A. Meeting Called to Order - Invocation by Invitation; Pledge of Allegiance

1.      Janelle Carter-Winterfest

2.      Rayn Gubler-Christmas Eve Program

1.      Judge Meyers to swear in the newly elected City Councilmen

2.      Appointments to Boards, Commissions and Committees

1.       Derral Eves and Alex Chamberlain

E. Consent Agenda: (Items on the consent agenda may not require discussion.  These items will be a single motion unless removed at the request of the Mayor or City Council.)

1.      Declarations of conflict of interest

2.      Agenda

3.      Minutes:  December 7, 2011 regular meeting minutes

4.      Review Invoices and Checks:  $ 149,790.48

F. Committee Reports: Planning Commission, Water Board, Sewer Board, Fire District

G. Citizen Comment & Request for Future Agenda Items: No action may be taken on a matter raised under this agenda item.  This item is reserved for items not listed on this agenda.  (Three minutes per person.)

1.      Employment Renewals

a)      Discussion and possible action to (1) reappoint and (2) enter into a new contract with the City Administrator / City Recorder (2-year reappointment); and swearing -in of City Administrator / City Recorder

b)      Discussion, possible action to reappoint, and swearing-in of:

2.      Distribution  (for Council review) of the Sunrise Engineering "100 East Study" and proposed improvements, consisting of proposed plans and specifications

I. Staff. Mayor & Council Reports: City Administrator, Public Safety, Director of Operations, Treasurer, Mayor and Council

In compliance with the American with Disabilities Act, individuals needing special accommodations (including auxiliary communicative aids and services) during this meeting should notify Kyle Gubler, City Recorder, (435) 635-2581, at least 48 hours in advance.

The undersigned City Recorder does hereby certify that the agenda was sent to each member of the governing body, sent to the Spectrum newspaper,

posted on the State website at http://pmn.utah.gov, posted on the LaVerkin City website at www.laverkin.org and at the City office buildings

111 S. Main and 435 N. Main on January 3, 2012.

Kyle Gubler, City Recorder

LaVerkin City Council Meeting

Wednesday, January 4, 2012, 6:00 p.m.

Council Chambers, 111 S. Main, LaVerkin, Utah

Present: Mayor Karl Wilson; Council-Members:  Randy Reeve, Richard Hirschi, Phil Jensen, Brandon Stephenson, Ray Justice;   Staff:  Kyle Gubler, Kevin Bennett, Christy Ballard, Derek Imlay, Chief Lloyd Watkins, Troylinn Benson;  Public: Judge Meyers, Alex Chamberlain, Jed Hirschi, Manuela Hirschi, Ruth Hirschi, Travis Romney, Randy Slack, Thomas Hirschi, Jake Bulkley, Doug Beecher, Warren Steed, Karl Benson, Mary Stephenson, Janelle Carter, Gene and Rayn Blair and family, other community members.

A. Meeting Called to Order - Invocation by Ray Justice; Pledge of Allegiance by Mayor Tom Hirschi

B. Recognitions:

1.      Janelle Carter-Mayor thanked her for being in charge of Winterfest, each year it gets better and better.

2.      Rayn Gubler-Mayor pointed out that La Verkin City has had a Christmas Eve Program since 1906.  Possibly started by Morris Wilson Jr.   Mayor thanked Rayn for being in charge this year and doing an excellent job.  Santa Claus came and the kids very much enjoyed it.

They were both presented with a Certificate.

C. Appointments:

1.      Judge Meyers Administered the Oath of Office to all three newly elected City Councilmen.    Mayor thanked Judge Meyers and also the family members who came out to support the new Councilmen.  He also commented on how important those words are.

2.      Appointments to Boards, Commissions and Committees

This is usually taken care of the second meeting in January.  This meeting has been canceled so it will be taken care of tonight.  Mayor Wilson has talked to everyone and they have accepted these new responsibilities.

Mayor Karl Wilson:  Public Safety, Water, Mayors Association, HCAC, Confluence Park, Sewer Board, and Fire District.

Council-member Phil Jensen:  Historical Preservation, Youth City Council, Budget, and Solid Waste.

Council-member Ray Justice:  Homeland Security/Cert, Confluence Park, ZC3, Sewer Board.

Council-member Richard Hirschi:  Public Safety, Planning Commission, Zoning, and Fire District.

