rulon a plaque for his years of service to the Planning & Zoning Commission. The time served was from 2007-2014. Administrator Taylor expressed his appreciation for Rulon, and noted the important influence Rulon had in making Gunnison a better place for everyone with his ideas and input. The Council thanked Rulon for his service.
Discuss Zoning Issues Regarding River Bend Subdivision with Proposed Approval of Request to Pursue the Vacating of River Bend Subdivision ~ Bruce Parker
Bruce Parker addressed the Council noting the City Recorder had received a request on the 18th of September, 2014 to vacate a portion of the River Bend Subdivision plat. Mr. Parker reviewed the copy of the subdivision plat. Mr. Parker noted the entire subdivision was reviewed by the Planning Commission and the City Council as Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 and was recorded at the County as one whole subdivision, not in phases. It was his understanding the property owners were requesting to take phases 2 and 3 back to the agricultural land that existed for a long time previously. He noted there has been no development on Phases 2 or 3 although Phase 1 has been developed with a number of lots sold and developed.. Mr. Parker stated the issue is how does the city best proceed to respond to the applicants request and do it in a way that also protects the city. Understanding that there have been no phases recorded, only one whole subdivision, and is complicated not only by the lots involved, but the fact the city owns the road located right through the heart of Phases 2 and 3. He reported there are two options available with one being to essentially erase the subdivision and take it back to what it was before, but because a road is involved, a publically dedicated road which the city paid taxes on, the only way to do that is to vacate the subdivision or a portion of the subdivision. Phase 1 cannot be vacated because there are houses there. A legal description would need to be obtained of Phases 2 and 3, and vacate that portion of the River Bend Subdivision described in the legal description that encompasses Phases 2 and 3. In doing so, the council as a city, would be giving up their interest in the road and have to sign that vacation allowing it to go back to property owner. Mr. Parker questioned if there is a way the city, as a property owner, would like to maintain a property interest in this property. Mr. Parker explained the reason the request to vacate the subdivision was filed was for the property owners to save on assessments and property taxes, and at some point the city will need to determine what role or what interest if any the city wants to maintain in Phases 2 and 3. Recorder Braithwaite noted both roads in the subdivision, Rock Creek Road and River Bend Drive are currently owned by the city. Bruce Parker noted under State Law the city became the owner of all roads when the property was recorded. Rod noted Phase 1 is completely developed, and he had been told by the property owners they would probably want to develop this area into bigger lots. He questioned if it was better to amend the subdivision map or just vacate the map. Rod also
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noted if the property owners did what they wanted to do, the road alignment would be incorrect. Mr. Parker reported if the road were to be changed in any way with the bigger lots, then it is better to proceed with a vacation of the subdivision. Council Member Carlisle stated he had been told by one of the property owners they just wanted to turn it back into agricultural land. Mr. Parker reported if phase 2 and 3 were vacated, the road would also be vacated just like none of it had ever happened. Mr. Parker questioned if indeed the city did want to proceed and relinquish ownership of the road in Phases 2 and 3, would the city want to maintain some property somewhere else in the subdivision area. He gave an example of this statement. Mr. Parker stated if the owners of the property want the city to eliminate the road, he would advise them to proceed by way of a vacation process to eliminate that portion of the subdivision area within Phases 2 and 3. They would have to create a survey boundary of that area, and then it should eventually make its way back to the city to decide how the city would like to proceed. The city will have to get a recommendation from the Planning Commission. This should be an agenda item fairly soon as he feels the property owners would like to get an adjustment on their property taxes for 2014.
Council Member Judy requested Mr. Parker give the Council an explanation of a “stub road” as there is one in front of this property owners house. The frontage of the home was further discussed. Administrator Taylor noted this property owner had just been sent a letter stating the city felt they had an agreement since the property owner stated he would finish the road. He had done this in order to receive that zoning permit to finish that house. This letter informed him he had the right to appeal to the Land Use Hearing Officer which would be Mr. Parker, and if neither party liked that then it would go to District Court. Administrator Taylor noted the property owner going to the Council Members to discuss the issue was just “conversation”, if you will. Council Member Judy explained she just wanted to understand the issue. Administrator Taylor explained in order for the property owner to obtain the zoning permit, this was a provision- that he complete the road, and the property owner signed a letter stating he would do that. However, the letter was vague stating he planned to do this and some of these other things so the city is taking a different stand on the issue, and thereby the appeal goes to the Land Use Hearing Officer and will be decided from there. Administrator Taylor reported anything in phase 1 should have been paved. He also reported all of the addresses in phase 1 were based on the existing completed street, and they were unaware the property owner was going to face his home to the south rather than to the east as all of the other homes are.
