Minutes for 2005-08-02, Direct pdf link.

Each Commission meeting is recorded on CD or audio tape, which is available to the public through the County Clerk's Office.
In accordance with the requirements of Utah Code Annotated Section 52-4-7(1)(d), the County Clerk records in the minutes the names of all citizens who appear and speak at a County Commission meeting and the substance "in brief" of their comments. Such statements may include opinion or purported facts. The County does not verify the accuracy or truth of any statement but includes it as part of the record pursuant to state law.

Commissioners Present: Kenneth A. Bischoff, Chair; Camille T. Cain; and Craig L. Dearden.

Others Present: Linda G. Lunceford, County Clerk/Auditor; David C. Wilson, Deputy County Attorney; Fátima Blackford, Clerk/Auditor's Office, took minutes.

A. Welcome by Chair Bischoff
B. Pledge of Allegiance was conducted by Kevin Hamilton
C. Thought of the Day was offered by Commissioner Dearden

D. Consent Items:
1. Purchase Orders in the amount of $226,585.74
2. Warrants #203867- #204104 in the amount of $911,728.47
3. Minutes for the meeting held on July 26, 2005
4. Set Public Hearing date for August 30, 2005 at 6:00 p.m. for a on Zoning Petition ZP #07-2005 by Kevin and Ronnie Chambers to amend the zoning map by rezoning property at approximately 10004 E. 325 S. from Agricultural Valley AV-3 to Ogden Valley Manufacturing MV-1. The property consists of approximately 5.4 acres
5. Set Public Hearing date for September 20, 2005 at 6:00 p.m. for a on Zoning Petition ZP #06-2005 to amend the zoning ordinance by adding Section 23-37 River and Stream Corridors. The new section places setback requirements for building adjacent to year-round and ephemeral streams
6. Set Public Hearing date for August 30, 2005 at 6:00 p.m. for the purpose of receiving input from any interested person regarding the vacation of a 50' wide Public Easement along the Weber River on the property of Emogene Berrett, dba Pappas Brick and Stone, as per Deeds recorded in the Book 1591 at page 1961 of the Deed Records of Weber County Utah
7. New Business License Applications
Commissioner Dearden moved to approve the consent items; Commissioner Cain seconded, all voting aye.

E. Presentation by the Weber County Public Defenders Association relating to the need for additional resources for Juvenile Court Defense

Jennifer Clark, Supervising Attorney, Weber County Public Defenders Association, Juvenile Court Division, referred to her letter and the one from the Public Defenders Association Board of Directors that were before the commissioners. Ms. Clark outlined the serious need for one full time attorney and one full time secretary due to the increasing case load. This year the legislature approved funding for an additional fourth Juvenile Court judge. The Juvenile Court does not have space for the new judge and one judge will be assigned to the District Court making coverage by public defenders even more difficult. Additionally, she outlined changes by the legislature this year that put further responsibility upon the Juvenile Court defenders in the county, while there were no resources.

Commissioner Dearden noted that her letter made comparisons for compensation for defenders between Weber County and Salt Lake, which is a larger county, and he asked for comparisons between Weber, Davis and Utah counties, which are more comparable.  Mark DeCaria, County Attorney, had been asked to address some of the related costs and needs of the County Attorney's Office relating to this item. Mr. DeCaria stated that the Public Defenders Association had a higher case load based upon their unique situation. He said that the County Attorney's Office would need another attorney (possibly part-time) and a part-time staff member to meet the secretarial needs. He noted the importance of drug courts because of the cure rate of drug-addicted individuals and stated that if there was enough space for all of them it might lower the overall crime numbers for the county. Commissioner Cain asked Ms. Clark to provide information on the recidivism rates in Weber County's program once those figures come in.

F. Action Items:

1. Request by Ogden City to waive Tax Penalty and Interest on Land Serial #03-003-0001 and #03-003-0026 for delinquent 2001 taxes

John Bond, County Treasurer's Office, presented a somewhat rare situation whereby Ogden City was requesting the county to waive property taxes. The city was requesting the county to remove taxes on these two land serial numbers for the year 2001 in the amount of $4,096.47, along with penalties in the amount of $81.93 and interest in the amount of $1,081.59. The city came into possession of property called the Shupe-Williams building located south of the Union Station on October 2, 2005. This property was under the private ownership of Marina Capital from January 1, 2001 until October 2, 2005.