Council-member Randy Reeve:  Recreation, City Festival, Budget, Economic Development, and Mosquito Abatement.

Council-member Brandon Stephenson:  Public Works, Water, Beautification, Trails Committee, and Utah Shooting Sports Park.

Hugh Howard, Planning Commission

Allen Bice, Planning Commission-reappointment

Karl Benson, Planning Commission Alt 1 reappointment

Joe Webb, Planning Commission Alt 2 reappointment

Bryan Bracken, Board of Adjustments-reappointment

Virgil Bice, Water Board-reappointment

Scott Stratton, Utah Shooting Sports Park

Doug Beecher, Economic Development

There are one or two other positions that need to be evaluated and will be brought up at another meeting.

Motion was made by Council-member Phil Jensen to accept suggestions for Appointments for the different Committees, second by Council-member Richard Hirschi.  Motion carried unanimously.

Mayor Tom Hirschi stated that the Shooting Park will approach the City of Hurricane Thursday, Jan.5 and that it might be advisable to have a representative from La Verkin there.  Mayor Wilson will let Scott Stratton know and asked Council-member Stephenson if he could be there.

D. Presentations:

Derral Eves was not able to attend.   Alex Chamberlain will be presenting.

Mayor Wilson explained the Economic Development section of the budget, stating that it is used for web site development.  He would like to put more into the web site by getting some film, more recognition from businesses, and promoting that the business climate could exist in La Verkin.  Economic Development is good whether in Hurricane, La Verkin or Toquerville.  It benefits all of us.

Alex congratulated new Councilmembers and then presented a demo reel of work he has done for clients in the area.  He discussed the role of video in economic development and how the area looks better when it's moving.  He explained Time laps videography and stated that people are not consuming their media in print so much anymore as they are on the Internet and iPad.  He also pointed out that 3 ½ million cars go through the intersection by Maverik every year,  most of them are going to Zion National Park and will be returning the same way.  In order to attract people and businesses it is important for the city to put their best foot forward and part of that is having a good web presence, which Derral has been involved with.   It is also important to have interactive media such as video on your website.  He explained how we have the ability to create professional looking video, giving some examples on ways to do that such as with Winterfest and historical places.  He also commented on the immense amount of traffic that we could take better advantage of to get more businesses here and more tax dollars.

Mayor Wilson stated that there are actually 6 million people that go through the intersection if they go up and back the same way.  He also suggested the council members look at some of Alex's films stating that there a lot of applications that would be very applicable to La Verkin City.  The presentation was an introduction to this, no decision needs to be made yet.

Council-member Hirschi asked if Alex produced the film then put it on the city website and anyone could go on and look at it.  Alex explained the different ways of presenting video on websites commenting that a video stating three paragraphs of information is going to hold people's attention longer than three written paragraphs.

Alex handed out his business card to the councilmembers so they could go onto his website to see more examples of his work.  Mayor Wilson encouraged the Councilmen to go and visit with Alex.  Mayor, Kyle, Alex and Derral met to discuss some ideas and go over the budget process it was also discussed that producing two to three videos per quarter should keep the La Verkin City website at the top of the search engine.

E. Consent Agenda: (Items on the consent agenda may not require discussion.  These items will be a single motion unless removed at the request of the Mayor or City Council.)

1.      Declarations of conflict of interest

2.      Agenda

3.      Minutes:  December 7, 2011 regular meeting minutes

4.      Review Invoices and Checks:  $ 149,790.48

Council-member Phil Jensen abstained from vote declaring conflict of interest.

Motion was made by Council-Member Richard Hirschi to approve the consent agenda as it is written including the checks and invoices in the balance of $149,790.48, second by Council-Member Ray Justice.  Roll Call Vote:  Reeve-yes, Hirschi-yes, Jensen-abstained, Stephenson-yes, Justice-yes.

F. Committee Reports:

1.       Planning Commission - no meeting

2.      Water Board - no meeting.  Mayor Wilson gave an update on the water.  The system has been getting an adjustment on the SCADA, as a result the city had one day of low water pressure which was immediately corrected.  It will probably need to happen a couple more times but tank will not be lowered as much.  The SCADA was off three or four feet so the tank got lower than they planned.   Adjustments were made and staff will be informed the next time so when the first call of dropping water pressure comes in, immediate corrections can be made.

3.      Sewer Board - Blair introduced himself and gave an explanation of what his job is and what he reports on at City Council meeting.  He then stated that in the City of La Verkin, Ash Creek is spending between $300,000 and $400,000 on re-doing the pump station.  The pump station handles part of Toquerville and La Verkin and is located in Confluence Park.  It was just upgraded to Soft Start, Blair explained Soft Start, stating that it will pay for itself in four years but the initial outgo is about $25,000.  Projects like that come before the council so they know what is going on.

Ash Creek is also putting in a mile of Transmission line that is 30" and 24" line.  He explained how it will be paid for.

Blair welcomed Ray to the board, commenting that they have always had really good boards and that the cities have always worked very well together.

Mayor Wilson stated that in 1982 when the sewer district was first started they charged $9-9.50 then realized it would not be enough revenue so they raised it to $12.00.  If the sewer district kept up inflation we would be paying $37.00 a month now.  They are only at $24.00 a month and managing it well.

Sewer District meets 6:00pm on the fourth Thursday of the month at the District office.

4.      Fire District - Chief Kuhlmann was not able to attend.  Mayor reported that the Administrative Control Board met with the District and Hurricane and agreed to a tentative budget that was lower than what the contract called for.  He felt that it went very well and that the citizens of the District and the citizens of Hurricane will be well protected.

G. Citizen Comment & Request for Future Agenda Items:

Doug Beecher congratulated the new Councilmembers and thanked them for being willing to serve, and is looking forward to working with Councilmember Reeve on the Economic Development Committee.

Mayor Wilson thanked Doug along with the other outgoing Councilmembers, Scott Stratton and Hugh Howard for their service.

H. Business:

1.      Employment Renewals

a)      Discussion and possible action to (1) reappoint and (2) enter into a new contract with the City Administrator / City Recorder (2-year reappointment); and swearing -in of City Administrator / City Recorder

Mayor Wilson explained that they are re-aligning everyone's contracts to the political cycle.

Council-member Reeve commented that he had read through Kyle's contract and had no problem with it.

Kevin Bennett stated his concerns with the contracts falling in the middle of the Council-members term of office, and explained how this contract change will help that.  He also went over the changes in the new contract and stated this will be the prototype of all future contracts in the city so they will all be the same and come due at the same time.

Council-member Reeve stated his issue with it, is that being newly elected and his first meeting, he does not know anyone well enough to renew a contract.  He would rather wait six months and have the opportunity to see whether or not he is happy with the service.  Mayor Wilson disagreed with him saying that it would put them in jeopardy for six months without a contract.  Council-member Reeve clarified his comment stating that he would like the appointment moved to six months after election.

Mayor Wilson went over who has a contract and who is appointed.

Kevin explained to Council-member Hirschi how both He and Chief Watkins agreements are not due but that they can appoint them subject to the agreement.  He also stated that usually by August or September people are attending the meetings, getting acquainted with the issues so that by November when they have been elected they have an idea on what is going on.   That leaves November through the end of January to be able to determine if they want to go in a different direction or not.

Kyle explained that as the Mayor pointed out, the Council could decide to wait until July to do anything and that they would just operate under the old contract until the Council made a decision.

Motion made by Council- member Richard Hirschi to accept contract for City Administrator, second by Council-member Phil Jensen.  Roll Call Vote:  Justice -yes, Stephenson- yes, Jensen- yes, Hirschi- yes, Reeve- yes.  Motion carried unanimously.

Motion made by Council-member Randy Reeve to reappoint Kyle Gubler as City Administrator / City Recorder, second by Council-member Richard Hirschi .  Roll Call Vote:  Reeve -yes, Hirschi-yes, Jensen-yes, Stephenson-yes, Justice-yes.  Motion carried unanimously.

Troylinn Benson as notary swore Kyle Gubler in.

b)      Discussion, possible action to reappoint, and swearing-in of:

• City Treasurer (2-year reappointment)
• City Attorney (2-year reappointment, but subject to contract renewal on or before May 1, 2012)
• Director of Public Safety - Police Chief (2-year reappointment, but subject to contract renewal on or before March 20,2012)
• Director of Operations (2-year reappointment)
• Coordinator of Administrative Services (2-year reappointment)

Mayor Wilson recommends appointing Troylinn Benson as City Treasurer, Kevin Bennett as City Attorney, Lloyd Watkins as Director of Public Safety, Derek Imlay as Director of Operations, and Troylinn Benson as Coordinator of Administrative Services.