7:30 p.m. Bruce Parker, Rod Taylor and Rulon Ellett left
Discuss Swimming Pool with Proposed Approval of Changes ~ Council Member Judy
Council Member Judy reported they had met with Pool Manager Sorensen earlier this evening, and as of November 1st, the pool will be closed to public swimming, but will stay open for the morning exercise, for the November PE classes from the high school and for the swim team. She stated Manager Sorensen will stay on as a full time employee until January 1, 2015. He will stay on as the lifeguard to fill the time for swimming, and will continue the maintenance at the pool to fill his 40 hours. He will also alert all of the current pool employees by this Friday to give them their 2 week notice, noting that November 1st the pool will be closed and they won’t have a job. Come January, the Council will need to make the decision between now and then concerning the maintenance and the financial what they want to do as far as opening that up as a part-time job and opening it up to new lifeguard positions. She reported she and Council Member Donaldson had met with Supervisor Sorensen to go over maintenance items noting the maintenance list is very long. She would like this list prioritized to determine what they would like Supervisor Sorensen to work on between now and January 1. She noted the city just does not have the funds right now for a lot of the maintenance items. She reported it was discouraging that when the pool was put in 15 years ago, a plan was not put into place as far as up keep and maintaining the pool, and now 15 years into it, we have got to repair and do some things or the pool is going to deteriorate. Manager Sorensen proceeded to go through the list of maintenance items. The first item was the combined heat and power system. Supervisor Sorensen explained there has been a company that has completed an initial assessment on the energy usage of the pool-gas and electric. He noted they can take what the pool has or put in a different system to generate electricity to use rather than use the electricity from Rocky Mountain Power. He explained the process further noting it would cost about $50,000, and should pay for itself
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between the next 8-10 years. He reported he and Council Members Judy and Donaldson felt there may be some grant money available to help with this cost. Supervisor Sorensen explained about 75% of the pool water is heated by the solar system with the air being heated 100% by natural gas. The only uncirculated air they have is for the office area with the dressing rooms and the swimming pool all 100% fresh air so there is both a makeup air and an exhaust fan on each system. There is no recirculation, not even a partial recirculation. He feels even a 50% recirculation would be a big benefit for the pool. The humidity factor of the pool does make a difference on how much air can be recirculated. He noted Peterson Mechanical does have the service contract on the air units right now and come quarterly for the maintenance. Supervisor Sorensen noted he does not know how a new unit would affect the contract with Peterson’s or who would perform the maintenance on the system. He noted there are a couple different grants from Questar and Rocky Mountain Power because of the eventual outcome of the improvements. Supervisor Sorensen then discussed replacing the restroom partitions that were purchased in the last fiscal year. He will be coordinating this with Supervisor Reber and Pancho to get these in place. He noted he would like to repurpose some of the old partitions and make changing stalls in the dressing rooms. He felt this would improve the comfort of the dressing rooms and has been encouraged to do this by several people. The location and quantity of the proposed stalls was discussed. He felt this would cost approximately $100 to complete this. The deterioration and rust on the floor vents in the dressing rooms and around the pool were discussed next. There are 32 grates in each of the dressing rooms and 33 around the pool. Between the locking feature and the grate itself, it will run about $100 each totaling approximately $10,000. He then explained the repair work that had taken place a couple years ago on the ceiling in both dressing rooms, and put a cost of about $200 to have them repaired properly as they are now deteriorating. He would like to utilize Pancho with his experience in drywall in that repair if possible. He would then like to see the ceilings re-painted. A special paint will need to be used which he has already purchased. The lights would need to be removed in order to complete this painting. Supervisor Sorensen felt he would have enough time to get this painting done, let it dry and still accommodate the morning swimmers. The rusted vent covers in the dressing rooms were reviewed. He has found them for a cost of $600 total that would include both dressing rooms. These would need to be ordered through a certified HVAC dealer. The rusted door jams going from the pool to the dressing rooms were discussed and the proposed method of cutting them out, and replacing and finishing them with a material that won’t break down like the metal has.
7:47 p.m. Rory Ward left
He reported there are two filtration systems; one for the baby pool and one for the big pool. They are full of sand with gravel on the bottom. The sand has been there since the pool has been put in, and it is recommended to change this sand every 10 years. Supervisor Sorensen explained another substance he could get that would be a little more expensive, but they say it extends the life of the filter media and does a better job. He explained the difference. The estimated cost of this would be $400 for the little pool and $4,400 for the big pool. He would like to see this done sooner than later. He reported there are sections of the pool that should retract (open up) in the warm days, and he has not had that ability to open that up on warm days. He had Alder’s come down; they are the company that installed the unit. They gave an estimate for them to replace everything that needs replacing. This would be about $14,000 for the supplies and $6,000 for their labor. Supervisor Sorensen has taken this apart, but there are specialty pieces he has been unable to find. He thinks this can be done at a much reduced price if done in house.
Council Member Judy reviewed the pool closure, and stated as a Council they needed to review the financial status of the swimming pool, try to get feedback from the community on exactly what they would like the Council to do as their taxes are going to pay for the pool and the city does not have the patrons who are using it as much as they should.
Supervisor Sorensen stated both of the pools need to be replastered which would require draining the pools and acid washing. He showed the Council another product he had researched that was considerably more expensive than plaster, but the product lasts alot longer, and is a plastic material that is non porous so the staining issues will not happen. He mentioned the life of the structure over the pool is actually only 15 years which the pool is, and when Alders looked at it they thought half of it didn’t look very good, but the