Jan. 4th Laketown minutes

Mayor Burdette Weston welcomed those present and called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 4, 2023. Those present are as follows: Mayor Burdette Weston, Council Members: Eldon Robinson, Delora Wight, Brandon Willis, Kris Hodges and Clerk Alice Jackson. Those present were Duane Robinson, Chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission. Andrew Lillywhite and Herm Olsen with HAO law firm arrived at 7:00 pm.

Opening Ceremony: The opening ceremony was conducted by Eldon Robinson and Delora Wight led the Pledge of Allegiance. ACTION: Mayor Weston called for the agenda to be approved. Brandon made the motion to approve the agenda, seconded by Delora. Motion carried unanimously. Mayor tabled Item B on the agenda. Other agenda items may be pushed to next month as well pending the length of the meeting this evening. ACTION: The Mayor called for the prior meeting minutes (December 7th) to be approved if there are no questions. Motion to approve the meeting minutes made by Eldon, seconded by Kris. Motion carried unanimously. ACTION: The Mayor called for the prior executive session meeting minutes (December 7th) to be approved if there are no questions. Delora questioned the documented start and stop times of this meeting. Alice will review, edit as necessary and will present to the mayor and council next month for their approval. ACTION: Mayor asked for a motion to enter into a closed session to discuss possible litigation. Motion made by Delora, seconded by Brandon. Motion carried unanimously. At 8:03 pm, regular session resumed with roll call. Those present in the room: Mayor Burdette Weston, Council Members: Eldon Robinson, Delora Wight, Brandon Willis, Kris Hodges, Clerk Alice Jackson, Duane Robinson Chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission, Andrew Lillywhite and Herm Olsen. The mayor voiced appreciation to Herm and Andrew for attending the meeting. Brandon addressed a broader issue regarding the feasibility of having council attend future meetings, especially with towns of our size. Brandon noted that having council present would support and facilitate positive outcomes when the council needs to make a critical decision. Furthermore, Brandon asked Herm and Andrew what the best practices are for this request.

Herm acknowledged this would have a budgetary impact, however with today's technology, Zoom in particular is appropriate. Questions could be clustered and a time scheduled for council to accommodate this need. Herm noted that face to face meetings are always the best when appropriate. Andrew shared that larger towns have city managers to fill these responsibilities and of course Laketown does not have the ability to hire and support such a position. Mayor asked council about donations to the activity committee and donations in kind. Regarding cash donations for example to the activity committee, cash must be given to the town clerk, in turn a receipt will be generated, and a deposit will be reflected in the activity committee ledger account. Donations in kind should have a good faith estimate by the town of the value of the item. A receipt will be provided to the donor. If the donation is other than money (lights for example), the town will need a receipt for the lights. MAYOR OPENED THE MEETING FOR QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS:

None. OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS: Action Items From Previous Meeting: - Mayor-appoint new member of P&Z. Mayor said he needs to talk to all members of the P&Z - Mayor-clarify in kind donations with attorney. See above. - Council to visit Wahlstrom property. Snow currently covers the property making it difficult for the council members to view the property lines. Mayor will contact Ms. Wahlstrom and tell her she only has a 100-foot frontage. No wiggle room. Delora asked if their survey was accurate. The mayor drew a rough map to illustrate property lines, irrigation easements and two fence lines and discussion continued. Kris commented that the block as a whole isn't right, nor is the mayor's block (per a survey they had done prior to building their home). Kris also asked if the ball diamond block is inaccurate as well. Mayor shared that the county and surveyors have had an issue with the 1st West street. There was a 15 foot frontage that was in question. The county made the ruling and it impacted his property. Kris asked if the other blocks in Laketown are inaccurate. The mayor drew a map and the discussion continued. Wahlstrom's posterity wants to build a home on the above noted property - on the back end. Eldon said we should not make a decision until spring. Consolidated Fee Schedule: Mayor noted the Consolidated Fee Schedule is a large document and may need to be pushed to next month's agenda. He encouraged the council to be open minded with regards to being trained and utilizing CiviclinQ platform. The council should know how the platform works. COUNCIL BUSINESS: Heidi Hodges-Activity Committee Update: - She will hold a meeting next week and wants to know what the council would like to see this upcoming year from this committee. - Wants confirmation that activity committee will still do the rodeo concessions in 2023. Eldon noted that they should make the necessary changes from last year's lessons learned and plan on doing this year's rodeo. - Heidi asked the mayor and council to think about what they would like the committee to use the 2023 rodeo income on. Lights for other items. - Emma Carver joined the committee in Sarah Taylor's place. - When do we want the lights taken down in the park? Mayor suggested by the end of January pending the weather. Eldon suggested that we may not be doing enough at the rodeo and discussion took place on other activities that could be done at the rodeo grounds. Suggestions were movies, cowboy poetry and singer/concerts and perhaps bring the derby back. Kris shared that Laketown had competition for this event from Preston. All the help was volunteer except the drivers. The derby was a money maker for Laketown. Some cars came from Ogden. A ranch rodeo was another suggestion which includes cow milking and other activities associated with working on a ranch. The suggestion was made that whatever is decided, the activity needs to be on a busy holiday weekend so we can pull crowds from Garden City. Heidi will discuss the above new suggestions with the activity committee and report back. ARPA Update: - Alice provided the cost of new electronic meters from Meterworks. We have $32,665 in our ARPA account. New meters are $316.54 per 5/8 meter. She spoke with Terrick Sheffield and he suggested ordering sooner than later due to cost increases. Laketown will not pay until the meters arrive. The meters will arrive in batches. The mayor would like to include the labor (about $6,000) of installing the new meters. Discussion took place regarding the time Dan bills for installation per meter (about one hour). It is estimated that we currently have about 40 e-meters installed. Delora provided an update on purchasing an altitude valve. After speaking with Dan, he estimated that the cost may be around $6,000. Dan also reported that the chlorinator is working fine and is no longer a priority and he recommends we purchase a new altitude valve. Alice asked the council about using the funds for roads. Brandon shared that most roads in Laketown need to be chipped this summer. ACTION: Mayor asked for a motion to use ARPA funds for 65 meters, labor and the purchase of a new altitude valve. Delora made the motion, Eldon seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mayor would like the new meters installed in homes with the oldest meters first. Planning & Zoning Commission Update-Chairman Duane Robinson: No meeting. Christmas party was fun. Mayor thanked Duane for coming to closed sessions. Water Updates-Councilmember Delora Wight Update: No other updates other than above. Roads & Streets Updates-Councilmember Brandon Willis: Roads need to be chipped. He will calculate a figure that will be within our budget. County will be doing road work this summer. Park & Recreation Updates-Councilmember Kris Hodges: No current updates. Rodeo & Arena Updates - Councilmember Eldon Robinson: Eldon suggested that we may need to think outside the box regarding the use of TRT monies for upgrading the ball field. He further commented that the use of the ball field has changed so much over the years. We used to have church ball, tournaments, co-ed league, little league etc; now we have very little. It's hard to even get people to participate in the lake shore challenge. There were only five participants in this event last year. Eldon asked the group if the property should be used in other ways instead such as pickle ball court, volleyball court or installing a splash pad. Duane asked how this benefits Laketown. If the council determines that they would like to use the money for other items, we would need to check with the county first. Brandon wishes to use the $100,000 wisely. That is a lot of money. Discussion took place on the amount of labor and materials it might cost to upgrade the ball field. Kris had suggested in an earlier meeting upgrading the playground equipment. Brandon suggested looking long term regarding what these monies might be used for that would return revenue to Laketown. Eldon said that if we had someone in charge of the softball field, we may get more use out the field. Courtney is interested in overseeing this project. The committee that awarded the money suggested that Laketown is using a lot of money to upgrade the rodeo, therefore, Laketown needs to utilize the rodeo grounds for more than a 2-day rodeo. Alice asked who would we need to talk to if we wanted to use the funds for other items. The mayor said that members of this