Motion was made by Council-member Richard Hirschi to reappoint Troylinn Benson as City Treasurer and Coordinator of Administrative Services, Kevin Bennett as City Attorney, Lloyd Watkins as Director of Public Safety, Derek Imlay as Director of Operations, second by Council-member Brandon Stephenson.  Roll Call Vote:  Stephenson-yes, Jensen-yes, Hirschi-yes, Reeve-yes, Justice-yes.  Motion carried unanimously.

Kyle Gubler swore Troylinn Benson, Kevin Bennett, Lloyd Watkins, and Derek Imlay in.

Mayor thanked the staff for all of the service they give, commenting that he believes the personnel services in La Verkin City are great, from all of the employees.

2.      Distribution (for Council review) of the Sunrise Engineering "100 East Study" and proposed improvements, consisting of proposed plans and specifications.

Mayor Wilson explained that this is the conclusion of three studies La Verkin City received a grant for.  The drainage study and the irrigation study have already been completed. He also stated that this does not start or fund the project.  It just gets it ready so that when the Council and the budget support it, it's ready to go.

Kevin explained that the books are to give the Council-members an idea on what it would take to make the project a reality.  He would like the Council-members to read it so that they would have a feel of what they would be taking on.  Derek also asked them to notice the large amount of property that would need to be acquired to maintain the street minimums.  Mayor added that the estimates are in the book, and that now is a good time to build- the question is with the budget.

Council-member Ray Justice asked if the first sheet in the book with the names and signatures on it will be redone when it is final since the Council members have changed.  Derek assured him that it would.  Mayor Wilson asked if that was the only place the councilmembers were mentioned, and it is.

I.        Staff. Mayor & Council Reports:

City Administrator - Kyle Gubler

1.      Congratulated new Council-members and thanked all of the City Council and Mayor for their support.  He also explained how he presents his reports at City Council meetings.

2.      In Economic Development, the property deal with Robert Brown by the city park is finalized.

3.      On December 15^th Color Country Housing had ribbon cutting ceremony for six new homes in the Riverwood Subdivision.  They have three more homes under construction right now which is group three.  Group four will have six homes.  It is a great program.

4.      Mayor Wilson, Scott Hirschi (County Economic Development Council), Derek Imlay and Kyle took a tour of LV Swiss. They were very impressed.  Scott Hirschi asked LV Swiss to be one of the twelve businesses to make a presentation at the economic summit expo "What's Up Down South".

5.      Kyle and Derek will be putting together a presentation on the Silver Acres subdivision for the next City Council meeting.

6.      Economic Summit "What's Up Down South" will be Wednesday at Dixie Center.

7.      Capital Improvement list is updated and turned in every year to Five County Association of Governments. The main priority is the Silver Acres subdivision.

8.      Harassment and Discrimination training is Thursday 1:30pm at 111 South Main.  Springdale, Toquerville, Hurricane Valley Fire District, Ash Creek Sewer District and the Council-members are all invited.

9.      Mayor Wilson received a certificate and letter from the Daughters of the American Revolution.  Kyle read that letter.

10.  Disclosure Statements are filed every year at this time.   Fill out and get back to Kyle.

Council-member Hirschi asked about property by Wanlass Park on north side that has been plowed.  Derek answered that it is not our property but that we did plow it for fire safety.

Public Safety- Chief Lloyd Watkins:

1.       Statistics are down 80% in December and 12% for the year.  Due to hard work by our Police Officers.  In December they made 14 full custody arrests, that is three times what is normally made each month.  He went over the types of arrests they were.  Chief Watkins will be compiling a year-end report for the next meeting.  He explained to the council what the year-end report will have on it, what it is used for and where they can find last year's report.

Council-member Hirschi asked about Animal Control Shelter.  Chief Watkins explained that we were moved in but the floor started peeling up so everything had to be moved out and the floor will be re-done to protect animals from diseases.  They should be back in on Monday.

Council-member Reeve inquired about New Year's Eve.  Chief Watkins explained that things were quiet; there was one noise complaint and Mayor Wilson's fire.  Mayor broke into his rental home and put out the fire saving the gentleman's life, he had no idea his house was on fire. Chief also stated the most action they have had in a while was on December 26, 2011, the County had a five car pile-up that they helped with.