The city, through an RDA in 1997, attempted to assist Marina Capital to develop housing in that building. To obtain financing, Marina Capital requested that the property be put in their name and the city obliged for a purchase price of $100 and put a $250,000 lien upon these two land serial numbers. The city would subordinate that lien if the negotiated plan between the city and Marina Capital came to fruition, however, Marina Capital paid property taxes on that building for two years and in the third year gave it back to the city. The Tax Review Committee examined all the information and unanimously agreed that the county had followed proper procedures and recommended not waiving taxes, penalties or interest.

Norm Ashton of Ogden City stated his agreement with Mr. Bond's presentation and gave some history of this case. He stated that the city had entered into this agreement with the developer, deeding the property with certain stipulations. The city extended the deadlines for them several times to obtain financing, but Marina Capital was unable to obtain it. The city took the building in lieu of foreclosure. He asked the Commission to consider adjusting the tax obligation by waiving 50% of it. He noted the significant expense for demolition of this building which is now beyond economic rehabilitation.

Legal counsel and Commissioner Cain noted that the law gives the county more negotiation flexibility at tax sale. Pursuant to the opinion of the county attorney's office and long standing county policy the county exercise the "best human interest" adjustment only when a property is subject to tax sale. The county has no precedent for waiving 50% of someone's tax. The commissioners discussed waiving penalty and interest now if the city will pay the taxes by October and if they chose not to pay, the property may eventually go to tax sale.
Commissioner Dearden moved to waive the tax penalty and interest on Land Serial #03-003-0001 and #03-003-0026 and for Ogden City to pay the delinquent 2001 taxes by October 1, 2005; Commissioner Cain seconded, all voting aye.

 2. Discussion and/or action on financing of the Infrastructure in the Pleasant View Business Park

Ron Kusina, Executive Director, Redevelopment Agency of Weber County, presented this item to introduce discussion on the county's potential participation with Pleasant View City in the development of infrastructure to serve an industrial park in that area. The parcel is located just north of 2700 N. and consists of approximately 300 acres and the project would take 12-5 years to complete.
Mr. Kusina showed a map of the initial infrastructure layout with road and all utilities. There is an existing signalized railroad crossing at the top of the county line on the north and there is a gravel road. As this road comes out to Highway 89, it is extremely close to the top of a grade and is too close to accommodate any type of truck traffic safely. Mr. Kusina proposed a realignment, creating an intersection with Pleasant View Drive. If this intersection is created, it would be necessary to complete a traffic study. Preliminary discussions with UDOT indicate it would be a favorable location.

Mr. Kusina noted there were both petroleum and overhead power line easements and because of building restrictions in proximity to these, the actual usable acreage would be impacted and would be determined by the impact study. He strongly suggested not using tax increment financing to recover the RDA's investment but rather that each land owner at the time of sale pay the RDA an amount per acre that would be agreed upon. Zions Bank had offered two financing options: 1) to use a sales tax bond or 2) create a special improvement district whereby liens are placed on properties and the landowners would begin paying back some amount of their indebtedness on the infrastructure improvement within 2-3 years. Mr. Kusina said that WED Corp had discussed creating an escrow account and placing money in it that would handle debt service on this bond out 2-3 years. As every land sale occurs, and the cost for the infrastructure is recovered from the acreage, those dollars would also be placed in that escrow account. He expressed concerns with creating a special improvement district including that it placed an obligation on land owners to begin paying back into that fund. It is agricultural property in that area and some don't have the capital to invest in this infrastructure from the long term benefit derived from increased investment by private sector as well as job creation.