committee are Tammy Leonhardt, Sim Weston and maybe Eric Wamsley. He reported that the committee changes frequently. Kris asked about using the rodeo grounds for an ice-skating rink-construct a berm, cover the sand with a tarp and flood the arena. Flooding the park was also suggested. The mayor suggested that flooding the arena would be difficult because of the sand. Brandon asked if we apply annually for TRT funds. Furthermore, he asked if discussions have taken place about ideas that would generate monies/taxes/residual income for the town. Mayor said the wood bleachers are rotting and they need to be replaced with metal seats. $75,000 in the current grant is for the wood seat replacement. The amount awarded was large this year due to the increase in tourism. If we could purchase some property, this would provide some income to Laketown. Tammy Leonhardt is the individual we submit our application to. Mayor suggested we might submit an application going forward to bring the bike path from 8th North into Laketown. MAYOR REPORTS: - Bear Lake Regional- No meeting - Temporary Exception Letter for second source of water. We received a letter from the State of Utah dated August 24, 2002 and stamped received September 2, 2022 regarding a temporary exception for a second source of water. This temporary exception will expire on August 19, 2025. If Laketown does not have a secondary water supply by this date, it can reapply for another exception. Letter is filed in clerk's office. - Mayor will let Delmas know we have the monies to change out the bleacher seats so he can plan ahead. - Annual code of ethics pledge from each member of the council-Alice will make necessary edits and present to the group next month. *Action Item Alice UPDATES FROM CLERK'S OFFICE: - TRT monies approved-See above. Submission date is August of each year. Tammy Leonhardt sends an email requesting application completion. Money has to be used for recreation. Mayor suggested a bike path to Laketown. County is working hard on the bike path and if Laketown would like to participate, we could have this path come into Laketown. - Endurance Utah. Alice pointed out the letter each council member has a copy of and summarized the information within. Discussion was held regarding our current fee for this activity and should it be more? *Action Item-Mayor to ask Mitch Poulson regarding who sets the dollar amount for such a bike race. Kris shared that Laketown may have to provide ambulance services. *Action Item Alice to reach out to Chris regarding the two routes. - Connecting Utah-The State of Utah has an initiative for providing broadband service statewide. The email was provided to the council to determine if anyone wanted to attend the workshop. The council declined to attend the workshop, however, Brandon agreed to research the initiative further and report back. *Action Item-Brandon. Alice noted that she has tried to contact Jordan McKee multiple times regarding the timeline of when he will provide upgraded WIFI service to Laketown. Mayor to check with Jordan to see where he is on providing this service to Laketown. *Action Item Mayor - Dumpsters-Alice shared the amount Laketown is paying for county sanitation services. Furthermore, the difficulty in figuring out their monthly invoices has been an issue. Alice has met in person with the county (Dana) with little resolution. Alice shared the number of 'dumps' billed per month and they seem high to her and the council. Eldon noted that the county should not charge Laketown for sanitation. Alice commented that tracking each dump is difficult unless we have a camera *Action Item-Alice to speak with Loujene on how these dumps are tracked. Brandon requested time be set aside to have an attorney at each council meeting. Mayor approved. *Action Item-Alice to place this going forward as an agenda item. Brandon noted that if things don't go well with Safe Harbor, we could get the opinion of the SLC attorney suggested by Herm Olson. BUDGET REVIEW-Mayor asked everyone to review the budget and come next month with input. APPROVAL OF BILLS- Delora asked about the billings from HAO regarding Alice's handwritten notes regarding no communication took place on a particular day that Andrew has billed. Andrew's response (to the mayor) was that he can take more time documenting the billings, but it will just cost us more money. ACTION: Mayor asked for a motion to approve the bills. Motion to approve the bills made by Delora, seconded by Brandon. Motion passed unanimously. Brandon asked about stipend payments to the council and mayor. Do we have an ordinance or resolution for these payments. *Action Item: Alice, ask Andrew. EXECUTIVE SESSION ACTION: Mayor asked for a motion to adjourn. Brandon made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Kris and Delora. Motion passed unanimously. Mayor called for the meeting to be adjourned at 10:30 pm ADJOURN /S/ Alice Jackson