Council-member Reeve stated he had received a call concerning the Animal Shelter not taking owner release animals and that Hurricane will not take them from La Verkin City residents either.  Chief Watkins answered stating that the Animal Shelter does not take owner release animals but that they will help people find a place for that animal.  In the future maybe that will be a service that can be offered.

Council-member Reeve also mentioned his concern with losing two services that were available with Hurricane, owner release and cat services.  Mayor Wilson stated that we do have some growing pains but the service is much better now.  That we need to make sure we can take care of the needs we have now and then work into other things.

Director of Operations-Derek Imlay:

1.      Invited Council-members to go see the Animal Shelter.  It is smaller than Hurricane and Washington but better.  The staff did half the work on that building, they really stepped up.

The next project will be putting a fence around the ledge side.  Right now they are screeting the dirt and separating the rock to get it level, and building a retaining wall for parking.

2.       Irrigation clean out projects- Mayor had a big push on providing the best irrigation pressure and availability possible.  They found several problem locations going across State Street from the East side.  One of those was by the Bible church going across to Jay Frazier's field 2-3 years ago.  When they cut into the 10" pipe it was ¾ of the way full so today Ash Creek Sewer went in to jet the pipe and blew out the dirt so that should provide more volume and adjust for the pressure.  They did the same thing will the other problem line that runs down 100 East along the back of the park through the City's shop and across State to the back side of Stoles.  It was cleaned out and videotaped and that is when they realized it is a 10" line until it gets to State Street where it switches to a 6" line crossing the highway then back up to a 10"line again.  Mayor is having Derek put together a cost estimate to take to the Water Board to do a pipe burst, which is breaking the pipe in the front then pulling a new line through.

3.      Kyle and Derek met with Rosenberg who was hired by Celtic Bank to subdivide the property where motel was going to go.  Derek explained how they are going to separate that.  Stating that it will be treated like a subdivision and that they are going to go through with it.

4.      City trees will be getting pruned next week.  There are 150 -160 city owned trees that will be pruned and inventoried to stay within the Tree City USA guidelines which allows us to qualify for grants.

5.      Thanked his crew, they are really outstanding individuals to work with and do a great job.

Treasurer-Troylinn Benson:

1.       Congratulations to new Council-members.

2.      Financial reports will be handed out the second meeting of every month.  If Council-members would like to go over them they are welcome to come into the office anytime.  Troylinn has all invoices and does payroll.

Mayor Wilson:

Nothing to report, most meetings in December where cancelled. Mayor did explain the fire.

He also went over the rules of order and how the meeting is conducted stating that Utah Code has no set guideline except that you do have some form of order in running and conducting your meetings.  The Mayor is familiar with Roberts Rules of Order, stating that it is very lengthy and complex and that most Municipalities suggest not adopting it.   Mayor Wilson 1) likes to run an efficient meeting but when the Council-members have the floor he wants them to take as much time as they need to ask questions and get the answers they need.  As long as people are not taking over each other he will not interrupt.  2) Public concerns- they will be allowed to comment when meeting is opened up to the public.  If a Council-member feels like what someone in the audience has is relevant, then the Mayor will turn the floor over to the Council-member and they can allow that person the time to talk.

Make sure when you speak you have the floor so no one is speaking over anyone else.

Kyle Gubler asked that everyone speak into the microphone for Christy's benefit in doing the minutes.

Mayor Wilson stated that if anyone feels like they would like a new sound system to let him know.  It is an old system but it seems to be working, however, it was put in the budget to get a new one.

Council-Member Phil Jensen commented to council that if anyone calls and complains about something we as a council should first go to the person or the Administrator and find out the situation.   A lot of times things that come up, not that we are hiding things from the public, but there are times, if we can find out before the meeting or do it at a different time, it makes it easier to handle certain situations.  It can sometimes save embarrassment to the people in the audience if we can find out about issues, because a lot of times the public will hear something from someone else that really doesn't have a lot of fact and if we bring that to the actual meeting then it causes more problems than it solves.  If we have an opportunity, when someone talks to us, to talk about it first and if there are legitimate things then bring it to the council and discuss it.  This advice has worked in the past.

J. Adjourn

Motion was made by Council-member Ray Justice to adjourn, second by Council-member Brandon Stephenson.  Motion carried unanimously at 7:20pm.

Minutes were taken on behalf of the City Recorder by Christy Ballard.