David Wilson, Deputy County Attorney, noted that there are a number of policy questions the county commission will need to consider. Pleasant View City is planning to purchase up to 100 acres but does not have the ability through the bonds to do the infrastructure. Mr. Wilson asked who would benefit if the land sold at premium and Mr. Kusina replied it would be whoever owned the land. All the landowners had expressed a preference to sell it on the front end and either the city, county or private investor would purchase the property at the existing appraised value, and at the time of sale, when the improvements are in place any difference between the purchase price and the improvements would go to that property owner. Some land owners would prefer to keep the property, have the improvements placed and at time of sale pay the county for the improvements and keep whatever benefits they would derive. Mr. Wilson noted that the county financial advisor had suggested a couple of alternatives for financing the needed infrastructure that would present less risk to the county. Mr. Kusina felt it imperative to have some type of lien on each property for the value of infrastructure per acre as a mechanism to recover the investment at the time of sale.

Commissioner Cain asked what was the approximate market value of that land and Mr. Kusina said it was $20,000-$25,000/acre and that is was predominantly landlocked agricultural property. Improved industrial property in the Pleasant View Park should double in value. Commissioner Cain noted the position of the county to enhance property it did not own that would benefit the overall community and bring in jobs, or to treat this as a business decision and own the ground because it would be putting in the infrastructure. Mr. Kusina asked Mr. Wilson to set up a meeting with the county's bond counsel to start discussions and Mr. Kusina will then evaluate different options.

 3. Request to solicit proposals from qualified providers for operation of 911 Advance Life Support Emergency Medical Transport Services within the defined Service Area

Blaine Holmes referred to the completed RFP from the State and their letter before the Commission. He felt another ambulance was necessary due to the coming community growth in the western part of the county. Comparisons were made with Davis and Utah counties. Currently, Weber County has 12 ambulances, Utah County 37 and Davis 25. He gave an overview of the call volume stating it was not very high at this time in the unincorporated county.
Commissioner Dearden had done considerable researched on this issue and had held discussions with fire chiefs and the State. There had been no complaints on the current ambulance service. He had reviewed 170 calls to determine the response time and the difference between the first responder and the ambulance was just under two minutes. If an RFP was approved, it could take away local control. Because of legislation, a contract would be approved for 4 years and through renewals the county would be locked in for 12 years unless the company was doing something seriously wrong. Commissioner Dearden asked if there had been resolution on the issue between West Valley and the ambulance service in that area because they were in court proceedings over the RFP process and Mr. Holmes did not know. Commissioner Dearden would like to meet with the mayors and put this issue back on the agenda.

4. Request for approval of reappointments to the Workforce Services Regional Council

Commissioner Dearden received a request for the Commission to approve the listed individuals to be reappointed to this Council.
Commissioner Dearden moved to approve the reappointments of to the Workforce Services Regional Council as follows: Kathleen Alder, Paul Evans, Larry Facer, Mike Hadley, Steven Hoellein, Carol Page, Cecil Robinson, Lou Seamons, Tommy Smith and Jan Zogmaister; Commissioner Cain seconded, all voting aye.

5. Final approval of Cornstalk Subdivision, a one lot subdivision located at 1250 North 5900 West and deferral of curb, gutter and sidewalk

Kevin Hamilton, County Planning Department, stated that the Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of this item. The request for curb, gutter and sidewalk is supported by the fact that this is a bussing area and students do not walk to school.
Commissioner Cain moved to grant final approval of Cornstalk Subdivision, a one lot subdivision located at 1250 North 5900 West and deferral of curb, gutter and sidewalk; Commissioner Dearden seconded, all voting aye.

6. Contract by/between Weber County and Wikstrom Economic and Planning Consultants for additional meetings on the Impact Fee Study and to revise the Capital Facilities Plan and Impact Fee Analysis using the population figures from the Bio-West Study - Contract C2005-91

Kevin Hamilton, County Planning Department, stated that Wikstrom requested additional funds for this item. Commissioner Cain expressed dissatisfaction with Wikstrom for not serving the county well in presenting a study that did not include future growth numbers. The Commission directed Mr. Hamilton to convey this concern to Wikstrom.
Commissioner Cain moved to approve Contract C2005-91 by and between Weber County and Wikstrom Economic and Planning Consultants for additional meetings on the Impact Fee Study and to revise the Capital Facilities Plan and Impact Fee Analysis using the population figures from the Bio-West Study; Commissioner Dearden seconded, all voting aye.

7. Contract by/between Weber County and Bio-West for additional meetings on the Ogden Valley Recreational Plan - Contract C2005-92

Kevin Hamilton, County Planning Department, stated that Bio-West had served the county well but the funds had run out. This contract is for four additional meetings. He noted that the county had received money back from Envision Utah as part as this project that had been overpaid.
Commissioner Cain moved to approve Contract C2005-92 by and between Weber County and Bio-West for additional meetings on the Ogden Valley Recreational Plan; Commissioner Dearden seconded, all voting aye.

8. Interlocal Agreement and EPA Grant for Storm Water Pollution Prevention for one large point source (PIPE) entering the Weber River. The agreement is between Weber County, Washington Terrace and Riverdale City - Contract C2005-93

Kyle Price, County Department, stated that a grant had been approved by the EPA and he presented it to the Commission for acceptance as well as the interlocal agreement for maintenance of the wetland and piping. Commissioner Cain asked why the county would enter into an agreement to maintain the project after it was constructed. Mr. Price stated that maintenance would be provided by Riverdale and Washington Terrace cities and that any time and money spent by the county in helping to design and install the project would be reimbursed through the county-wide storm water funds
Commissioner Dearden moved to approval Contract C2005-93 between Weber County, Washington Terrace and Riverdale City, an Interlocal Agreement and EPA grant for Storm Water Pollution Prevention for one large point source (PIPE) entering the Weber River. The agreement is between Weber County, Washington Terrace and Riverdale City; Commissioner Cain seconded, all voting aye.

9. Request for action on a public hearing held April 5, 2005 to vacate portions of Wolf Creek Dr. & Willow Brook Lane at approximately 3400 N. Wolf Creek Dr. The right-of-ways are being vacated to accommodate a new right-of-way alignment at this intersection - Ordinance 2005-7

Kevin Hamilton, County Planning Department, stated that this item and the following one were related. This vacation is taking place due to the recent realignment by the county of Willow Brook Lane where it intersects with Wolf Creek Drive to increase safety. Some of the storage units were built too close to the road, but will meet the required setback with this realignment. This ordinance vacates the area where that road was moved from. The other portion is a small strip of ground on the west side of the road and the right-of-way is being realigned. The road itself on Wolf Creek Drive will not change from its existing location. The county is obtaining the 42 ft. of right-of-way on the west side of the road that UDOT required and will maintain the 33 ft. right-of-way on the other side of the road until those property owners desire to develop the property. The Planning Department has a letter from UDOT that this action meets their specifications.
Commissioner Cain moved to adopt Ordinance 2005-7 vacating portions of Wolf Creek Dr. and Willow Brook Lane at approximately 3400 N. Wolf Creek Dr. to accommodate a new right-of-way alignment at this intersection; Commissioner Dearden seconded.
Roll Call Vote:
Commissioner Cain aye
Commissioner Dearden aye
Chair Bischoff aye

10. Final subdivision approval for R.V. storage at Wolf Creek Subdivision (1 lot)

See item F.9. above. Kevin Hamilton, County Planning Department, stated that this item included the dedication plats for the roads that abutted this R.V. storage subdivision. The Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval.
Commissioner Cain moved to grant final subdivision approval for R.V. storage at Wolf Creek Subdivision, consisting of 1 lot; Commissioner Dearden seconded, all voting aye.

11. Contract by and between Weber County and Tammy Hunt for Sign Painting at the 2005 Weber County Fair - Contract C2005-94

Jan Wilson, Weber County Fair, gave a brief overview of this contract. This contractor has been providing the service for about 12-13 years. David Wilson, Deputy County Attorney, read the contracting duties from the contract.
Commissioner Dearden moved to approve Contract C2005-94 by and between Weber County and Tammy Hunt for sign painting at the 2005 Weber County Fair with language that states ; Commissioner Cain seconded, all voting aye.

G. Assign Pledge of Allegiance and Thought of the Day for Tuesday, August 9, 2005, 10 a.m.

H. Public Comments: None

I. Adjourn
Commissioner Cain moved to adjourn the meeting at 12:05 p.m.; Commissioner Dearden seconded, all voting aye.

Kenneth A. Bischoff, Chair
Weber County Commission

Linda G. Lunceford, CPO
Weber County Clerk/Auditor